Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Review: Future Quest #4

By Philip Schweier
August 31, 2016 - 05:26

As a child of the ‘70s, I grew up on the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Most are but dimly remembered from the late 1960s, such as the Mighty Mightor, Frankenstein Jr., and Shazzan. But FINALLY DC Comics has begun publishing these properties, keeping them alive in comic book form. Why it didn’t happen sooner is beyond me.

Future Quest brings many of these properties together in a time-spanning tale of high adventure. Issue #4 opens with the Mighty Mightor, a prehistoric super-hero that pre-dates Captain Caveman. In modern times, Space Ghost’s sidekick Jan and her monkey Blip have been found by the Quest team and Bird Man. It’s a conflagration of eras as Dr. Quest’s arch foe Dr. Zin manipulates the time stream.

I’d heard high praise for the series, but was skeptical at so many H-B characters being shoehorned into a single narrative. It rarely works out well. If you’re a fan of these classic properties, it’s well worth checking out.

The book also features not one but TWO back-up features, both written by Jeff Parker. In “The Structure of Fear,” he provides a glimpse into the organization known as FEAR. Sadly, it rings too much like the Monarch organization from the satirical Venture Brothers cartoon. The other back-up story – illustrated by Ron Randall – introduces Frankenstein Jr’s backstory, as the robotic bodyguard to young Buzz Conroy.

Bringing all these characters together in a single story is no easy task. I can appreciate Parker’s ambition, though I am uncertain of the viability of some of them. As the art, I especially enjoyed Shaner’s work in the featured story. It is reminiscent of Alex Totbh, who did many of the character design for H-B back in the lack 1960s and early ‘70s. If he’s going to continue this kind of work when the Future Quest story wraps up, I’ll definitely have to add it to my pull list.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12