Forever Forward #1 – Zack Kaplan, Arjuna Susini, Brad Simpson, Jim Campbell, Tim Daniel’s Second Rocket
Forever Forward is the latest offering from Scout Comics, boasting an impressive roster of talent telling a twist on the classic time travel tale. When a brilliant but anti-social scientist makes a breakthrough in his field, the consequences will impact not only him, but the group of friends who are trying to keep him in their lives.
Future Proof
Forever Forward opens in an idyllic future, where every day is better than the last. Society is improving for all. A perfect world is in reach. Just maybe not for our five lead characters, who are in the type of peril that this perfect world should prevent. We soon learn that they have inadvertently travelled into the future, through stable time gaps, in search of a way home to 2022.
Zack Kaplan (Mindset, Port of Earth) uses the idea of time travel to examine our own perceptions of perfection, and society. He cleverly weaves the narrative with not only questions on the implications of time travel, but also an examination of friendship, life goals, and what we strive for. His view of the future is both bleak and inspiring, in different ways and at different times.
Kaplan’s words are brilliantly lettered by Jim Campbell (Giant Days, Break Out), who does especially good work with the sound effects to convey the science-y shenanigans, and the future that they discover after their first time jump. The desperation felt by some of the main characters is visually expressed through Campbell’s letters, especially after the big twist reveal – which I’m not going to give away!
Don’t Look Back
Arjuna Susini (Heist, Replace), has a lot of work to do here with five main characters to fit into one book, but manages it deftly. Given that Forever Forward is also set across multiple time frames, he also manages to show the differences in each time frame through subtle manipulation of backgrounds, as they are travelling through time, not space. While the reader is told what time jump has occurred, the characters have to find out by clues in their surroundings. Coloured by Brad Simpson (Stray Dogs, Join the Future), each different time that we are shown is tinted slightly differently too, with gradual changes occurring as the book progresses. All together this leads to a visually appealing book, with art that compliments the writing superbly.
What Happens Next…
I am looking forward to seeing where Kaplan takes the story of Forever Forward next, as he has already given some hints as to what happens in the future (and the past) that will have an affect on the group. But how do we get from the now that they are in at the end of the first issue, to the future that we see at the start? There is a whole pile of timey-wimey stuff going on here, infused with strong character pieces and some potential future history that I am eager to learn more about.
Follow the creative team on Twitter for come comics goodness:
Zack Kaplan – Writer
Arjuna Susini – Artists
Brad Simpson – Colourist
Jim Campbell – Letterer
Second Rocket – Designers
Scout Comics – Publisher
