Issue three takes the story back prior to the events of issue two. Birdman encounters Omnikron for the first time, and he gets some help from secret agent Deva Sumadi. She’s a saving grace for the avian hero. The second half shifts to an exposition of the Herculoids and their human friends’ world. From Zandor’s tale, readers get the origins of the menacing Omnikron. The success of the first two books came from two critical areas: one, the heroes worked together as a team or in pairings, and, two, the heroes revealed themselves as the action progressed forward. While the shift back in narrative does aid the story, the explication grinds the plot and slows down the momentum developed in the first two books.

Issue three feels like it would be a zero issue or a preview comic used to build hype for the series. The action does entertain and the story revelations have interesting, grave impact on the story. But this is just one of those issues that’s a necessity for storytelling purposes yet a drag as far as the delivery of the overall plot is concerned.

As one familiar with some of the artistic styling of 70's Silver Age comics, I am pleased with the illustrations in Future Quest. Steve Rude’s dedication to the character designs complements the presentation of the framing in the panels and narrative boxes. I did find myself staring at some pages and marveling how they fool the eye in thinking one is reading a vintage comic.

Jeff Parker did an outstanding job with this issue, but this is one of those chapters that fills in back story. I know there’s a better way to tell the tale. My scoring on this issue does not mean I have lost favor with the crossover; instead, I merely hate this technicality in story crafting that breaks momentum for the sake of issue 3.

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Future Quest #3 Writer: Jeff Parker Artist: Steve Rude Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital

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