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 #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 #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.

Lucifer #10 - A Review

The battle for control of Hell has been postponed by the arrival of a new God. Yes, God is back. And he is pissed, to put it mildly. And the first thing up on the chopping block for the universe is any sense of choice or self.



It's hard for me to discuss this issue in any detail. Indeed, that seems to be the case with most of the new Lucifer series. There is just so much backstory and history involved that it defies easy summation. It also doesn't help that the cover gives away what I believe was meant to be a surprise at the end of the issue.

I can say this much. Holly Black, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela and Veronica Gandini have crafted a worthy successor to the legacy of The Sandman and the first Lucifer series. This is a great book and it is one you should be reading.