Action! Excitement? Raptors!Written By: Jeff Parker
Art By: Evan "Doc" Shaner, Ron Randal, Craig Rousseau.
Color: Veronica Gandini, Jeremy Lawson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 26, 2016
*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
Two issues of Future Quest in the same month? I didn't know this was a Rebirth! I'm kidding, of course, but I welcome this sudden appearance nonetheless, especially since the main story was once again cut down to make room for the ever-growing cast's backstories, this time it being the Impossibles.
Last issue, the Quest gang learned of what Todd's parents were looking into: A tar pit which supposedly was the last resting place of the club of Mightor. The club has a connection to the Vortex, containing a bit of its power which gave Mightor his power. Before they can find the club, a F.E.A.R. squad, lead by Jezebel Jade, ambushes them while searching for it themselves. During the fight, the club begins to float off due to its power. Before it get's too far, Ty(the boy that saved Jonny and Hadji from issue 1) jumps and grabs the club, causing him and his cat, Snag, to turn into the new Mightor and Sabertooth Tiger! How will this hero reborn turn the tide of the battle? Let's dive in and find out!
We open up right where we left off: The new Mightor and Snag, the sabertooth tiger, jumping in to help fight F.E.A.R. and the mind-controlled dinosaurs. The pair split up with Mightor going off to help Birdman and Snag going to help Jonny and Hadji.
While the new super duo helps them, it leaves Sumadi and Dr. Quest being chased by a mammoth. This gets the attention of Ug, carrying Todd on his back, who catapults off a tree and jumps up onto the back of the mammoth to turn it away. While Ug shows off his skills in diverting the mammoth, Jan sneaks up behind the F.E.A.R. agent controlling a few of the prehistoric creatures and knocks him out.
Noticing a problem yet? All I've described so far is an action scene... and that's really all the main story is. This annoys me because in the issue at the beginning of the month, it had stuff that moved the story FORWARD, and this just picks up the slack of the story being cut in half. This chapter to this great story is just a big action scene, which is kind of disappointing. That being said, the good part of this giant battle scene is the fact that no character overshadows one another. Every character has their moment to shine in the fight, each showing their skills while fighting dinosaurs, and with the art team, it looks friggin awesome.
The main story ends when Jezebel kidnaps Dr. Quest, but before Race can save him, Zin controls a, and I'm not making this up, a suicide bomber raptor to attack the kids. Before they can get blown to smithereens, though, Hawkman swoops in like the bad@$$ he is and throws the bomb clear of everyone. When they reconvene, Sumadi gets a message from Inter-nation then tells everyone that they need to go... because Vortexes have been appearing all over the world.
The story of the Impossibles is similar to the main story, with it being a huge action scene, but they also include the connection between them and the main storyline. The villain reveals that The Impossibles gained their powers after a leak from F.E.A.R.'s underwater base(Called Deep F.E.A.R.... Jeff Parker's pun game is strong.) happened thanks to Agent Sumadi coming in and tears it apart. He tries to get them to join F.E.A.R. to fix their conditions... But the kids don't care, because they have superpowers! They fall back and with the help of their managers, work together to take down the giant metal man. I liked this action scene quite a lot because not only did all the characters get their moment to help fight, but the art makes it feel fun If "Doc" Shaner ever leaves the book, I would love to see Craig Rousseau and Jeremy Lawson take over the art duties.
Bits and Pieces:
This book is merely the part where the last issue cut off. While the Impossibles' story add a new connection between themselves and F.E.A.R., the main story half of the issue was one giant action scene. It was a cool scene mind you, showing off the skills of each of the heroes, but the thing that pushes the plot forward was in the first part the last issue, making me question once again, 'why cut this story in half?' Overall, it's a 'meh' chapter of this epic tale, but with what's coming, it does show the world is in capable hands.
6.5/10
Isn't really the Impossibles, (my all-time favourites), to me, 'tho - just the 3 original members put into something different. The new member takes attention from the originals and affects the interaction between them which was such a great part of the cartoon, and while having the original Big D and some villains as part of the featured T.V. show is, I realise, meant as an affectionate nod to the original cartoon - it comes across as dismissive to me. I don't like the Deva character,(who seems to have a disproportionately large role in the story for a supporting character anyway), and certainly don't want her replacing the original Big D. I think this, and the new member, are due to an over-done feminist/PC (not just equality), slant here - and that's coming from a woman! New member isn't even needed as a drummer for their stage appearances as one of the originals could get behind a drumkit, (lots of musicians do play more then one instrument and it would still leave 2 on guitar), and, as this is set in the present day, there is technology which can replicate percussion effects easily available. Not a bad character, but really feel should be a supporting one rather than an actual Impossibles member. Didn't like the art for them in 6 - artist in 5 did make them look much more like more realistic versions of their cartoon selves, although my fave member Multi Man needs his original costume and the rest of his nose back! (Did like the bit in 5 about him spending lots of time in front of the mirror - always had him as a bit of an attention seeker, 'tho not in a bad way - we need the swooning fangirls, thee's room for that, too)!! Really think the only changes should have been making them look more realistic and new stage wear. Personally prefer, in their case, a mysterious origin but the one here is O.K. and I realise lots like the idea of their origin story, but then leave it at that.
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