Fringe #1 Review

Fringe #1
The thought of buying a comic tied into an overly hyped TV series that hasn't even premiered yet seems destined to suck. With only six issues to prove otherwise, Fringe has its work cut out for it, but the first issue does a good job of showing it isn't a book trying to cash in on J.J. Abrams' name. Joss Whedon's little brother, Zack, follows in his footsteps and creates a story that manages to keep readers curious at the least.

The characters aren't developed and there is still a lot to be desired, but the first story out of the two in this first issue of Fringe introduces readers to Walter Bishop, a young genius who has recently become a college profesor and in his downtime likes to explore mad scientist type experiments. Bishop manages to come off as more of a grumpy phenom than someone who wants to blow up the world, though.

The second story happens to be the shorter and the most interesting of the two. It is interesting, though, because it also happens to be its short length that keeps the story from being better than it is, as it is easy to be confused as to what is going on. The story deals with a nice science fiction element of having people's minds switch places. In this case, a prison inmate and a man who just proposed to his girlfriend. What the man did to get in prison is just one of the many questions the story leaves open. Sadly, those questions look to remain unanswered, as the second story lacks a "to be continued" banner at the end.

It is too early to tell if Fringe is another terrible tie in, or if it actually has merit, but its throwback science fiction elements have managed to make the first issue interesting enough to make the second issue worth a look.

3.5/5 stars