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| STILL ON THE SHELF #68 - OPPOSITE FORCES Craig Reade On one side, you have a beautiful, perfectionist, up-and-coming lawyer who doesn’t have time for anything that doesn’t fit into her schedule. On the other you have a dumpy, sci-fi loving comic book geek who is quite enamored with said woman, but is naturally too afraid to say two words to her (and she is pretty disgusted by him altogether). Give them superpowers, and make it so that their powers only work (well) when they are 100 yards of each other, and you have the making of a pretty funny comic concept. Opposite Forces is the brainchild of sometime Disney animator Tom Bancroft. The first four-issue mini of Opposite Forces has wrapped up, but Bancroft has suggested that more is to come. What better way to encourage a return to this title than to get all of you to pick up a few issues? Yeah, I enjoyed it that much, and I think you will too. Cast of Characters Captain Dynamo – hero to the masses. By day he is mild-mannered photojournalist Jack Gent, but when he is needed (or there is a good photo-op), he sheds this façade and becomes the larger than life hero, with the ego to match. Dynamo possesses all of the powers and abilities that have become comic mainstays – flight, super strength, super speed, invulnerability, a healing factor, heat and X-Ray vision, to name the bulk. About the only one he doesn’t have is super-hearing, but he sure pretends that he does. Captain Dynamo made something of an enemy of Emperor Gink of Planet Tenalp (Hey! A palindrome!), who seeks to eliminate Dynamo (not kill! He must be alive for his humiliation) so that he can send his army to invade the protectorless Earth. So, after spending years drying up all his his planet’s resources to build a super weapon capable of getting the job done, he launches his attack, only to find something has gone wrong. It seems that it was successful in removing Dynamo’s powers, but due to the addition of a foreign substance in the mix (Matzo Ball soup, to be exact), his powers were not eliminated, rather, transferred to others. The now powerless Jack Gent spends his time trapped in a sanitarium, trying to conceive anyone who will listen that he is indeed Captain Dynamo, and that this is all part of an evil plot by one of his many enemies. Marty Knopf is your typical comic book geek. He loves sci-fi TV shows, is a web designer by trade, and collects comics and action figures (unopened, of course!). He is also extremely shy with the ladies, having an unending crush on his neighbor across the hall, Alexis Hilltop. Alexis is also your typical object of affection for a comic geek- a strong, independent woman who has a general distaste for her sometimes creepy neighbor. She concerns herself more with work than fun, living life by a very strict schedule, and setting her sights on becoming a partner at her law firm. Of course, the geek will have his day, and he finally gets up the nerve to talk to Alexis the very same day that Gink sets his evil plan in motion. So, together in an elevator, Alexis and Marty are hit by the same blast from Gink’s superweapon that is meant for Captain Dynamo (who is currently waiting for the elevator to arrive at his floor as Jack Gent). As a result, Captain Dynamo’s different powers were divided up and “absorbed” by the both of them. Of course, they were not the only ones affected by the blast at the elevator. Marty’s dog Bopper also gained a bit of Dynamo’s power. It seems the good Captain possessed a degree of super-intelligence, and the dog became smart and self-aware, gaining the ability to speak. Alexis’s dog was also affected by the blast, but not in a friendly way. Waggles became something of a rampaging monster, angry at Alexis for years of neglect. Though most of this story is centered on the Intrepid Two’s discovery of their powers, Waggles does serve as the main foe they must confront by the end of the series. Thoughts This title fits very much into the same vein as Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid, in that it is an all-ages friendly title that doesn’t talk down to the reader. I have spent a good deal of time writing about books like this, because I don’t really feel that comfortable with the sheer number of comics these days that I wouldn’t dare show a child. Opposite Forces proves once again that you can have a fun, well-made comic that an adult can enjoy with a child, and comics still needs more books like this. It is also apparent that Bancroft has drawn some inspiration from Herobear and the Kid. Early in Opposite Forces #1 you can find a small Herobear reference in the form of a drink coaster. About this, Bancroft says “The "Herobear" reference is a tip-of-the-hat to Mike because I wouldn't have gotten off my duff and did this if he hadn't have gone first!” About the only bad thing to come out of Herobear in this title is the art style. In issue #3, Bancroft switches from the clean look of inks to the un-inked pencils approach that works so well for Kunkel in Herobear and the Kid. Not that this is a bad style, but throughout the first