Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez reunite in the Eisner award nominated FML – a new creator owned series from Dark Horse. Riley is a teen that sketches out his heavy metal future with a ballpoint pen between monster movies and band practice. But musical stardom needs to compete with high school, the temper of a former Riot Grrrl mother, the morbid obsessions of a goth sister, and the eccentricities of bandmates that threaten to drive him and everyone around him insane. The balance gets harder after a ritual during a party in Portland’s Forest Park causes him to wake up one day to discover that the creatures, witchcraft, and metal world he’s obsessed with may be a bit closer to home than he preferred.
DeConnick and Lopez first worked together on DeConnick’s landmark Captain Marvel run for Marvel. DeConnick’s reinvention of Carol Danvers had brought her to a much wider audience and Lopez made a big impression with his art on DeConnick’s second series. Since then, the two have maintained strong careers with DeConnick gaining praise for her creator owned titles Pretty Deadly and Bitch Planet whilst Lopez received acclaim for his work on All-New Wolverine and Mr & Mrs X. Now, the pair have reunited in one of last year’s comic highlights.
DeConnick has long been championed for her character work and witty dialogue which continues here. In both her Marvel and creator owned work, her characters were often complicated and packed with depth. FML delivers in spades in this area. Whilst there is plenty of intrigue to be mined from arcane rituals going wrong and supernatural creatures coming into the real world, it is the teen drama that is DeConnick’s main strength. All the main characters come off as believable teens with the right levels of angst, though Riley is a particular standout. He has a lot of troubles running through his head related to growing up, but this is fantastically played off to a comic degree by his rather eccentric family – his former rock star mother and true crime obsessed sister who bring a good balance of humour to proceedings.
On the art front, David Lopez delivers some of his best work career. His character work and expressions are as great as always, but he also experiments with some different styles and approaches in this series. His depiction of Riley’s inner thoughts in the style of Riley’s notebook drawings really stands out and amplifies the teenage angst and snark that readers would expect.
FML manages to strike the perfect balance on angst and wit with two creators firing on all cylinders. Perfect for teen readers and those who like a good dose of humour with their horror drama.
FML is out now from Dark Horse (9781506752136, p/b, £25.99)
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