FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics Vol. 1: The Paradigm Shift: 12/05/15

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics Vol. 1: The Paradigm Shift by Simon Oliver is the first omnibus (issues 1-7) of a new series. Imagine if weird phenomena had become so mainstream that there could no longer be government cover ups (à la The X-Files) and research was done in the public eye rather than in secret, hidden government towns (Eureka). Instead of the FBI investigating federal crimes, there's an FBP investigating and cleaning up odd pockets of physical disturbances (as in gravity wells, localized time loops, etc).

This first volume is mostly a series of short cases to introduce the characters, the FBP, and the rules of this world where the laws of physics as we know them no longer seem to apply. This volume is like the monster of week episodes of X-Files or the science gone whacky ones of Eureka.

For instance, a high school is having trouble because gravity has become lighter. Students would rather play in the bubble than attend class. Of course eventually the bubble will pop and anyone in it risks either plummeting to their deaths or having something land on top of them.

Then imagine if you sit down to watch the big game only to find that's over in the time it takes you to make a sandwich. How's that possible? Maybe your apartment building is in a time bubble.

Finally imagine that the government has private competition in the form of insurance and sort of physics rent-a-cops. Can the FBP survive in such a cut-throat environment? Probably not. Of course that doesn't mean there isn't a volume 2 or 3 (I have both and will be reviewing them). But like so many of these comic book omnibi, plots change from book to book.

I really liked this first volume, though it did take a little bit to get used to setting and to the characters. The artwork is colorful, even by comics standards — I mean glaringly so. Sometimes there's so much color it looks a bit like there was a printing error. That aesthetic while it was the thing that drew me to read the first volume, it still took me aback sometimes. By volume two, I was really enjoying the crazy color shifts and was reminded of another older TV show, VR-5.

Four stars

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