two issues of Opposite Forces (and the first two pages of issue #3), I had grown accustomed to the inked look, and it was a hard change to get used to. Beyond that, though the series does work in pencils, I do think that this book is better suited towards the inked style. I am not going to damn this book for that change, as it is still top-notch with just the pencils, but I can’t help feeling that Bancroft should have stuck to his guns with the art style, at least through the end of this first series. The rest of the parallels to Herobear and the Kid are not so obvious, but Bancroft does take what is best about Herobear and makes it his own here in Opposite Forces. I have already mentioned the all-ages story. Added to that is the fantasy about becoming a hero. Much like Tyler, Marty is exactly the sort of character who might daydream about donning tights and fighting evil, and is nothing short of ecstatic when he finally has the chance to do so. I know I have mentioned Herobear a lot so far in this column, and please don’t misinterpret that as my suggesting that this title is nothing but a rip-off of that title. Many of you recall my column about Herobear and the Kid some weeks back, and I do know that there are those of you who took my advice out there and checked that title out. Knowing that you no doubt enjoy that title as much as I did, I think the comparison is important here. If you were to break up comic of all sorts into different genres by style and content, Opposite Forces would be right next to Herobear in that very small cubby hole. In short, if you like Herobear, you will damned sure enjoy Opposite Forces. That is a promise. On its own, Opposite Forces does relate to all of us. No matter what degree of “comic fan” we are, there is something about Marty that we can relate to. Sure, not all of us are pudgy recluses who collect comics, obsess over science fiction, and ogle attractive woman, but never have the guts to talk to them. But that guy is in all of us, to some degree (save you fine ladies who enjoy the comics – I have no idea whether this appeals to you or not!), and his character is well written enough that we can understand exactly where he is coming from. Alexis, too, has her points in that regard. Having grown a bit myself, I can understand the deadline driven life that makes you avoid smelling the roses in order to succeed. The opposites are clearly defined here, and I think that there are parts of us that can relate to both points of view that these characters bring to the table. So you just gained super powers through some inexplicable force. Are you excited about it and eager to begin your life as a hero, or are you annoyed to have your life upset by these changes, and angry at anyone remotely involved with the event? In me, it would be a little of both, and I expect that is true for most of you as well. Bottom Line There is another similarity to Herobear and the Kid here – this title just never seems to come out! Issue #1 came out way back in 2002, and the latest issue just came out this year. This is often something of a problem with these small press/self published titles – they rarely come out, either due to a day job by the creator (I can understand that!) or some other issue. Anyone who is still patiently waiting for a new Pete, the P.O.’ed Postal Worker (I might be the only one anymore!) knows exactly what I am talking about. In this case, I think Bancroft’s real job certainly contributes to new issues of Opposite Forces being such a rare thing. It does make it difficult to really get into a title like this, but sometimes when it is worth it, you have to just suck it up and do what you can to remind the creator that you are out there waiting! Though this first mini has come to an end, Bancroft has suggested that he would very much like to do more Opposite Forces in the future. The way I see it, the more people read the first series, the more people will demand that another one come out! As to where to pick up a copy of Opposite Forces, that might be a task. Funny Pages Press’s website is in some serious need of updating (It is still heralding the arrival of issue #3 from about a year ago!) and they don’t currently sell issues online there. I am afraid I can’t be much help to your quest, as I can’t uncover an online shop for those issues myself, but asking your local comic shop might be a good place to start. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, I will have a direct link for anyone looking to purchase back issues. No word on a trade at the moment, which may be the best way to go, so individual issues it is! I know it seems like a lot of work, but this one is worth it. Credit Where Credit is Due Opposite Forces is Written and drawn by Tom Bancroft, with Letters by John Trent, Greg Hardin and Chris Eliopoulis, Covers by Various (Including J. Scott Campbell and Frank Cho), and Published by Funny Pages Press. “So Marty, even though I can talk and everything, we’re still Best Buddies, right? Then is it still ok for friends to run friends’ tummies?” – Bopper, OF #3 |
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