| Title | : | Future Quest, Vol. 1 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401268072 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401268077 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 |
| Publication | : | First published February 15, 2017 |
Future Quest, Vol. 1 Reviews
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Maybe I shouldn’t have read this as I never saw the Jonny Quest cartoon so have zero knowledge about or nostalgia for the show but the recently relaunched Flintstones comic wasn’t bad so I thought Future Quest might be ok too; nope - it wasn’t!
Here’s the biggest problem: TOO MANY CHARACTERS! A whole mess of characters are thrown at you as soon as you start reading: heeeeeeeeere’s Jonny (Quest and Hadji)! - ok, they’re the main characters - Race, Dr Quest - fine, they’re the supporting characters - and then it’s an unstoppable cascade that I couldn’t follow: Birdman, Space Ghost, the Herculoids including Tundro, Zok, Gloop and Gleep, and Igoo (real names I swear!), Dr Zin and FEAR, Jezebel Jade, Frankenstein Jr and Buzz, Mightor, a monkey in a domino mask, and The Impossibles. There’s more but you get the idea - it’s a chaotic jumble of characters!
You know what it’s like? The parasites episode from Rick and Morty where you’re deliberately introduced to dozens of new characters every minute who pretend they’ve always been around. You have no idea who they are or what their deal is. Jeff Parker gives the reader almost no background to the characters so if you don’t know them, tough, you’re not getting any help from him! And the ones he does give some backstory, like Birdman, are so generic and dull.
Speaking of generic and dull, the plot: a portal or something is opening and bad guys or something are coming through and FEAR are evil and up to something? Terrible. I guess Parker didn’t have a choice and had to come up with something vague and all-encompassing to incorporate the massive cast but it’s still boring to read.
The art is wonderful, in particular Evan “Doc” Shaner and Steve “The Dude” Rude’s - very clean lines, lively panels, eye-catching colour, and, despite the pandemonium of having so many characters, well-ordered. I was also impressed to see Jeff Parker’s art, which isn’t bad, as I thought he was just a writer.
It definitely looks like a fun world to be involved in and maybe the tumultuous style of this book is similar to the original show’s and so fans, in addition to nostalgia, might like it for that; though as someone unfamiliar with the show, I found Future Quest to be totally inaccessible and uninteresting - this book is definitely for pre-established fans only. -
The Omnikron scours time and space, absorbing anything it comes into contact with. Its next target: Earth. Standing in its way Johnny Quest and the assembled might of all the Hanna-Barbera characters! Well, eventually...
As a child of the late 1970s, I have hazy memories of a lot of Hanna-Barbera characters. My mom assures me I watched Johnny Quest on Saturday mornings and I have vague memories of Space Ghost, the Herculoids, and the Galaxy Trio. One of St. Louis' UHF stations had Birdman on at the ass crack of dawn during my teens. When I saw this being hyped, with Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner at the helm, how could I pass it up?
Well, I managed to for a couple years at least. So many comics, so little time, etc.
Anyway, this reads like Crisis on Infinite Earths + New Frontier for the Hanna-Barbera characters. This volume is mostly setup and is very new reader friendly. It served as a refresher course for the characters I knew and brought me up to speed on the ones never heard of, like Frankenstein Junior, Mightor, and The Impossibles. I have to think most of the pieces are on the board at this point: Dr. Zin, Jezebel Jade, FEAR, the Omnikron, Space Ghost, the Herculoids, The Impossibles, and what I'm calling the Quest Coalition.
Jeff Parker's writing reminds me of his work on Batman '66 or a Pixar movie. It's geared toward the younger set but has enough big concepts and humor to keep adults engaged, just what I was looking for on a dreary winter afternoon. The Hanna-Barbara characters are familiar but very fresh and underexposed, making this a notch above most super hero crossovers that ultimately don't amount to much. These characters haven't been merchandised to death like most of DC's line so there's a sense of danger since theoretically anyone could die at any time.
