WHEN WE WERE ULTRA: Teenage Wasted Land (FREEX)

In the last article, I referred to Freex as one of the inaugural titles to hit the stands, but I was wrong; it was released in the second month of the imprint's existence.  We'll be getting to one of those, Hardcase, next time.

However, this is one of those titles that I had conflicted emotions going in.

But we'll get to why in a moment, after the summary of the premise.

Four teenage runaways with ultrapowers are gathered under mysterious circumstances by a fifth, forming a gang to protect themselves from a world they feel will fear them.  However, it becomes apparent that these five were given powers from the same source--a mysterious figure dubbed 'Wetware Mary' who injected these kids (and others) with a special macguffin to keep it out of the hands of evil industrialist JD Hunt.  But why is that search is leading to Mount Shasta...and who is The Old Man watching over them?

Let's get this out of the way right now.  This series is written by Gerard Jones, who is...a garbage human.  No, I'm not going to tell you why; it's a matter of public record why he was imprisoned for four years and one month and is presently under five year's supervised release in California.  What makes dealing with this man so conflicting is that...he was a genuinely good writer.  I became a fan of his The Trouble With Girls, a satirical spy adventure comic that was published by Malibu in the 80's, and also enjoyed his work on such mainstream titles as Green Lantern, Justice League Europe and Wonder Man.  He did a wonderfully vicious--and sometimes vindicitive--satirical column under the name 'Sidney Mellon' in the comics magazine Amazing Heroes.  It's probably  ...Girls that prompted Dave Ulrich and Chris Ulm to invite Jones to be part of the 'Eight Founding Fathers' that created the world of the Ultraverse.  Even though you'd be hard pressed to find any of Mr. Jones' work reprinted today, I will assure you that he was very, very good.  If you wanted to argue separating The Art from The Artist, I could almost see your position...

It's obvious to me that with Freex, Jones wanted to do for X-Men what Blake's 7 did for Star Trek--namely invert the series, with the X-Mansion standing in for the Federation while taking the resources away from the heroes.  And on a lot of levels, it does work.  The dialogue and actions of our five heroes is over the top and melodramatic--but then, teenagers have always been over the top and melodramatic.  Although it's more overt than Firearm, there is a very clear direction Jones wishes to go with proper payoffs.  And he takes advantage of his artists (the cartoony Ben Herrera and Scott Kolins, who is more conventional but successfully pulls off the cartoony feel Herrera set for the book) to effectively create some engaging enemies.  I was particularly enamored of the Bloodhounds, human/dog henchmen who...lean much more toward the latter than the former.

But...this is a story about five teenage runaways who are trying to avoid being ensnared by a emotion controlling telepath into joining her school for super powered kids and...it makes it hard to put aside the Artist from the Art.  Jones was always foremost in my mind because the storyline was so...thematically linked to his crime.*  So even though I can objectively say Freex is a well-written comic, I can't say that I enjoyed it.

And then we have to address the matter of Contrary.

Contrary, who debuted in issue #9 in an issue pointedly not drawn by Herrera because she's supposed to be Hawt, is our...

Well, I'd be hard pressed to call her and her Academy For The New Elite an analog of Emma Frost and her Massachusetts Academy, but the fact is this blonde woman dressed in a scanty white outfit is pretty much a direct rip-off of her more famous inspiration.  I'm sorry, but there's not enough difference in the two to make a case for homage.  My suspicion is that Contrary was meant to be a 'means justify the end' kind of villain, but it doesn't come across in her dialogue, her actions or the actions of her students--what comes across is a manipulator manipulating already questionable children.  I was simply unable to get into this character even though she was meant to be a Big Deal (she is also the in-story reason behind the formation of Ultraforce, and is featured in the Ultraforce cartoon series).  And when she is written out of existence during the Ultraforce Avengers two part crossover later on in my read, I will not shed a tear.

Even though the Kolins issues get really....weird at times with underground civilizations led by elephant headed guys named after Greek myths, and a strange fire plane where you can go to different places by touching different globes, it only drives home two things.  First off, I have the nagging feeling that this title was canceled rather suddenly before the Marvel Reboot begins--it was one of the few major Ultraverse titles that didn't get a second volume--especially since Jones is introducing new characters he advertises as joining the team as late as issue #15.  Secondly, by the time we're halfway through the second year (okay, two thirds of the second year) it's becoming obvious that the 'tightly plotted shared continuity' thing is more a bug than a feature.  Although it doesn't reach the parade of guest stars that hobbled Foxfire, there are several moments where it seems like storylines from other comics literally trample through the storyline of this one.  There's a jarring disconnect between the fifth and sixth issue when we're plunged deep into a Night Man story in the latter without warning, and there's so much set-up of Ultraforce is the last half of the series that there's a definite stutter-step feel to the whole thing.  It's possible to do this well, as Jones does competently when the book has to interact with the Rafferty Saga in issue #15, but more often than not the changes to accommodate what's going on elsewhere in the Ultraverse break up the narrative flow.

As mentioned, Freex had two major artists--Ben Herrera, who handled nine of the first eleven issues (David Williams penciled #4, and Martin Egeland penciled #9), and Scot Kolins, who did five of the remaining seven issues as well as Giant Sized Freex #1 (Klebs de Moura e. Silva did issue #16 and Steve Ellis did the final issue).  Both are quirky artists, with Kolins being a little closer to the conventional super-hero comic of the time...but they work really well for the story Jones is trying to tell.  Herrera's more abstractly cartoonish style fits the book's tone better while minimizing some of the more questionable stuff...but Kolins keeps the visual style of the series consistent while also making some of the character more conventionally attractive.  Of course, that last few issues makes some characters uncomfortable to look at--it's in Kolins' issues that I realized what Angela's (codenamed....shudder...Sweet Face; man are all the code names in this series dumb, something even Jones points out in a later issue) 'outfit' truly is, and I was nauseous.  It's a refreshing change from the Image-rific art of some of the other series I've read so far.

I am torn about what to say in summation.  I personally had problems with this title due to my knowledge about the writer, but it is competently written, entertaining at times, portrays the teen heroes with the sort of heightened emotions most writers don't at this time, and features quirky, frequently charming artwork throughout.  So while this ultimately was not for me, it could be for you if the stuff I've recounted appeals to you.  This is one case where I will abstain and let you decide for yourself.

Next time, we'll be covering one of the three initial titles put out by Malibu which was mentioned in its television commercials and the focus of a six minute trailer for the second Ultraverse film that was never made.  Join me as we return to Los Angeles with Hardcase!

Until then, why be meta when you can be ultra? 

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* It's gonna get even worse when it's time for me to peruse Jones other, more famous title.