FRNK, v5: “Cannibals”

The second cycle of “FRNK” begins with an action-packed romp that digs deep on the humor and the foreshadowing.

Cannibalistic Credits Will Eat Us All

A Quick Spoiler Warning for v1 – v4

There’s no way to review this book without spoiling the big twist from volume 4. “FRNK” is a great series. Go read those first four volumes before this one. It’ll be worth your time.

For more spoiler-free information on that cycle of stories, please visit the Pipeline Portal for the series:

Where — and WHEN — We’re At

The book opens in the current day, with a much younger version of Frank sneaking out at night to grab a bite to eat, only to be caught by Leonard, who’s still relatively new to the modern age.

The two came through to modern times at some point in the last three or four years, I’d guess. Leonard’s dialogue is particularly funny, as he still has issues with living in the modern world. For example, what’s in a cake? Food should be more utilitarian and obvious, not processed and sugary!

There are lots of little references to the first four volumes in this opening scene, which serves as a nice memory freshener for FRNK fans who maybe haven’t read the books in the last year. I’m not sure it would explain the whole set-up to a completely new fan, but it’s a good memory jog for the rest of us.

After that, we jump back to the past and to where we left off. After the volcanic explosion, Frank and all his new “family” are on a log heading downriver. In a nice visual touch, everything is nearly black and white. The ash from that volcanic eruption is coating everything, giving all of the landscape and the people in it a very gray appearance.

Everyone isn’t happy that Leonard and baby Gargoyle didn’t make it out of the volcano, and there’s a lot of recrimination going on for that. It’s instructive to the characters’ personalities to see who jumps to Frank’s side and who’s ready to send him upriver alone in the wake of those events. Families can be big on internal squabbling, and it’s seriously going on here. You can feel Frank’s helplessness at the whole thing. He knows the truth and it’s better than they think, but how does he explain that he sent Leonard and his own baby self back to his time?

Then, of course, things go awry. A giant sea creature upsets their plans, a pack of cannibals catches Frank, and a surprise visitor gives Frank some sage advice.

What’s Missing (in a Good Way)

The series is moving past the point where it needs to include moments of Frank introducing items from the future — soccer, fire, vowels — to save the day or get a laugh from the reader.

Bocquet never ran the joke into the ground. It often came up naturally and provided a good plot point or two. But it’s not necessary anymore. The series is heading off in a different direction as Frank tries to survive the past. He has no idea how to get back anymore, and he’s starting to realize it’s a game of survival.

Still, he’s a kid and he has his moments. They remind the reader that Frank is human, and not just a quip machine.

The clues in this book point the reader into the dangerous world of time travel. Frank came back to the ancient past, but sent his younger self forward to his slightly younger self’s past. He stayed in the ancient past, though.

What are the rules of time travel in “FRNK”? It’s not like anyone in this series is self-aware enough to know that answer. We’re not going to get a page of exposition to explain the whole thing.

We’re going to be learning it through Frank’s point of view, and that can be exciting. The trick is to make it feel to the reader that everything was planned out, and that the writer isn’t just using tricks in logic to get the story where he needs it to go.

Bocquet earned my trust from the first four books, so I’m looking forward to how he writes himself out of these corners in the next three books. It could be a lot of fun, but I’m sure it’ll require some level of shutting your brain off and not over-thinking it. That’s the only way to enjoy a time travel story.

He drops enough clues this early to show me that he’s got something up his sleeve. He pulled some fun stuff off in the last book, and I know this next set of books was written together, too. I can’t wait to see where he goes. He’s planted lots of guns on the wall again with this book. Book eight ought to be firing off a bunch of them.

His pacing in this book works well, too. He builds things up. Frank goes through some pretty tough stuff in this book, from being separated and stranded from the only people he knows to being caught in a do-or-die situation in hostile territory. It all comes to a head three-quarters of the way through, and Bocquet writes himself and Frank out of the situation well. It’s a great action piece.

Cossu’s Emotional Art

Brice Cossu’s art is still stellar. He has that manga influence that doesn’t take things over completely. He can use those techniques to inform his cartooning without looking like someone whose only influence was “Sailor Moon” or “Dragonball Z.”

There’s not a boring panel in this book.

Cossu, if anything, errs in the opposite direction from most comic book writers of today. He never draws a panel with a boring person in it, or someone who looks bored.

Look at any panel on any page and you’ll see a character expressing their emotions to back up their dialogue. There’s nothing in this book that isn’t carefully considered and cartooned. Every moment of the story is punctuated by Cossu’s art, backing up the dialogue to sell each moment.

It seems like such a simple and obvious thing — characters expressing emotion — but you’d be amazed at how many artists just get through certain panels to get to the fun ones with the big action.

Cossu draws great gestures and sells the action hard. I could understand where someone might think he overdoes it, but I disagree. I think this level of energy on the page fits the story, and is a welcome relief from so many other comics.

The images in this section were chosen from random panels that wouldn’t provide big spoilers. That’s the point — any panel has big and clear emotions. It’s a writer’s dream to work with someone like this.

Recommended?

Yes! Absolutely! It has nearly everything you loved from the original series, plus lots of foreshadowing of stuff to look forward to. Bocquet’s story is just as sharp and Cossu hasn’t missed a step. This is a book that still fires on all cylinders.

It’s not necessarily a great place to start. I’d stick to volume 1 for that, but the series is worth reading as a whole, so it’s good.

— 2019.037 —

Buy It Now

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• Amazon (née Comixology)

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