Hi guys! I’m Rory, the latest addition to The Fringe Podcast’s blogging lineup. I’m going to post a lot of stuff about the Fringe comics, which I have personally found very enjoyable as an extension of the stories we all enjoy on #FringeFridays. I’ll also be posting some more general blogs so those of you who have no interest in comic books will still read my stuff đ Anyway, here goes:
Fringe Comic Review â Beyond The Fringe #4A
Writer: Adam Gaines
Artist: Mike S. Miller
Colourist: Randy Mayor
When I first heard about the Beyond The Fringe comics series I was excited by the prospect of 14 more Fringe comics, with the âAâ stories being canon, and the âBâ stories being âWhat If?â stories, fun hypothetical scenarios with our favourite Fringe characters. Oddly, here we find that even the âAâ comics have gone down the âWhat If?â line, but I calmed my rage when I heard the title:
Imagine If… Peter was a Superhero
OK, Iâm a Fringe fan and Iâm also a comic book fan. This is gonna be good. Story-wise, we learn early Peterâs superhero name is The Pattern, an obvious Fringe Season 1 tie-in and not the worst name either. The Pattern operates in âBoston Cityâ, where soft spots have created several threats he must battle. Immediately we see the P-shaped bat-signal (Patt-signal?) shining on the cloudy skyline, and we see that this is a comic book that is going to riff off the idea of Peter being a Fringey Batman (awesome!).
Billionaire playboy Peter Bishop and his faithful butler Alfred Walter discuss the odds of a Spandex-free night as Peter prepares to answer the call. Swooping down from the rooftops like a kind of bat… man, The Pattern first puts a stop to an attempt by Newton to rob a bank with mind control powers. The soft spot area is sealed with Amber and the Pattern is next seen talking to Commissioner Broyles who informs Peter that Mr KFT has escaped St. Claireâs Asylum. Mid conversation, The Pattern sets off, leaving the commissioner talking to himself in true Batman style.
Mr ZFT, with a Z-shaped scar cut into his face has kidnapped an aide from the asylum by the name of Olivia when he was escaping. ZFT uses The Patternâs concern for humanity against him by hurling Olivia off a dock and ZFTâs goons attack and restrain Pattern while heâs lunging to save her. The Pattern could get out of this pickle if only he had his utility belt, but itâs been removed. Olivia uses her powers of telekinesis to send it Peterâs way and a few pages and a shot of cortexiphan later, The Pattern has saved the day once again. Back at Wayne Bishop Manor, Walter, Peter and Olivia discuss the problems facing Boston City and decide that Olivia should become The Patternâs new partner in fighting crime. The comic ends with a nice splash page where we see The Pattern and Olivia in full costume waiting for their next adventure.
Walter and his Red Vines…
 As a Fringe tie-in, this has some neat moments, and many of the showâs great characters in fun new roles, but ultimately is just that, a bit of fun. We see Walter eating a Red Vine, several fresh takes on plot points like cortexiphan, ZFT and Oliviaâs abilities, but itâs about as far from canon as you can get and itâs odd that after the Joshua Jackson-penned âAâ issues 1-3 theyâve already gone away from attempting any ârealâ storylines. On the other hand as a one-shot comic itâs fun, well-paced and if you know anything about Batman youâll probably manage a chuckle at several similarities between the lives of Peter âThe Patternâ Bishop and Bruce Wayne. The art is solid, although this isnât the first time it seems the artist of a Fringe comic has struggled with drawing Broyles, and the colouring from Randy Major is excellent. Plenty of red and blue as youâd expect from something Fringe-related and the Amber and the action scenes look great.
My biggest criticism â Olivia never gets her superhero name revealed! We see a cool looking costume but no logo or letter to go on, unlike The Patternâs âPâ insignia. Olivia deserves a cool name, but the best Iâve come up with so far are The Olive (lame) and Cortexigirl (better?).
Story 4/5
Art 4/5
Did you read Beyond the Fringe #4A? Did you like it? And what should Olivia’s superhero name be?!
Her name should be CortexiGirl! I read the comic but now I am not entirely sure if they gave her Cortexiphan in this reality.
I think it was suggested in this comic that cortexiphan gave them special powers for a limited time. Peter took a shot of it to run away over water or something. If she hasn’t had it yet, she will soon now she works as The Pattern’s sidekick!
Between your two options, Cortexigirl sounds good. And I have read all the comics that have been published so far. Impossible not to. I enjoyed this one a lot. đ
Anliv – Yeah this one was a very fun comic. Didn’t take itself too seriously.
Two votes for Cortexigirl – I think Butler Walter should get stitching that costume!