Things aren’t going Clem’s way.
Creative Staff:
Story: Zack Kaplan
Art: Piotr Kowalski
Colors: Brad Simpson
Lettering: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
The Future. Where ultramodern megacities flourish while rural American towns struggle to survive. After an attack by high tech mercenaries, the small community of Franklin vacates its township and starts moving its people to the city. This sends the Mayor’s strong-willed teenage daughter, Clementine Libbey, on a quest of revenge and resistance as she challenges the city’s control while clinging to her small town principles. Come join her adventure in this sci-fi western. Come join the future.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Join the Future started off with some interesting ideas and exposition with its first issue but it also came just as the pandemic hit, hence a three-month gap that doesn’t do the book any favor. On the plus side, however, Zack Kaplan put together a pretty strong start so that once you get into the first couple of pages it all comes back because it made a solid impression. That’s also thanks to Piotr Kowalski’s artwork as he’s long been strong here with designs, layouts, and the character work. Combined with Brad Simpson’s color design, the earthy tones of the town and the outfits of the characters really come through well and it reminds you strongly of what we saw in the opening installment of the series.
While we got a good look at the city the last time around and spent a good bit of time with the town outside of it, this one focuses on the events there as we saw how the sheriff and others came in and basically tore the place apart. That the book opens with Clem’s father fighting back, Owen dead in her arms, and then she and her father on the run sets the tone. But he also knows that in order to protect Clem that he’s likely going to die as he has to face off against the sheriff. And that Clem is going to see it, which plays out in a rough way. For Clem, we see how this has built some intense resolve that you’d expect. While the town works through things, she’s further off burying her father and brother, claiming her father’s weapon and hat, and making plans to kill the sheriff and his men for what they did. What makes things worse for her in a way is seeing how everyone in the town has basically sold out and are heading for life in the city now.
Though some of the others do try to get Clem to come with them, she’s resolute and it’s pretty understandable why. Clem’s easy to get behind here even if she’s facing impossible odds. And that’s not even taking into account the city and all that comes with it. The sheriff and his men are people she might get lucky and get one or two, but the reality is she’s outclassed. Her drive is what will sustain her and we see the early stages of that as she heads into the countryside to begin her new quest. It’s something that’s amusing as she has to avoid drones and the like, but I love that it doesn’t take long for someone to come across her that will serve as a teacher or mentor of sorts for this. You get the tease of it at the end and with the cover for the next installment and it has me excited to see how Kaplan and Kowalski will take the formula and use it to move things forward in a compelling way.
In Summary:
The opening installment of this had me sold when it hit a few months ago and I’m glad to finally be able to start moving forward with this again. Kaplan’s a writer whose works I generally like a lot, though some I’ve struggled with, but when they click with me I’m pretty all-in on them and this is definitely one of those. Piotr Kowalski nails the visual design of this perfectly and the color design is perfect in bringing us that kind of cleaner and clearer look of the countryside in the future even where man exists. I do hope we’ll see more of the future city stuff itself and explore it and its history a bit more but right now Clem’s journey looks to be a lot of fun, if familiar, with the potential for some neat execution to it.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: June 10th, 2020
MSRP: $4.99
