Rayboy's Review: Future Quest #1 [DC Comics]

Comic book fans will easily remember the many terrific Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon shows starring a legion of colorful heroes (designed by the late Alex Toth) back in the 1960s, and now courtesy of DC Comics and series creators Jeff Parker, Evan "Doc" Shaner and Steve “The Dude” Rude nostalgia blends all of them together in a wonderful new monthly book called Future Quest.

The debut issue features the cast from Jonny Quest who meet Space Ghost and Birdman for the first time (with the promise of others to come in subsequent issues) alongside a dynamic sequence illustrated by Rude featuring classic Quest villain Dr. Zin. This book is a joy for fans of those old cartoons and for anyone that misses the types of comics that used to dominate the stands, not that Future Quest seems dated by design. Rather this book seamlessly plays up the strength of these great characters and does so with a modern twist that for once does not require darkening their original premise overmuch.

Future Quest may be influenced by the history of the Hanna-Barbera gang, but Parker quickly establishes a strong reason for bringing them all together in a shared universe and no better artists could visualize these classic heroes than Doc Shaner and “The Dude.” The Catacombs highly recommends this book above all others out there right now (and count yourself lucky that I’ve offered no spoilers, too). Your joy of discovery awaits!