CLASSIC COMIC OF THE WEEK: The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum
By d. emerson eddy — Since at least the '90s, there's been a practice in comics that rankles a number of comics creators. This practice is utilizing comics as a pitch document for film and television. It became more prevalent in the '00s as more properties got optioned and adapted into other media — and in many cases —blossomed into big money makers, with some publishers even branching out into their own entertainment divisions while some new publishers popped up in order to exploit the medium as a resource.
Part of the argument against this is that it fails to see comics as its own artform, treating it simply as a springboard to “what we really want”. I can't really say I blame any creator for having that attitude; they're not exactly wrong. That said, I don't think every publisher who has used comics to further television and film brands or ideas have necessarily done so in order to purely exploit the medium. Some of them are crafting good stories and comics that work purely as comics, without need for adaptation.
One of these publishers is Legendary Comics, an offshoot of the film production company Legendary Entertainment. A large portion of their output encompasses tie-ins to their film and television properties, such as Pacific Rim, The Great Wall, and Carnival Row. At the same time, however, they also publish a number of original comics that are at least creator-participation deals with names like Mark Waid, Judd Winick, Pete Woods, Steven Grant, Ed Benes, Chris Roberson, Matt Wagner, Simon Bisley, and more. Oh, and they also published Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving's Annihilator.
They recently launched a tiered bundle at Humble Bundle of a mixed collection of their offerings for ridiculously cheap (sadly not including any of the Wagner and Bisley Tower Chronicles, though). One of my favorites of the bunch is The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum by Marc Guggenheim, Freddie Williams II, Christopher Sotomayor, and Patrick Brosseau.
I suppose that you could consider it a superhero book, but it seems to take more cues from the pulp heroes that preceded them. Jonas Quantum is essentially the most intelligent man in the world, somewhat like Reed Richards but fairly far beyond. His intellect and curiosity leads him on adventures with his plucky assistant, Eve, that typically tend to plumb the depths of weird science like a Doc Savage or Tom Strong. Each issue/chapter of this one tells what are mostly self-contained stories, with some elements that carry throughout, but you're largely getting six distinct adventures. They run the gamut from exploring alternate realities to dealing with a no good estranged brother who is up to his eyeballs in debt to the mob.
These are fun, inventive stories that really give Williams, Sotomayor, and Brosseau an opportunity to shine. Over at least the past five years or so, Williams has really shown how versatile an artist he can be with the various Batman/TMNT crossover mini-series, but that's also fully on display here in this comic. He has an exaggerated, somewhat cartoon-like style that's full of action and detail that lends itself to some interesting monsters and dynamic ninjas. To match that energy, Sotomayor's palette tends towards bright primary colors that really bring out the overall excitement inherent in the adventures. There's also a lot of blue and red in Jonas Quantum's color scheme that brings to mind Superman, further reinforcing ideas of Quantum as being beyond the normal man. Brosseau's letters round the visuals out, often with an info-tagging box that plays up the scientific gadget aspect of the tales.
Overall, The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum by Guggenheim, Williams, Sotomayor, and Brosseau is a fun — sometimes very funny — series of adventures that evokes the science heroes of the pulp era, just with a very modern and fresh take. The only downside is that there's only six installments.
The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum
The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Freddie Williams II
Colorist: Christopher Sotomayor
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Publisher: Legendary Comics
Release Date: May 10, 2016
Meet Jonas Quantum: a maverick hyper-genius with the power to cure death in the morning, time travel in the afternoon and unlock transdimensional wormholes at night. And what have you done with your day?
Blessed with the curse of infinite intelligence, there's only one thing Jonas Quantum can't do: play well with others. This thrilling action-adventure series spans cosmic voyages, history-changing inventions, and delusions of grandeur.
Price: $4.99 on Comixology | Also available in the highest tier in the Discover Legendary Comics bundle from Humble Bundle - https://www.humblebundle.com/books/discover-legendary-comics-books
Check out more classic comics of the week from d. emerson eddy!
d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.
