Future Quest #1
DC Comics
Written by: Jeff Parker
Art by: Evan Shaner
Grab your favorite cereal, because Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera cartoons are back! Future Quest #1 really revolves around the Quest family as Dr. Benton tries to observe some light phenomenon. But before we get to the adventurous family, we are shown a cataclysmic final stand on some distant other dimensional planet. The result of which is surely the reason that the worlds of Space
Ghost and the Herculoids come colliding with Johnny and Hadji as they are out exploring the Florida swampland. Bringing in another character from the Hanna-Barbera stable, Dr. Quest asks the Inter-Nation Security agents to come to his lab and take a look at his findings, this brings Ray Randall a.k.a. Birdman into the picture as well.
What writer Jeff Parker is trying to do, is showcase to the present day audience that these old franchise characters have the profiles to star in epic, thrilling, and adventurous stories that stand the test of time. Parker makes Future Quest great with a more modern take, gadgets that are still marvelous inventions, super heroes with powers and catchphrases that make you believe in their abilities. Topping all of the re-introductions to these characters, we are made aware of some evil forces already at work on some villainous scheme. F.E.A.R., the long running counter to Birdman and Dr. Zin who are always one step ahead of the Quests, seem to be in league with each other to harness the power and items that come out of the light phenomenon. Parker sets up the the script to lead to the eventual team up of the action-based cartoon heroes is planned for in further issues, but as of now, Space Ghost has no clue as to who is a good guy or bad guy, or even what is going on as the final page leaves me needing issue #2.
The main characters of this comic are some of the major Hanna-Barbera cartoon icons that broke the cartoony mold in the 1960’s and were illustrated as a more realistic style of cartoon. Artist Evan Shaner does the fans a service by keeping the character models very much the same while making the comic’s panels still feel like a fresh new story. The colors and foreshadowing used in the light anomalies really excites me for some full on action to take place in the next few issues. With iconic poses from Birdman and Avenger bringing a smile to any old cartoon fan’s face, you can be sure that the creative team behind this comic has some more nostalgic moments mixed in with these brand new epic stories that would have fit right in with the originally aired. And that’s a huge testament to Parker and Shaner’s reference for the world and why this comic works so well.