Forever #1 is a very interesting concept, and one I’m very mixed about.  I love the concept, and there’s enough mystery enough for me to want to see more, but I’m still not 100% sold on it.  That being said, it’s original and a definite buy for the week.

In the not-so-distant future, a pharmaceutical company called Longevity™ has developed a drug which extends human life and counters the debilitating effects of aging almost indefinitely. When a young doctor, who owes his very life to Longevity™, gets his dream job at the company; he soon learns that immortality comes at an unthinkable price.

Created by Top Cow President Matt Hawkins (Lady Pendragon, Pilot Season: Alibi) and written by screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (The Honeyfields) with art by Thomas Nachlik (The Flying Friar), Forever follows in the footsteps of science fiction like the stories of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick.

Written by Brad Ingelsby, there’s a fascinating mind trip here and I’d love to see where it goes.  This is a concept and series that would benefit from a longer format.  And that’s the issue here, the format is too short with one issue.  As an original graphic novel, this potentially would be awesome, in one issue, I’m intrigued but not completely sold.

The art by Thomas Nachlik is solid.  I liked a lot of the scenes and the character design is unique and interesting.  Again, there’s tons of potential as where some of the trippy images could go in a longer format.

But, in the end Pilot Season is a contest.  Does Forever take the lead?  Unfortunately no, 39 Minutes still is the one I’m voting for.  But, I’d love to see this as a longer form graphic novel and given the freedom to break some ground visually.

Plot: I really like what Ingelsby has going.  There’s a lot crammed in here and a lot that can be built on in fantastic ways.  The characters are interesting and some mystery is thrown in there.  I don’t want to go too much into it, as it’d ruin the first issue, but this would benefit so much from being given a longer format.  As a single issue it’s good, as a full fleshed out graphic novel, it could be great.  Rating: 8

Art:  Nachlik’s art is pretty solid as well.  Some cool scenes are thrown in there, but at times there’s a few characters that look too similar and I got mixed up.  It’s good and solid artwork, but nothing to blow me away.  Rating: 7.75

Overall: Even if this doesn’t win Pilot Season is there any chance we can get it as a stand alone graphic novel?  I’ve stated it a few times already in this review I think it’d benefit a lot from that in that it could unfold at it’s own pace.  It’s worth checking out at least to see an original concept and one I want to see where it goes.  Overall rating: 8

Recommendation: Buy

Page count: 32 pages    Price: $3.99    Release Date: 10/13/2010

Top Cow provided Graphic Policy with an advance copy of this issue for FREE for review.