The assembled team of artists is almost as mighty as the Omnikron itself: Doc Shaner, Karl Kesel, and Steve FUCKING Rude, along with several others. The art has a retro yet modern feel and should appeal to Darwyn Cooke fans. There's also an afterword by Jeff Parker that talks about the project's genesis during some brainstorming with Darwyn Cooke before he passed.
Now that all the pieces are on the board, I'm ready for more Future Quest! Four out of five space monkeys. -
This was the Hanna-Barbera book I was most looking forward to. Jonny Quest, Space Ghost and the Herculoids were some of my favorite cartoons to catch when they aired in reruns.
The series starts off strong with this all-consuming creature Omnicron attacking the galaxy Space Ghost, the Herculoids and the Galaxy Trio are from. Omnicron is trying to escape to our world and Dr. Quest and Birdman are on the case. We get a lot of the classic characters from Jonny Quest like Dr. Zin, Jezebel Jade, and even the spider robots. But the story starts losing its focus once all of the backup stories start. They're too long and keep the main plot of each issue from progressing. I'd rather see all of these other characters just show up in the story as they make sense, like Parker did with Mightor and Dino Boy. Cramming minor characters like Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles into the story really lost me. By the end of the volume, the main story had lost all its steam. Nothing else had happened besides Omnicron was still trying to get to Earth.
Received an advance copy from DC and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -
In theory, the gist of Future Quest seems tailor-made for my Gen-X crowd. Take the characters from various mid-60's Hanna-Barbera adventure / sci-fi cartoon shows - Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Herculoids, and Birdman, among others - and have an edition that is one giant crossover event. (I can recall when NBC aired reruns of those shows during their early 80's Saturday morning line-up. They were better - certainly more entertaining - than the newer shows. A good time to be a kid!)
Well, that idea disappointingly does not live up to the actual execution. While the first half of the book is brisk with lots of action (and the illustrations are consistently great), it begins to implode with both too many flashbacks and other characters introduced into a relatively streamlined plot. -
¿Cómo que el arco argumental no termina en este volumen???
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WOW! If you were ever a fan of the Saturday morning action adventure cartoons of the late 60's and early 70's like me then you need to read this comic series. All the greats are joined up in a epic adventure. The writers do a very good job with a storyline that joins this vast cast together. Very nice art that reminds me of the cartoons add a great touch. Pure flashback joy to read. Very recommended
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It was fun and I really wanted to give this 5 start but I just couldn't. Maybe if I read this in single issues I could have, but here it just doesn't deserve it. When you are putting out a collection like this DC Comics, please take the reader into consideration. You have an opportunity to tell the story in a straight line. You have an opportunity to move backup stories to where they make more sense. The lack of a coherent straight line story here made this difficult to read. What I could put together was a good story though. I loved Space Ghost and the Herculoids growing up!! I was also a big fan of Johnny Quest. Seeing this come out and actually getting good reviews really geeked me out!!!!! And if anyone from DC is reading this is would definitely buy a Bill Sienkiewicz Space Ghost poster for my geek room!!
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I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, but when I saw some that revamp the Hanna-Barbera universe, I knew I needed them. I loved Jonny Quest when I was a kid, and it remains one of my favorite cartoons as an adult. I used to watch it with my dad and spend entire days reenacting it with my friends, and it’s hard to imagine growing up without it in my life. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its problems (severe lack of female characters, literally every villain is a POC or a white guy with an accent), but I think it was ahead of its time in the science fiction aspects. I’m also convinced that Race and Dr. Quest are extreme action boyfriends/first gay dads on TV, even if there’s little to no canon evidence to support that. Trigger warnings: death, abduction, guns, violence.
Future Quest combines characters from Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and The Herculoids, together for the first time to fight an otherworldly evil called Omnikron that threatens to take over Earth. When inter-dimensional pockets start opening up on earth, timelines collide, leaving dinosaurs and saber-toothed tigers roaming the Florida swamplands. Jonny, Hadji, Race, and Dr. Quest are fighting with Inter-Nation to study and contain them, but they’re going to need help from Birdman, the Herculoids, and others to stop Omnikron, Dr. Zin, and his evil organization F.E.A.R.
This isn’t quite what I was expecting. I’m not that familiar with the other shows featured here, but my sense is that the novel is trying to juggle too many characters without enough plot. It feels cluttered with characters who barely get an introduction (if that) before we’re expected to know them, and there isn’t enough time to develop any of them properly. Birdman and Space Ghost look like the same guy in a different suit, so I was constantly confusing them. The timeline is also jumbled, and it jumps around to introduce new groups of characters without any obvious rhyme or reason. I don’t know if this is how graphic novels usually go, but it didn’t really work for me.
However, I do like the artwork a lot, and the dialogue (at least in the Quest characters) is believable. I could usually hear the characters’ voices in my head, but I was disappointed that they didn’t get more page-time. Jade, one of the only recurring female characters from the show, makes a very brief cameo, and it seems like Race is unconscious for half of the action scenes. I was also hoping that the comic might resolve some of the issues with representation that the original shows had, but no such luck. Dr. Zin, a person of color, is still the main villain, Hadji still has mystical powers (an Imperialist fantasy if there ever was one), and there are no major female characters. However, there are more females/POC within the side characters who are heroes, so that’s something. All in all, it’s not the way I would have chosen to revamp the series, but I enjoyed revisiting characters I love, and I’ll probably read the second volume to see how things turn out.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com. -
Hell of a nostalgia kick! It's got everything, but the kitchen sink - including dinosaurs and badass secret agent ladies (I can't remember Deva Sumadi from any of the shows, so I assume she's native to this comic, but she ties everyone together nicely)
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I have been looking forward to the new DC Hanna-Barbera Universe with high anticipation! This is the 2nd book out but my first read. There is only one word to describe it ... AWESOME!! I grew up watching these cartoons on Saturday mornings and am so happy to see all the HB superheroes in a modern storyline. Future Quest is typical superhero fare with a sci-fi theme. I have always loved Jonny Quest, and this re-imagining is faithful yet current. I'm in love! This is a very busy volume with masses of characters introduced and the beginning of a story arc that promises to be epic. The book switches back and forth between the main plot and background/origin stories for the heroes, superheroes, and villains. I won't get into the whole story here but let's just say I highly recommend!!
APR 3 - I enjoyed this even more as a re-read! Can't wait for the next volume; this is so dense with different plots. -
First, the things I like about this book are the art and the first issue. The first issue sets up a really interesting story, and combines characters from different series in an interesting way. Things start to fall apart from the second issue though. The story starts going into flashbacks and exposition. It tries to explain who the characters are and how they got into the first issue. I would have preferred it if they didn't explain the characters and just let the story proceed. That way, readers who don't know the old Hanna Barbara characters can meet them for the first time in the context of this story, and the old fans would still recognize their favorite characters. In trying to explain everything, the story loses its punch.
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Ok, in all fairness I'm a HUGE Jonny Quest fan. I'm also a fan of both The Herculoids & the original Space Ghost (NOT ...Coast to Coast). So it was almost a given that I'd love this series. Of course, it could have been terrible. It's not. It's fantastic. This is a feel-good, all-ages, fun comic - something that DC really doesn't do much of anymore.
Looking forward to future issues and volumes! Keep 'em coming! Love it! -
The first volume collects the initial issues of the multi-part crossover that brings together the dozens of Hanna-Barbara animated heroes. While Johnny Quest and his family, along with Space Ghost, have had four-color adventures before this, DC brings them all together for the first time of which I'm aware. Jeff Parker does a great job of capturing the characters pretty much as we remember them, although there are a few bits that appear to be new or at least unrevealed in their previous incarnations.
When Space Ghost and his companions attempt to stop a creature who has already destroyed countless planets, they are sent into a new world where they are discoverd by the Quest family. Along the way we discover the fates of other H-B characters who have also encountered the creature, sometimes to fatal outcomes. Not quite the light-hearted adventure that some of these creations generally seemed to have.
If you were a fan of these shows growing up, or discovered them in reruns on cable, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'm certainly looking forward to the second volume which will wrap things up. Happily I'm hoping. -
Yes! To be a kid again! I have so many fond memories growing up and watching these cartoon characters. Many of the heroes we follow in this story had great cartoon shows which really opened up my imagination as a child growing up in the 80s. Johnny Quest was one of my favorites. I really loved that opening with the mechanical spiders. Space Ghost was also a guilty pleasure. I remember the Galaxy Trio, Mitor, Birdman, and The Herculoids. I do not remember the Impossibles though. Many of you who grew up in the 80s may remember these characters from watching Cartoon Express if your parents were fortunate enough to have cable. I really remember viewing those shows when visiting my grandparents in Virginia. I always looked forward to sitting and watching those cartoons along with He-man, Transformers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Really good fun and good times. Many of these shows are hard to find now but if you have cable you can find then on Cartoon Network's Boomerang channel or maybe some one has unloaded few episodes to Youtube. This collection was the one Hanna Barbera universe book I was looking forward to the most. Jeff Parker does a great job capturing the personality and tone of each character. The book is filled with fast paced action. You not get a origin for all the characters but I really enjoyed the small origin we get for the Herculoids which curious enough I have been wondering about for years. The book feels like a sort of DC Comics crisis of infinite earths fare we come to expect from DC comics. The artwork is good with many of the heroes looking the way I remembered them. The cliffhanger was a bit anticlimactic but I am looking forward to reading the next volume. I really loved the cover art in this book as well. We get a cover by the late great
Darwyn Cooke. For those looking for great cartoon nostalgia comics checkout
Space Ghost,
Micronauts, Volume 1: Entropy, the entire TMNT series starting with
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 1: Change is Constant and please read
Absolute DC: The New Frontier. -
I grew up watching many of the Hanna-Barbera science fiction/adventure cartoons, especially Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and The Herculoids. Jeff Parker had done his research on these characters and has made a fascinating universe that they all inhabit. The original cartoons were very lean on origin stories, the characters just _were_. Parker has imbued carefully constructed origins for the characters that fit into their established narratives. The interactions between the characters are believable, with just the right amount of pseudoscience to hold things together. One of the things I like most about this series are the side stories that focus on individual characters or groups. The downside to this is that the main plot line is not finished at the end of this first volume, which is really my only complaint about the series. Doc Shaner does a great job with the art on the main story, with very able help by the likes of Aaron Lopresti and Steve Rude on some of the side stories. Parker, et al, include some Easter eggs for Hanna-Barbera fans, for example, naming a character Messick in honor of legendary voice actor Don Messick, and a poster image of Secret Squirrel on a wall.
Note: I read this as individual comic book issues. -
This is a reboot putting together many of the Hanna-Barberra characters of yesteryear. We get Johnny Quest, Space Ghost, Birdman, The Herculoids, and more. Their entourages also tag along (and Race Bannon is still a bad@ss.)
They team up to battle F.E.A.R. and there's also a more cosmic threat going on, which manages to bring all the characters together in a somewhat plausible way. That being said, this still fell a little flat to me. I recently read Scooby Apocalypse and loved that one, but this one didn't seem to mature the characters quite as well. These are pretty much the same characters just all in one story.
Now, that's not to say this is bad. Far from it, this is an entertaining book. However, each issue is split between the main storyline and a backup story starring one of the characters in a side adventure, and that throws me out of the story. I'd have preferred a more cohesive storyline without the backups as to me the dont add much.
Still, the art is nice and the characters are cool. If you are a fan of the characters this is worth checking out. -
Unlike DC's other Hanna-Barbera reinventions - the Flintstones, Dastardly & Muttley, Scooby - I'm not sure any of these characters made much of an impact in the UK, or if they did, they weren't part of my childhood. I know the name Jonny Quest; I'm dimly aware of Space Ghost and Birdman, though only via a vague knowledge of their comedy reboots. Others here, such as the Herculoids and the Impossibles, I'm pretty sure I've entirely avoided for all my 40 years. So it's without much confidence that I conclude that here they're probably being played a lot straighter than those others, crossed over more than shaken up. Certainly the various artists seem to keep that innocent, cartoony feel in a way the bonkers new Dastardly or blackly comic Flintstones pointedly don't. So what that leaves me is a big Crisis-style crosstime event, where I have no prior investment in any of the characters. Yes, my first ever Marvel comic was Secret Wars, but that was at least intended as a toy ad aimed at small boys; this one draws the sort of correspondences which feel more like a Final Crisis, but unlike eg Scioli's thrill-powered Transformers vs GI Joe, holds back from going too crazy with them. So I'm not sure I ever really connected with it, but hey, it's Jeff Parker, so at least it zips along nicely enough.
