Future Quest #12 - A Review

The final battle with Omnikron has begun. Can the united heroes of three worlds and the most brilliant scientists on Earth hope to stop an intergalactic menace that has destroyed countless civilizations? Or will this battle spell the end of humanity?


Future Quest ends as it lived - awesomely. There is not much for me to say beyond that. Jeff Parker crafted a story lifted wholesale from the realm of imagination. Doc Shaner and Veronica Gandini gave that story a perfect visual representation.  Apart from some of the panels in this issue seeming a little cramped when it came to depicting the battle, I don't have a bad thing to say about this series. If you haven't been reading it already, check out the first TP.

Final Analysis: 9 out 10.

Future Quest #11 - A Review

As I've noted before, I'm reviewing Future Quest as a matter of form. At this point, you're either already enjoying this book as a glorious tribute to classic action animation or you're not. If the very concept of a team-up between Space Ghost, Birdman, The Impossibles and The Herculoids isn't enough to make you say "I should read this", my opinion won't count for much.


Still, it must be said that Jeff Parker has done a masterful job spinning a tale that brings these characters together in a shared universe, More, he's taken a concept that could have existed as a simple action-piece and worked actual pathos - such as Space Ghost's musing on the Terrans succeeding where more advanced civilizations failed - into the narrative. And the artwork by Doc Shaner and Veronica Gandini brings the concept to life perfectly.

Future Quest #10 - A Review

The battle against the all-absorbing intergalactic menace known as Omnikron was going well until the arrival of the Herculoids and their misguided attack on Frankenstein Jr. Now Ty - the new Mightor - has become lost in time and space! Yet the heroes of Earth - and their new allies from beyond the stars - have not lost yet!



With every issue of this book, Jeff Parker finds new ways to surprise me. I hadn't expected Mightor to become a legacy hero in earlier issues and I didn't expect Ty to meet his prehistoric predecessor in this one. Scenes like this - and the later scene in which Space Ghost expresses his admiration for how the people of Earth have succeeded where more advanced civilizations fell -  resonate with the power of pure imagination. This book has perfectly recaptured that magical feeling one had watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid.


Ron Randall and Veronica Gandini are the perfect team to give life to Parker's scripts. Randall's character designs evoke the work of Alex Toth, whilst still boasting a unique aesthetic that weaves the various characters into a continuous whole. Veronica Gandini's colors are perfectly chosen, catching the viewer's eye with every turn of the page.

Future Quest #9 - A Review

I fear there's little point in my reviewing Future Quest at this point. Either you'll be enraptured by the simple beauty of the concept or it just won't click for you. There is no middle ground.


What Jeff Parker has done with this series - molding various Hanna-Barbera cartoons into a cohesive shared universe - is nothing short of genius. The all-star art teams that have worked on this book have risen to the occasion in depicting even the silliest of these characters with a degree of gravitas that proves epic in scope. Despite being born of the same impulses that inspire young children to mix their toys to tell a story, Future Quest is a modern masterpiece of the graphic literature medium.

Future Quest #8 - A Review

The cosmic horror known as Omnikron has made its first full manifestation on Earth! As Birdman and the new Mightor do battle with the beast and The Impossibles do what they can to prevent others from being absorbed by it, Dr. Zinn and Dr. Quest agree to work together to stop the menace. Unfortunately, Zinn's partners in F.E.A.R. have other ideas...


The artwork in this issue looks fantastic. Ariel Olivetti's art is reminiscent of the work of Alex Ross. Both feature a similar clarity of design and a capacity to make simple, cartoonish characters look epic in scope.


Jeff Parker's story continues to amaze and inspire with every passing issue. The various players are starting to come together and it is only a matter of time before they are all working together in one epic team-up. If what has come so far is any indication, that will be a great and glorious moment!

Future Quest #7 - A Review

With the vortexes getting worse and the UN in emergency session, it falls to Inter-Nation to deal with the crisis. The kidnapping of Dr. Quest has slowed their efforts but they do have other scientists - like robotics expert Dr. Kim Conroy - to consult with. Little do they realize that Quest's kidnapping was a ruse and that Dr. Zin - having discovered the nature of the threat they are fighting - is ready to work with them.. but is it too late for that?


The art team for this series has done a fantastic job emulating the feeling of the 1960s comics that had as much a hand in inspiring Future Quest as the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the era. There's little consistency between the styles of Doc Shaner, Ron Randall and Steve Leiber but thankfully the story is broken up in such a way that the art emphasizes the different universes coming together for this crossover.


Jeff Parker continues to spin the mother-of-all crossover tales like a master weaver. As good as this series has been, however, I am truly looking forward to next month's issue and the arrival of a character I've been waiting to see in action since this series was announced.

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!