Future Quest #6 - A Review

As FEAR and Dr. Zin attempt to abduct Dr. Quest and their friends fight a stampede of dinosaurs, the rock-band/secret superhero team known as The Impossibles and a new friend have their own fight with the forces of FEAR! And half a universe away, Space Ghost gives chase to the multi-dimensional monster known as Omnikron...


Jeff Parker continues to weave an amazing tale utilizing some of the most beloved (and most obscure!) Saturday Morning cartoon characters ever into one sprawling epic. Reading this book is like listening to a group of children mixing and matching all of their action-figures into one massive fight, but with a better sense of continuity. This is the kind of comic where dinosaurs with bombs strapped to them does not seem the least bit over-the-top or absurd... and thank heavens for that!


I wish I could be as universally enthusiastic about the art.  The first chapter with Team Quest and Birdman is excellent but the artwork for The Impossibles back-up story seems half-finished, with a good portion of the panels depicting the characters as outlines filled in with their dominant costume color. This may have been a stylistic choice, but - coupled with some uneven inking - it makes the whole affair seem rushed.

Future Quest #5 - A Review

As The Quest Team and friends move in on Dr. Messick's dig-site, they run into a FEAR excavation team. It seems one of the fossils may be an artifact of power - the club of the ancient hero Mightor! Meanwhile, FEAR is moving in on another group - a rock-band who the world believes only play at being impossible superheroes!


Craig Rousseau and Jeremy Lawson join Evan "Doc" Shaner  and Hi-Fi on the art duties this month. Shaner and Hi-Fi offer their usual quality work, with Shaner offering up some amazing splash-pages. The back-up story featuring The Impossibles isn't bad, but does feel a little rushed at times.


Enjoyable as this series has been, I found myself liking the back-up tale featuring the origin of The Impossibles a little more than the main story. I realize there's a sizable cast that needs to be introduced but the larger narrative almost seems like an afterthought in the wake of all the excellent origin stories Jeff Parker has been crafting or refining for these classic cartoon characters. This is a minor complaint, however, and it stems from my desire to have more of this book to enjoy. Can we get an 80-Page Giant in the near future?

Future Quest #4 - A Review

The reality-shattering vortexes are growing stronger, with Dr. Quest, his family and their new allies encountering a new one en route to meet with his colleague, Dr. Dale Messick. The latest vortex leads from a strange world where man and dinosaur lived together, endangering Dr. Messick's son, Todd! As our heroes investigate this latest curiosity, the sinister Dr. Zin makes a discovery that makes him reconsider his latest alliance.


It is a credit to Jeff Parker's talent as a writer and researcher that he has crafted such a rich shared universe using a wide variety of sources. It says a lot that he managed to conceive a reasonable explanation for the existence of Frankenstein Jr. - a giant robot superhero that looks like it was designed by a kid (because it was) and sneak in a tribute to voice actor Don Messick.

Doc Shaner, Ron Randall and Parker himself round-robin the art duties this month and it's as wonderful as the writing. From the introduction in which we see the final battle of cave-man hero Mightor to the oddly heart-warming story behind Frankenstein Jr's creation, this book is a great read. After four issues, Future Quest shows no signs of becoming stale. This is one of the best comics being published today!