FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics #4

"The Paradigm Shift," Part Four
written by Simon Oliver
art by Robbi Rodriguez

The conclusion to Oliver's first arc "The Paradigm Shift" is erratically paced and beautiful to watch.  After delivering James Crest in his questionably colored track suit to the exit location, Adam hunts down his duplicitous partner Jay, delivers him a well deserved knock to the face, and offers him the chance to help him fix the problem.  Unfortunately for them both, though it shouldn't be unexpected from corporate terrorists who would hire a government agent to create a catastrophe, the bombs detonate earlier than anticipated.  Jay buys Adam and the agents outside the bubbleverse a little time by sacrificing himself, and it allows Adam to escape with Crest, but the bubbleverse does crash, and the bill to privatize management of these physics-related events looks to pass Congress.

Character development in FBP is virtually glacial.  Much of it can be attributed to Oliver's interests, which are rooted far more in FBP's noir conspiracies and corporate corruption and espionage than in his core group of government agents tasked with saving the world from physics.  Some of it, and the more intriguing bit, is that Oliver has assembled a cast of cagey characters.  Adam's gruff and laconic if, on the other hand, fiercely loyal to both his partner who betrayed him to settle his significant gambling debts and his scientist colleague Cicero Deluca, who may seem at first to be personally indifferent but who ultimately may prove a strong and faithful confederate for Adam.  Jay, though he may have been fated for an early departure all along, genuinely fails.

Nevertheless, as a conspiracy noir, FBP is hitting just the right stride.  Its tempo is a little hitched—Adam's escape, for one, is entirely too rushed—but its notes are bang on.  Adam's a fine protagonist with a mysterious history, one in which by the end of the issue he seems poised to explore.  Cicero's an enigmatic but generally likable and increasingly trustworthy mate.  Blackwood's a despicable, self-interested, fortune-hungry plutocrat with Washington wrapped around his little finger.  And, weirdly, James Crest is a sniveling SEC-dodger who, thanks to the disaster perpetrated by Blackwood and his cronies, is somehow poised as an unlikely ally for Adam and Cicero.

Rodriguez's artwork continues to be one of FBP's strongest features, and Rico Renzi's trippy, nearly hallucinogenic coloring brings out its best qualities.  If the physical world were to dissolve at the cracks, it would look like this.  We all might die, but we'd be enjoying the view on the way.

[December 2013]