True heroes are not born … they are forged in the fires of destiny.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artwork: Evan Shaner, Ron Randall & Craig Rousseau
Colorist: Veronica Gandini & Jeremy Lawson
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
What They Say:
Team Quest is dealt a serious blow at the hands of F.E.A.R. just as Omnikron starts rebuilding itself on Earth-out of anything living that comes too close! Inter-Nation’s Deva Sumadi takes charge and splits the group up to go recruit more forces to take on the alien supercreature. It’s time to go on tour with the Impossibles and meet the biggest fighting force in the world, Frankenstein, Jr.!
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As their Triassic foes attack from above and below, the new Mightor once known at the young boy named Ty attempts to assess the situation. The heroes are now scattered and the agents of F.E.A.R. now have control of these primal beasts. However, amid the chaos, these venomous villains still have a plan in action and only the foul Dr. Zin knows its entirety. While the preoccupied hero wrestles with his aerial foe to save Birdman, Jan executes her own covert plan to seize the device which manipulates their reptilian adversaries. But while they divide their forces to conquer two disparate fronts, the true goal of the enemy comes to bear as the commander seizes Dr. Quest. Race cannot save both his friend and the boys at the same time, so he must make a choice. But which one will be the correct one?
Meanwhile, the Impossibles find themselves within a similar quandary where they must face for the first time a foe they cannot defeat. This inflexible monstrosity has but mission: to find the accidental heroes and make them join F.E.A.R., by any means necessary. However, even in his unbridled state of fury, this rocky menace still has the team unsure of what to do next since they lack any experience. In a fit of desperation, they have no choice but to call their advisor Big D, but she herself is preoccupied, leaving them in worse straits than before. As the guys and their new member continue to be chased through the studio, they are soon cornered and learn the truth behind how they acquired their powers. But as the villain seems unwilling to accept any other option than the heroes surrendering, what other choice do they have?
In Summary:
Now that the initial introductions and primary premise of the story has been revealed, this issue feels like a transitional piece as Omnikron makes its way Earth, with Space Ghost close behind. While Jeff Parker did a great job bringing the cast together by relating everyone to a common foe, this story lacks something the others had: events tying the entirety of all the established storylines together. Although it wasn’t lacking in over the top action, the Quest narrative was mainly concentrated on the team trying to get away from F.E.A.R. controlled dinosaurs and the kidnapping of Dr. Quest; while Parker did hint to some of the previous plots, it mainly stayed on Earth instead of scattering the narrative amongst the other characters like he did in the other issues. And while the Impossibles story did have a nod to Deva being the mysterious Big D and the same line being copied in both halves of the book, there really was nothing else to tie them into the main story aside from Agent Sumadi, just like the other characters’ debuts; at least when others were shown, some reference to the vortices was mentioned, but not this time. By doing this, it makes this group feel isolated from the rest, but maybe it was done on purpose since they are still rookies.
Even if the stories were a bit lacking, the artistry of Evan Shaner and Ron Randall with Veronica Gandini for the Quest tale and Craig Rousseau with Jeremy Lawson for the Impossibles side did help to fill in the lack of spontaneity. The work of Shaner and Randall still captures all of the spy movie feel that Jonny Quest imparts from the original animation, but even with the smooth narrative hand over between pages, when Randall takes over from Shaner’s squared jawed characters, some of his panels almost look cartoony in comparison. While it may work in areas where the eye isn’t concentrated on an individual character, in the opening chase scene with Jonny, Todd and Hadji, their faces almost look comical instead of horrified with a plastic mannequin-like appearance. And while Gandini tries to unify the contrasting art styles with her overall coloring, it is areas like this where that harmony works against itself, making such errors even more noticeable.
However it is those same unique elements which Rousseau brings to the Impossibles story that give it the right mood for an animated setting and add Lawson’s fantastic coloring work to keep the environment, costumes and flamboyant exclamatives true to a Sliver Age comic, and this terrifically humorous tale is what you get. The original show never took itself seriously and it is Rousseau’s illustration style which gives this narrative all of the over exaggerated and campy charm which makes you smile, even when the villain is giving his obligatory diatribe as to their true origins. How could you not love this story when everything fits together so well as to be comparable to a Goldberg machine: every component seems insignificant, but when you put them in the right order and the switch is triggered, the results are nothing short of phenomenal.
The story has been set and the characters collected, and all we are waiting for now is the main foe to enter the stage. While the wait for this moment may have seemed like an eternity, the outcome will hopefully come to measure the anticipation we have all heaped upon this unlikely cast of heroes. Although they may all be saviors in their own rights, who knows how they will interact before the next act is begun. Let us keep out fingers crossed for a spectacular new beginning and the start of a better things to come.
Grade: B+
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: October 26th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
