Review: Adam Strange & Future Quest #1
By Andy Frisk
March 29, 2017 - 18:32
DC Comics
Writer(s): Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker
Artist(s): Steve Lieber
Colourist(s): Veronica Vandini
Letterer(s): Dave Lanphear
$4.99
Future Quest must be the new name for the old Johnny Quest franchise. I'm not sure as I haven't followed the Quest family since I was very young. I do remember loving the old cartoons, even if they seemed a little scary at times. I'm more familiar with Adam Strange, at least as how he has been portrayed over the past few decades. Their meeting in Adam Strange/Future Quest is a fun, if overall throwaway and forgettable one, but it does create exposure for two franchises that hopefully will experience a renaissance soon.
Adam Strange rides a Zeta Beam (it's how he travels between the planet Rann and Earth) and, as often happens, Strange ends up somewhere...well, uh...strange. This time he ends up in The Lost Land, part of the Hannah Barbara Universe. Dr. Quest and Race Bannon, with Johnny and Hadji in in tow...uh...race...to the investigate the energy signal that they picked up on their instruments which is the after product of an inter-dimensional vortex being opened. The united group has a run in with the Hannah Barbara's main baddies, F.E.A.R.. as well as Ug the Caveman and friends, with a a few cameos by other Hannah Barbara properties thrown in.
Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker do a good enough job of shoehorning the two properties together in order to create fresh exposure for both, and end up coming up with something that really doesn't do either justice, but does remind the casual reader that the two properties exist. In that respect, it's a success.
Artist Steve Lieber does an excellent job capturing an instantly recognizable rendition of the classic Johnny Quest characters, and makes Adam Strange look better than he has in years. In fact, Strange looks so good that I'd love to see an Adam Strange series with Lieber assigned the artistic duties.
A fun read, but one you'll most likely forget after reading it, Adam Strange/Future Quest does make you aware of these characters and franchises. It's the artwork makes you want to see them again though, but only if drawn by Lieber.
Rating: 7/10
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