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With a Universal threat making its way to Earth heroes from all over the Hanna Barbera universe must come together and face the threat before all life ends as we know it. Just picking up this volume and looking at the cover floods me with memories of watching some of these cartoons when I was younger (yes I know it dates me but I am still young at heart.) With a decidedly modern take on a number of hero oriented cartoons such as Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Frankenstein JR, Birdman, The Herculoids, The Impossibles, and others you will see as time and space converge on Earth.
With all of the action and memories of various cartoons it is a little hard to choose a favorite part of the book myself but one part I found amusing although brief is parts of the story when all of the various pets had to deal with each other while the world was in danger. It is nice to have a break from a threat that ends life as we know it even if it is only now and then. :) -
This volume was disjointed and contained a lot of set up, so I'm hoping the next will be more cohesive now that the characters are introduced. It's fun revisiting characters from my childhood and meeting new ones, so I'm looking forward to the second volume.
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It's as good as comic books get. I totally loved this book. If you're a fan of Darwyn Cooke or Jeff Parker, this is a must-read. The art is top-notch. A perfect comic book.
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Future Quest is an 80s/90s kid's dream come true. A bunch of our favourite Hanna-Barbera cartoon superheroes are pulled into the same fight and have to work together to save the world. When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued and couldn't wait to get my hands on the goods.
Volume 1 was available on Netgalley, and I surprisingly received a copy of it! It starts off with a bang and the first couple of issues rekindle the magic of our youth. The focus on Johnny Quest and the gang made it particularly special, for me at least, as I loved that show as a kid. Plus - Space Ghost! So much awesome in these pages.
I felt the story fell away a bit during the end issues of this volume; it seemed to be getting too convoluted for its own good. It is a little hard to keep the awe-inspiring surprises going all throughout. But, given that many of our favourite shows from our childhood didn't have much diversity, DC have worked to include a little more range in their characters, even if it is in the form of new kid on the block, Ty.
Future Quest is a space opera nonpareil, and it's easy to get lost in. I'm glad the creators didn't go in for too many deviations and aberrations from the stories and characters we grew up with - that would have ruined the fun. They look exactly the same as they did on the tele and the dialogue inflections of each character are as close to those I remember from my childhood.
Some of the characters are more prominent than others, which becomes problematic if your favourites aren't in the limelight. However, I'm assuming most will be in the spotlight at some point or other.
For a fun, nostalgic journey to the past (and future), grab a copy of this series. You have a rollicking time ahead! -
It was fun reading this in trade format. It's nice to not have to wait a month for each segment of the story this time around. Definitely one of the best comics in recent years.
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Um prazer rever esses personagens que alegraram minha infância. A história é um pouco confusa, personagens demais para se mostrar em um só volume mas... quem se importa? ♡
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I enjoyed the first half of this a lot, the second half lost me a bit. I loved the nastalgia of seeing the older characters together, and that artwork was beautiful. That first few issues is what earned this the 4 star rating. Also that Darwyn Cooke cover...
I received an advanced copy of this from NetGalley.com -
Not gonna lie, nostalgia has played a huge part in my enjoyment of this series. I adored Jonny Quest, Birdman, the Herculoids and Space Ghost as a child and these reimaginings of them are brilliant.
That's not to distract from the story. It's a pretty good plot that ties in the various planets and timelines coherently. Some issues are stronger than others, of course, especially the ones with more action and suspense but there are the odd ones where nothing really happens and it's a bit slow.
The art is generally neat and does justice to the various characters.
