The First Family

The First Family © Juke Box Productions AstroFacts Status: Active Base of Operations: First Family's Headquarters are located on Mount Kirby right next to Astro City's Mount Kirby Observatory and Planetarium. Range of Operations: global, extraterrestrial and extra-dimensional. First Appearance: 1950 Personal Data Members: Augustus Furst Julius Furst Natalie Furst Nick Furst Rex Zorus Astra Furst Sasha Furst Karl Furst InfoDump Headlines: June 17, 1964: Dr. Furst Battles 'Space Spiders Unknown: First Family To City: Good-Bye July 9, 1986: Rex and Natalie: It's A Girl! Appearances (in Publication Order): Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.1 #4, 6 Wizard Presents: Kurt Busiek's Astro City #1/2 Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.2 #1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 20 Astro City: Local Heroes #4 Astro City: The Dark Age Book One #1, 2, 3, 4 Astro City: Samaritan #1 Astro City: The Dark Age Book Two #1, 3, 4 Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #1, 3, 4 Astro City: Astra Special #1, 2 Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four #3 Astro City #15, 23, 26 Event Timeline 1954     Dialog Rivalry Between The Furst Family and Kratorr Begins. 1961     Caption Adoption of Nick and Natalie Furst. 197?/??/??     Headline First Family To City: Good-Bye!. 1982     Current Omega Rangers Join the Battle Against Kerresh the Devaster. 1982/05/03     Current Silver Agent's Appointed Arrival at Romeyn Falls. 1996/01     Current Rex and Natalie Call in Reinforcements. 1996/09     Current Heroes of Astro City battle Thunderhead. 1996/11     Current Furst Family Visit Monstro City in Search of Astra. 1998     Current The Mechanimator and The First Family Clash in St. Louis. 2000     Flashback Armageddon Attempts the Destruction of all Reality. 2009/05     Current Matt and Astra teleport to First Family HQ. The First Family A multi-generational clan of heroic adventurers. History The Early Years - Julius and Augustus The first generation, Dr. Augustus Furst and his brother Julius Furst, monster-hunters and adventurers into the unknown began in Romania in 1950, being summoned to figure out an energy loss issue that turned out to be Onggu the Omnivorous. Mr. Smartie Notes: add more information (if we can about these early years) Family Bonds and Unions In one of the Furst brothers' many adventures, they encountered a woman trapped in a strange energy field in Europe. Her name was Nadia and following her rescue, she would go on to become Dr. Furst's third wife. Like his first two marriages, however, it eventually fell apart. Nadia left him for Kaspian, prince of the eastern European Beast-Men and recurrent foe of the Furst Family. Nadia and Kaspian's union produced twin offspring, but shortly after their birth, Nadia vanished. Their father being a supervillain in captivity, Dr. Furst adopted the pair as his own children. The twins, Nikolai ("Nick") and Natalie, were born with the ability to manipulate the same exotic energy their mother had been exposed to. The years passed, and soon Nick and Natalie became old enough to accompany the elder Fursts into adventure. It was at this point that the "First Family" name was coined. Many years later, the adult Natalie married Rex Zorus, the powerful, dinosaur-like son of another longtime enemy, Madame Majestrix. He became one of the most colorful members of The First Family. Mr. Smartie Notes: the Dark Age meeting of Rex and Natalie The First Family leave Astro City Birth of Astra The First Families involvement with the Alien Invasion of the Enelsians The Family Expands The first member of the third generation was Natalie and Rex's daughter, Astra. She was born able to convert herself completely into an energy essence, the same one her mother and uncle manipulate. Like those two, she had a remarkable, fantastical upbringing; the uncanny and extraordinary were a regular part of her family's unique lifestyle. Unlike those two, however, she was not satisfied with that. At the age of ten, her desire to know what normal childhood was like became so strong that she left home without telling anyone and enrolled in a public school. After many worrisome days, the Fursts found out where she'd run off to, but they agreed to let her continue attending the school. Astra grew up with her feet planted in both worlds. Meanwhile, Nick Furst married Darcy Conroy, a prominent Astro City district attorney. During the early years of the new century, the couple birthed two children, Sasha and Karl. They both possess physical transformation powers. Now an adult, Astra Furst spends a great deal of her time with the terrain contingent of researchers working to untangle the Gordian Knot. She also joined the Seattle based super-hero team, Reflex 6. Astra's direct involvement with the Furst Family team has thus, probably diminished. As the years have progressed, her younger cousins have become more active team participants. Logic would assume that the aging status of several of the Furst Family's initial members, would result in reduced participation level. This would be especially true in activities requiring high energy and vigorous fighting capacity. But with super-types with access to high-technologies, you never know for sure. Equipment Family-1 A vehicle with transforming/shape-shifting abilities. As a jet-like structure it serves as the First Family's primary mode of long-range transportation. It has also been seen forming a raw hole in its bottom to allow the Fursts quick exit, and also transforming into a submersible watercraft. Uniforms The family's uniforms can be reprogrammed to transform from the familiar orange-and-black jumpsuit into other types of clothing, including an insulated hooded parka and even -- at least in Astra's case -- pajamas. Each uniform also includes a locator chip. Cerebra-Circuits A device that attaches to the forehead and protects against mental domination powers, such as those possessed by the Silver Brain. While the First Family don't wear the devices as a matter of course, they can quickly deploy them out when preparing to face a foe of a telepathic nature. "Bug-Out" Bracelets When traveling to other dimensions, the family wears these devices. In case of emergency, the bracelet can activate the portal machinery back at Mt. Kirby and thus return the wearer home. In addition to the above, Augustus Furst has invented countless other works of technology over the years, and many are at the First Family's disposal, to be taken into adventures as needed. First Family Headquarters In the late 1950s or early 1960s timeframe, as part of a promotional enticement, Astro City civic leaders provided the First Family with an open ended lease to the building that serves as their Headquarters. Located at the top of Mount Kirby, adjacent to the Observatory, it is used as both a base for work and a family residency. Among the building's defensive technologies, are sensors that attack invading surveillance devices. There are a maze of rooms within including one called the Transition Chamber. It contains a gateway which harnesses inter-dimensional portal technology. With it one can journey to other worlds, galaxies and dimensions; including the Gordian Knot. First Family Trophy Room 600px Mr. Smartie Notes: Not sure yet how I want this to format. Do NOT want to use infoboxes here, but I'm not sure how I want it to display on the page. Will need to do some experimenting with layout. Want to do a call-out of any of the specific objects that can be identified to specific adventures, characters, events, locations. General intro paragraph about the room, and its function First Family Transitions Chamber Outpost F Outpost F is an Earth-orbiting headquarters and living facility. The First Family used it as a retreat from the chaos happening during the period of Astro City history known as the Dark Age. Observations There is a "100% authorized" First Family comic book seen in 1997. Other Timelines First Family Cases and Adventures Footnotes