They saved the biggest for last, my friends. Prepare to witness the majesty of… FRANKENSTEIN, JR! Your Major Spoilers review of Future Quest Presents #12 awaits!
FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS #12
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Alain Mauricet
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
Previously in Future Quest Presents: Young Buzz Conroy managed to activate his mother’s experimental defense robot, nicknamed ‘Frankenstein, Jr.’ during the battle with Omnikron. Now, he and Frankie have new threats to defend against…
AN UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE
We open with Buzz Conroy and his mother, Linda Kim, working on a new fifty-foot body for the “Gargantua” project. Of course, ever since the Omnikron incident, it has another name, Frankenstein Jr. Of course, an emergency call from Inter-Nation Security throws a wrench in their upgrades, as the Gargantua is activated while Buzz is working on hooking up Frankie’s brain, causing the robot to blast off with Buzz still on-board. The threat is a terrible one: A giant monster hybrid under the control of F.E.A.R. called the Draguar, featuring a host of abilities including flight, echolocation, acid-spit and more. Buzz and Frankie are more than up to the task, and while our team is at work, we get a really fun conversation between Dr. Kim and Deva from Inter-Nation, discussing how the original project didn’t ever work until Buzz got involved. Their combined assessment is that Buzz and Frankie work better than the original project ever would have, a theory proven out when they make short work of the Draguar, taking it off to the Lost Valley, home of Dino-boy, with Dr. Kim agreeing to upgrade the robot to let Buzz “pilot” it on every mission from now on…
A SETUP FOR MORE, BUT… *SNIFF*
There’s a little bummer moment for me at the end of this issue, as it feels like a really good setup for more Frankenstein Jr. adventures, but… this is the last issue of FQP. Still, it is a good read, and Alain Mauricet is a name that I’ll be looking for on more comics. The combat sequences in this issue are a hoot, and there are some really clever layouts in the battle sequences, but the real high spot comes in the way the discussion at Inter-Nation is juxtaposed with that combat. There’s a great deal of expression in all the faces, and I enjoyed the representation of the Lost Valley at the end. As always, Parker does a great job crafting a story that feels authentic and invests the characters with life and exuberance of their own. I really appreciate the interplay between Buzz and his mother, including a running joke where he tries to use her first name, seemingly to prove how grown-up he is.
BOTTOM LINE: GOES OUT ON A HIGH NOTE
Future Quest Presents #12 is a fun, exciting bit of action-adventure which finally gets Buzz and Frankie to the status quo of their 1960s cartoon adventures, but does so in a way that makes perfect story sense and looks really great doing so, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. Like a wise man with white skin once said, if ya gotta go… Go with a smile! I just hope this isn’t the last we see of the world of Future Quest.
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