By Keigen Rea — Join the Future’s second issue is about a teenage girl losing nearly everything she knows and loves, and then deciding to fight for what she has left. It’s about a powerful society throwing its weight around to gain as much control as possible. It’s about the promise of civilization and the costs. 

Second issues are interesting to look at. You have to bring as much as you can to the table with the first issue, but you somehow have to top it with the second, and then do something to keep people coming for more. What’s especially weird, is that Join the Future doesn’t feel like it does that. To me, it almost feels like a decision was made to split the story in a way that ended up hurting the first issue and moving what ends up being the whole concept of the series into issue two. From this, i definitely enjoy the second issue more than the first, but it’s not because issue two feels like the vastly superior comic, but rather that it’s fulfilling the role that the first issue should have. So, that’s a weird thing, but improvement is improvement, so I’ll call it a win. 

As for the content of the issue, I’m still not fully sold on the concept yet. The themes the story is working with tend to work well in westerns because we have the gift of hindsight. The lives lost to the grinding wheels of progress sting because we know that progress happened, and we are the result of that societal change. And while the 19th century is romanticized, I wouldn’t want to live then, and things are still bad for folks who aren’t straight white males, but I’d imagine they were much worse back then. Things haven’t improved enough, but they have improved. The thing is, we know all of that because we have this hindsight.

By placing the series in the future, you take the romanticism out without losing the idea of progress. I’m sure the story will address this by making it owned by Amazon or something, but for now it just looks like people are kept healthy in one area, and in the other they’re fending for themselves. Not much of a choice to me. Of course, that’s just me! If you enjoy romanticizing cowboys and hunting your food, this book very much is it!

As much as I’m a bit mixed on the story, the art is noteworthy. The panel layouts are a good example. I tend to enjoy series that have really controlled panel arrangements, but I’m really loving this series’ fluid layouts. In particular it feels like it provides a way to give more space to an image that wouldn’t be as effortless in a more controlled layout. 

It took me a couple read throughs to notice, but it isn’t a particularly wordy comic either, which I do enjoy. I think it allows the western trappings to rise to the surface, along with the frothing anger at the story’s core. The CHHK of the shovel digging is perfect comic booking from the entire creative team. 

There’s a word balloon partially hidden by a trench coat. It’s very cool. There’s also a spectacular looking horse, and I love it with my whole heart. 

Overall: This issue has me more on board than the first issue did, and I’m fully intending to read the next one, but I am tentative about where the series is going. If you like pretty horses or westerns focused on social progress, I’d recommend this. 6.5/10

Join the Future #2
Writer: Zack Kaplan 
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Colorist: Brad Simpson 
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Aftershock
Price: $3.99
The Future. Where ultramodern megacities flourish while rural American towns struggle to survive. After an attack by high tech mercenaries, the small community of Franklin vacates its township and starts moving its people to the city. This sends the Mayor's strong-willed teenage daughter, Clementine Libbey, on a quest of revenge and resistance as she challenges the city's control, while clinging to her small town principles. Come join her adventure in this sci-fi western. Come join the future.
Release Date: June 10, 2020
Buy It Now: Click here!

Read more great comic book reviews here!

Keigen Rea is a behavioral assistant for students in grades K-8, and an online student who fears that the school he is at is a giant scam. He tweets about Star Wars, and comics @prince_organa on twitter.