I generally enjoy time travel stories. The concept of someone from a different era exploring another is interesting. You get to see a world through someone else’s new experience. There’s also so many that leave the future unknown with the traveler stuck and attempting to find a way home. Forever Forward #1 adds to that niche of the genre.

Written by Zack Kaplan, Forever Forward #1 follows a group of friends who are launched 30 years into the future after a lightning storm accident. Friends really should be used loosely as there’s some friction. At the center of it is Lewis who discovers time travel and is obsessed with changing the world and getting it right. He’s shunned his friends, blowing them off over and over for “his work”. He’s confronted on his birthday when the accident happens and the adventure begins.

There’s something familiar about the concept but new at the same time. Kaplan puts in the nice twist that the only way for them to get home is to keep going forward until the way to go back in time is discovered. At least, that’s what we’re lead to believe and think. But, there’s a choppiness to the story that holds it back. We’re presented with a series of scenes that don’t quite feel like they flow well together. Each is solid on their own and they work together but it’s weirdly off. The emotional hits are also not quite where you’d expect. The confrontation with friends is great but when the travel begins the reactions don’t quite match what you’d think they’d be. Everyone’s a bit too calm in a way.

Some of that oddity for reaction is in the art from Arjuna Susini. While overall it’s good, there’s a lack of detail in the faces that downplays what’s going on. Where a good shock or wtf face would go a long way, the art lacks that minute detail which lessons the emotional shock. The color from Brad Simpson is solid as it helps convey the time with the first jump delivering a slightly darker and dirtier location of where the individuals launched from. The lettering by Jim Campbell too is solid delivering a lot of dialogue that flows well from panel to panel.

Forever Forward #1 is an intriguing start and one well worth checking out. There’s a lot of potential as to where Kaplan takes the series and the vision of the future. That’s often a lot of fun of these types of stories and so far what’s been teased promises an entertaining read going forward.

Story: Zack Kaplan Art: Arjuna Susini
Color: Brad Simpson Letterer: Jim Campbell
Story: 8.05 Art: 7.8 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read

Zack Kaplan provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics