Astro City Asks, What if The Fantastic Four Raised The Teen Titans?
Comic and Movie fans alike know Marvel's Fantastic Four, the galactic-powered, super-family dream-team. What comic fans may not know is that DC - via an acquired indie comic - has their own version, the First Family. Played off of the family's surname, "Furst", here's everything you need to know about Astro City's fantastic eight.
Created in the '90s, Kurt Busiek's Astro City introduces readers to detailed stories about a world of everyday heroes. It explores the emotional depths of what it means to be a super hero, the associated politics, and covers much of the public view of their local hero figures. Astro City is less action-focused and more character-driven, but that's not to say it doesn't have its fair share of epic superhero art, thanks to the talented Brent Anderson and Alex Ross. Busiek draws many parallels and comparisons to both DC and Marvel characters and storylines, using his own characters to approach pop-cultural giants from new and interesting angles.
The First Family includes: Astra, Augustus, Natalie, Sasha, Julius, Karl, Rex, and Nick Furst, all of whom make their first appearances in 1995's Astro City Vol. 1 #4. Brother to Julius Furst, Augustus is the head of the First Family and acts as an adoptive father/grandfather to the majority of the members. He's the Reed Richards of the bunch, and is a highly respected scientist in his own right. In a refreshing take on a competitive brother dynamic, Julius and Augustus are actually the best of friends. Julius is Augustus's biggest fan, and the two work on a myriad of scientific endeavors together. Augustus is the inventor and Julius is the builder. He's the extroverted yin to Augustus's introverted, and sometimes socially inept, yang. When Augustus can't lead the team, Julius steps up to bat.
When Augustus' third ex-wife, Nadia, vanishes and leaves her twins orphaned, Augustus volunteers to raise them. Natalie and Nick become Fursts and are lovingly welcomed into the First Family. Having inherited their mother's alien energy powers, Nick and Natalie boast super abilities. In contrast, Rex Zorus joins The First Family by sleeping with the enemy; in this case, falling in love and marrying Natalie Furst, despite his mother serving as the team's nemesis. Very much a parallel to the Fantastic Four's the Thing, Rex Zorus looks like an anthropomorphic dinosaur, with sharp teeth and scaly skin. The two have a daughter, Astra Furst, who inherits her mother's likeness and energy-warping powers.
Finally, Sasha and Karl Furst are the children of Nick and his top-notch lawyer partner, Darcy Furst. While Darcy helps from the background due to a lack of super powers, her children take center stage as the new generation of the First Family. They're eager to join the cause, and along with their cousin, Astra, are perhaps the most famous young heroes of Astro City.
Like Reed Richards, Augustus Furst uses his superior intelligence as his key "power." With tactical talent and renowned leadership, he acts as the captain of the First Family and organizes their missions. An expert inventor, Augustus created the First Family's home base, high-tech gadgets, and their super-suits. Like Augustus, Julius Furst is super intelligent, in great physical shape, and doesn't shy away from joining a mission or two. Lacking powers, his favorite weapon is a gun, and he has a nifty First Family enhancile suit to help him out. Rex Zorus is an expert boxer, quick battle tactician, and the next royal heir of his species' lineage. Shaped by strong morals, he chooses to fight for good despite his mother's hostility to the First Family. Like the Thing, his skin gives him high durability and provides additional strength.
While the older generation vary in their abilities, the younger heroes tend to rely on energy powers, though these express themselves differently. Nick Furst utilizes his powers to control physical matter in almost all states of existence, giving him an almost "magical" set of abilities similar to DC's Raven. Natalie's powers are similar, but her energy control is less direct, turning inward to allow her physiology to grow in order to accommodate the amount of energy she's able to gather. In other words, she can transform into a giant, as well as drastically reduce her mass, giving her creative solutions to problems in a way that echoes the Invisible Woman's versatility. Astra Furst likewise uses energy powers to alter her form, able to fly and project energy in the style of the Human Torch. Sasha Furst is a shape-shifter, similar to the Teen Titans' Beast Boy. Name an animal and she can assume its form. Karl Furst can also shapeshift, but it's his anatomy that literally shifts and bends; like Mr. Fantastic, Karl can stretch his limbs and alter the shape of his body at will.
Like the Fantastic Four - whose uniforms famously include unstable molecules - the First Family have special super-suits that act as large utility belts. Their suits can switch to various outfits to suit their environment, include teleportation watches, and have microchips so that no family member gets lost. Various team members also utilize gadgets to create force fields and resist psychic attack.
What really sets the First Family apart from the Fantastic Four is their ability to grow and change. If their abilities and tools seem overwhelming, it's because Astro City focuses on a sense of true progress. The First Family have been to impossible places, learned unbelievable things, and then responded in kind. Unlike Reed Richards - the smartest man in Marvel's universe, and yet someone bound by the rules of narrative to never truly solve the big problems - each member of the First Family is capable of changing the wider world and their own personal situation, whether that means leaving home to attend college, welcoming new people into the family, or establishing peace with longtime villains.
Busiek's stroke of genius in depicting the First Family is in allowing his Fantastic Four stand-in to be truly generational. Rather than eternal hangers-on, the Furst kids are young celebrities from a family where powers are normal, and they mature into heroes over various stories. Ultimately, while the two family-focused teams share many similarities, the main difference between Marvel's and Astro City's stories lines comes down to character. As is Astro City tradition, the comic arcs are heavily character-based and thrive on the intricate interpersonal relationships that accompany each adventure. The Fantastic Four have their share of emotionally intelligent highlights, but their main focus rests on their big, epic battles. The First Family never shies away from a fight, but the focus here remains on each character, and explores how each player is affected by various Astro City scenarios. The Fursts are Reeds Richards' family if they were allowed to truly be a family, with all the messiness and sense of progress that entails.