Future Quest #1 Review and *SPOILERS

Quest Accepted

Written By: Jeff Parker
Art By: Evan “Doc” Shaner, Steve “The Dude” Rude
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: May 18, 2016

*NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM*


I may be the youngest writer here on the blog, but I’ve had my fair share of Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I remember waking up in the early morning to see reruns of Space Ghost, the Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, as well as clips from shows like the Herculoids and Birdman. They were cool, exciting, but most importantly: Fun. So when DC announced their Hanna-Barbera comics, I was excited. I was picked to do Future Quest, a book where all the action heroes of the Hanna-Barbera universe(like those listed above) unite against a common foe. So how is the first chapter of this team up decades in the making? Let’s find out... 

We open to the destruction of an ancient world years before the present. We see a man, Kyr, a part of what looks like the Hanna-Barbera equivalent to the Green Lantern Corps, which are trying to take down a giant tentacled beast. Unfortunately despite the effort, the whole Corp is decimated as they push everything into the beast, with Kyr being the only survivor… Survivor on a completely dead world… Sucks to be you Kyr. 

Jump to the present, we see Jonny Quest and Hadji flying jet packs with Race, their Bodyguard, tailing them with a helicopter. The trio are searching for anomalies that have been occurring over the swamps of the Florida Everglades while a pair of visitors joins Dr. Benton Quest at Headquarters to keep him safe from harm. The visitors: Deva Sumadi, Ray Randall, and his pet falcon, Avenger.

After getting cleared for entry, Doctor Quest explains what he’s exactly studying out so far from civilization. A vortex appeared and after he and his family went to explore it, he found… a rock. NOT JUST ANY ROCK THOUGH! The mineral seems to be punching holes into different realities causing them to pour out into one another. 

Before getting into further detail, an alarm goes off as a ship crashes into the swamps well as the villainous Dr. Zin sends his forces into the everglades to pick something up. His battle drones quickly take down race and strands the boys in the jungle fleeing for their lives. At his base, Zin, as James Bond Villain esque as possible, goes over his plan to use what has been falling out of these anomalies to take over the world for F.E.A.R.(OF COURSE!) He has somehow pieced together that the entity can’t come through all at once due to sheer size, so if he can gather the pieces, he can force control. 

Meanwhile back at the Everglades, Ray says he’s going to head after the boys and Race. He stands on the ledge of the roof, calls to Ra and tells Avenger to fly by his side. That’s right boys and girls: BIRDMAN HAS ENTERED THE FRAY. 

Jonny and Hadji try their best to find their way out of the swamp, as the Battle Drones continue to open fire on them. After jumping into the clearing, the boys find what the drones are after; The body of a large rhino-like creature(Tundro from the Herculoids). Just when they think they’re done for, a boy named Ty swoops in on a fan boat and gets them out of there. He agrees to take them back to HQ as the drones take away the body. However, they don’t get far as a being crackling with energy rises from the waters, threatening to destroy them. For once I won't spoil what it is, but when you see what it is, guarantee your jaw will drop like mine did.

Bits and Pieces:
While this issue might not be the action-packed thrill ride we were expecting, it does promise a LOT of good things to come. What we do get is a pretty good setup showing who the big bad is, what he wants, and more importantly who are the heroes we’ll be following. Despite these being old characters, you really don’t need to know them to enjoy the book, but it does help. The art is probably the best part about the issue, with both “Doc” Shaner and Steve Rude capturing the feel of the cartoons of the past. It might not be a perfect start, but it’s one I think you should check out.

8/10