I really can't wait to read more! -
review
https://youtu.be/CFOHP-NQByY -
Nostalgia is a tough issue for me. I am more and more irritated when companies trade on nostalgia, supplying it only as a gimmick, not delivering any other substance. What's more is that to me, nostalgia is simply the act of saying 'remember this really great original idea someone else had a long time ago?' Wherein the selling point of that idea was that it was original and connected to its contemporary time. To re-release that idea with little-to-no change is not only unjust to that original idea, but clearly a money-making scheme.
For me, the issue is if there is a reinvention of the idea. What few things I do get excited about from yesteryear, reimagined and made new again: the GI Joe live-action movies (as well as some of the IDW comics), 'The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest,' the 2002 'He-Man' cartoon, the TMNT comics from IDW, et al. Usually, though, I'll content myself with the original product and have no need for revamps.
And then this book comes along and my stance is absolutely put in jeopardy. The characters are the same as they always were. The art style is close enough to the original material that it fits perfectly with it. And the story is perfectly fitted to the old cartoons. It's as if they said 'remember that really great original idea someone else had a long time ago? Let's keep doing it.' In almost every other effort I've seen at that attempt, I was holistically uninterested and even annoyed. But this book delivered perfectly on its promise. I could try to justify my loving this, despite it being completely against what I just said. But I won't; I just like it.
Shaner's art fits so well with that Toth era, yet he finds ways to put his own style on each of the characters. His designs show more detail than could ever have been accomplished in animation, but still retains the beautiful simplicity of the characters--I'm particularly impressed with his maintaining the spot-black masks of the Space Ghost characters, with the stark white eyes. And I have to say that Lopresti's short comic of the Herculoids was absolutely gorgeous. Parker's story keeps growing and getting me more excited with each new development.
This book won me over and I'm terribly excited to continue with the next volume! -
Let's be honest - this is only five stars if you have any memory of these cartoons. I wasn't alive for their first run but did watch them as they were rerun later. Although the Impossibles and Dino Boy never made it to my viewing area I have VERY fond memories of Birdman, Space Ghost, Jonny Quest and the Galaxy Trio. Having said that this series is hitting it out of the park in terms of being true to the original cartoons but still bringing a more complex characterization to the heroes that (obviously) a 60's cartoon with limited animation could never achieve. Also hitting it out of the park is the art of Evan "Doc" Shaner. I have never seen his art before but I am an instant fan. It captures the Alex Toth-ness of the original cartoons but is even better. They also have some other artists do some of the fill-in stories and they are all great with Steve Rude in particular being a favourite of mine.
I have to give this five stars just for the nostalgia value and getting these characters so right.
But I will admit the story is a bit of a "what the heck is happening?" The author Jeff Parker admits he does write the story first, instead he imagines the "big moments" and writes a story to get to them. He seems proud of this writing technique but unfortunately this way of writing is evident and not in a good way - yes we have the big moments but the story connecting them all lacks a strong narrative drive. And my last criticism - more Space Ghost!! He was really marginalized in this story, here's hoping he plays a bigger role in the next volume. -
I mainly chose to check this series out because of Jonny Quest; I'm a fan of the series, and hearing that there were going to be new comics with the characters got me quite excited. There hasn't been any new content for the series for quite a while, and while this isn't exactly what I wanted for the series, it's something.
This first volume was pretty great. The story is a bit run-of-the-mill (it's one of those "various characters come together to stop the end of the world" crossovers), but it's still enjoyable and well done. I don't even think you'd have to be familiar with the characters to like it, but it helps to know them. Their interactions are all fun and enjoyable. And the references to other Hanna-Barbera cartoons are a fun touch.
However, I do think that there are way too many characters and plot threads. I honestly don't think the Impossibles or the Herculoids are very necessary, and it feels like they may have only been included to up the nostalgia for certain people. Despite this, the characters are at least handled well; it wouldn't take much work to improve them (most of the shows these characters are from, with Quest being the exception, were extremely simple shows that don't hold up too well nowadays), and these comics do just that. I like the characters, at least, even if they don't all feel necessary to the plot.
Personally, I enjoyed this volume a lot; I can't recommend it to everyone, but if you enjoy fun adventure stories or like the H-B action cartoons, it's definitely worth a look.
