Timelines are colliding, space is bending, and our favorite cartoon heroes are caught in the middle of multiversal armageddon… Your Major Spoilers review of Future Quest #2 awaits!
FUTURE QUEST #2
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Evan “Doc” Shaner, Ron Randall and Jonathan Case
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: ALW Studios’ Dave Lanphear
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Future Quest: Last ish, Doctor Benton Quest, assisted by Inter-Nation Security agents (including one who is secretly Birdman), investigated a series of strange vortices that seem to be space-time portals. Meanwhile, in a nearby swamp, Jonny, Hadji and Race clash with agents of F.E.A.R., under the command of Doctor Zin, who seems oddly knowledgable about the portals. As the issue ended, Jonny Q and his friends were stunned to see a caped figure step out of one of the portals from deep space: Space Ghost himself!
WHAT IS OMNIKRON?
This issue opens with the OTHER side of the portal we saw last month, as Space Ghost, the Galaxy Trio and the Herculoids battle Omnikron in deep space. Several of the heroes seemingly fall before it (Gloop is absorbed into the creature’s mass, and we sadly see how Jonny and Hadji found Tundro’s corpse last time) before Space Ghost enters a space warp and arrives in the Everglades. He quickly exits, stage left (wait, wrong H-B character) but he leaves behind one important artifact: a wrecked Phantom Cruiser, containing an unconscious Jan. Jonny, Hadji and their new friend Ty extricate her from the wreckage, but Jace isn’t as lucky. And as the issue ends, Doctor Zin has called in an agent who can balance out Dr. Quest’s one-man wrecking crew: the agent known as Jezebel Jade!
STILL AS EXCITING AS NUMBER ONE
I was super-worried that the plot of this story was going to disappear into the fifth dimension when the time/space hops began in earnest, but Parker’s plotting put that quickly to rest. There are still a lot of mystery elements that haven’t been explained, but the story still works, and the bits of lore and legend (Jezebel, The Walking Eye, and references to “other specialists” that I’m certain are the Impossibles) don’t impede the plotting, instead making for lovely easter eggs for knowledgable readers. The art is one again top-notch, with Doc Shaner delivering pitched battle in space, Ron Randall a daring bayou escape, and one perfect panel featuring Blip, Bandit, Avenger the eagle and Ty’s pet cat Snag (another reference, surely) getting to know one another…
THE BOTTOM LINE: PICTURE-PERFECT STUFF
All in all, this is the best of both worlds: Strong story and art that matches up a lot of varied properties in ways that make sense with tons of stuff there for the nerds and superfans like myself. (I’m going on record now that Agent Deva is the fourth member of The Impossibles seen in the promotional materials.) Future Quest #2 keeps up the momentum, making for a fine read whose only real down side is “needs more Space Ghost”, earning a top-notch 5 out of 5 stars overall. I admit that I am the target audience, but this book has something to offer anyone who enjoys a good adventure tale, with strong characterization and plotting.
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Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.
1 Comment
I don’t remember being so happy with a comic book ever. The art is incredible, the story is really good and the nerdity is extreme. I loved every panel of it!