Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: aftershock, fu jitsu, jai nitz, sci-fi, superheroes, wesley st. claire
Fu Jitsu #5 Review: Ridiculous and Fun Sci-fi Martial Arts
Fu Jitsu is readying his Quantum Kung Fu alongside his former romantic partner, the android Rachel. She reveals some startling information to Fu, and he goes to meet Robert Wadlow on the field of battle one more time. This is it: the final confrontation between Fu Jitsu and the World's Tallest Man.
I'll be the first to tell you that I've been a little rough on Fu Jitsu. While I think it is a badly flawed series, it may not be quite as bad as I've given it (I just flinched when seeing the 2.5 given to its last issue). It has its problems. It has a silly plot that it treats with rigid seriousness, that same plot is dense as iron, and its propensity to name-drop historical figures is a little ridiculous.
That being said, it's not some blight upon the industry worthy of condemnation. While its last issue frustrated me with how enamored it is with its own convoluted ideas, it wasn't deserving of the 2.5 that it got. That's what happens sometimes when you write your review a little too soon after reading the comic.
In any case, the finale to Fu Jitsu is the best issue of the series I've read. It lays aside some of its admittedly ambitious ideas to bring the story to its intense final showdown between Fu and Wadlow.
The opening scenes with Rachel are a little melodramatic and still weird considering Fu has the body of a child. However, the sequence ends fast enough as to not drag down the pacing.
Fu himself is still lacking in much of a personality, and this could hopefully be rectified if the series receives a second volume.
The action scenes between Fu and Wadlow do most of the legwork here, and they are brought to you by artist Wesley St. Claire. The scenes are creative, high-energy, and generally enjoyable. They play up the comic's ridiculous ideas to a fun degree, going so far as to have Fu Jitsu fire off a Kamehameha. The color work is quite good too; it's bright and eye-catching. The layouts flow well too.
Fu Jitsu #5 is a very flawed but fun book. This comic is riddled with structural problems that would hopefully be resolved in a second volume, but I can tentatively recommend this issue to the curious reader. Feel free to check it out.