Starting this month, Johnny Quest joins forces with Space Ghost, Birdman, and others.
We had a word with the creative team.
One big deal coming out of DC Comics this month is their Hanna-Barbera Beyond line.
By far, the most interesting series spinning out of this isFuture Questby Jeff Parker and Evan Doc Shaner.
I was privledged to get to speak with Parker and Shaner.
Den of Geek: Im super stoked for this project.
SoFuture Questis this big crossover of all the different Hanna Barbera action shows and properties from the 60s-on.
As the title suggests, Johnny Quest is the central character in all of this.
What made you decide that he made for the best protagonist?
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Jeff Parker:Johnnys kind of the alpha of the whole Hanna Barbera action-adventure thing.
Doug Wildey really hit on something, I feel, withJohnny Quest.
Plus the black shirt makes it easy for Doc.
And are there any that you suddenly came to appreciate even more when working on the series?
JP:Lets see…who was I most excited about…?
All the Herculoids, of course.
Particularly Zok because hes a space dragon.
Thatwasa metal show when you look at it.
JP:Oh yeah!
Because its all monsters.
Its all monsters fighting robots most of the time.
And its like, why even have something kids dont even want in here?
Its just the strength of monsters battling robots and we never even know why the robots are bad.
They just hate them!
Its very pure that way.
Evan Doc Shaner:Ive always been a Space Ghost fan.
Mightor is just a superhero caveman.
Once you really think about what Mightor is, you think, wait, this is really cool.
JP:Hm, not really.
We dont think of the parodies as being malicious.
They have a great respect for the characters.
WithVenture Brothers, you cant nail it that good and not like it.
Theres just no way.
Weve had no trouble with… Ive never understood why one character is supposed to be sillier than another.
Im sorry, the biggest character in the world is a guy who dresses up like a bat.
So nothing about this has me going, Yeah, this is serious business.
Its all very relative to me.
Those characters are fun to draw and it appeals to you on a carnal level that way.
With the Herculoids, theres Gloop and Gleep.
People who couldnt draw could always draw those blobs!
JP:You sit back and go, I want Brak!
Doc:Braks the best!
Like, I know you guys can pull it off…
JP:Hes not really in the story.
But if it came to that.
And also we have a threat that unites all these great characters together.
And they really do!
Doc:laughsTheyre the best.
JP:Every one of them should inspire a band, strangely enough.
Thats our real big change.
Shaner pointed out, its like, three guitarists is not a proper band.
So the Impossibles are getting retooled, at least for musical reasons.
If you were to eat Gloop and/or Gleep, what do you figure they would taste like?
JP:ANYTHING YOU WANTED THEM TO TASTE LIKE!
No, they just seem like the kind of gelatin that you just add in any flavor.
Why did you even ask this question?
As you mentioned, youve been watching a lot of the old cartoons for research.
JP:Yeah, theres a lot of weird stuff.
Doc:Shadow of the Condor.
JP:Yeah, I love that.
Doc:Thats a good one.
JP:See, they formed my sensibilities, so to me none of them stick out as weird.
Theyre all like, Yeah, thats about right.
My big graphic novel from years agoThe Internmanwas heavily influenced byJohnny Quest.
Initially, a lot of it was me thinking about the grownQuestcharacters.
How Johnny and Hadji would grow up.
That might be what the whole series is about.
That theres a monkey in space.
JP:Yes, why is there a monkey?
Shaner giggles in the background
I always get him confused with the one fromSuper Friends.
JP and Doc:Gleek?
When you get into it, you start to realize: whos the best animal sidekick?
Thats another thing, I never realized how many of the characters had animal sidekicks.
We got into the story and were like, Man, all these animals need something to do.
Birdmans got a big bird named Avenger…
Right…
JP:Johnny has Bandit.
Theres a new kid who comes in, Tye, and hes got a cat.
DC did try that miniseries by Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti about ten years ago.
That didnt really catch on.
You already sort of answered that question, I guess.
JP:I think so.
Where did the Ghost Planet come from?
And why does he have a monkey.
JP:And whyyeah.
He told me that he never wanted to put a dog in there.
Joe [Barbera] wanted that.
Originally, Johnny grew out of them wanting to do a character called Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy.
Which nobody would know about because it was a radio show.
I never even heard it.
But Armstrong had a dog, blah, blah, ran around.
You have to look it up, but its way less interesting than whatJohnny Questbecame.
Theres no Hadji or anything cool like that.
A dog gets in the way!
You have to carry it everywhere and it barks!
Doug said, I just wanted a monkey!
It made more sense!
A monkey can go get your keys and stuff like that and breaks you out.
Blips always on the lookout for some keys as soon as hes got into a room.
Its his prime directive to find cell keys and get em…then turn invisible.
JP:Thats your turn, Doc.
Doc:…because were doingFuture Quest.
JP:Wow, thats a sick burn at your editor, Gavin!
*everyone has a good laugh.
It is for me and I wont speak for Evan, but Ill bet it is.
Which makes it a little harder.
Now Superman, however…I feel we can do that.
Doc laughs
I would be for that too!
JP:Im just going to keep swerving this into Superman every chance I get and see what happens!
Doc:Im with that, yeah.
Doc:Yeah, I dont want to sound like we dont appreciate the folks asking.
Thats amazing because its not something I thought Id be able to do in the first place.
Its like I get to tick that off, go back in time and high-five eight-year-old me!
Future Quest #1hits stands Wednesday, May 18.
