In this review of Space Quest #1, mysterious alien technology brings the Quests and Space Ghost together!
Space Ghost/Jonny Quest: Space Quest #1
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Sebastián Piriz
Main Cover: Mark Spears
Variant Covers: Ben Oliver, Chad Hardin, Derrick Chew, Mark Bagley
Page Count: 22 pages
Release Date: May 7, 2025
This review contains spoilers
After returning home from their trip to the future, the Quests are visited by Phil Corvin. He tells them that they have a ship that crashed in the Mohave Desert a month ago and seems alien in nature. The Quests go to Area 51 to investigate. Meanwhile, Race meets up with Jade in Marrakesh and tells her he wants to talk to her about his time in the future.
The Quests make it to Area 51 and are shown a mysterious device that was removed from the ship by General Ashmore, unaware that mysterious figures are watching them. Dr. Quest agrees to look it over and see if it can be activated without the ship’s power supply. In Marrakesh, Race tells Jade that he thinks he met someone significant to them both in the future, but admits that he is hesitant to tell her who it was now that they’re meeting face to face.
As Dr. Quest works on the mysterious device, he discovers that the only way he can power it on is by using the amplification circuit they created in the future, but he is hesitant to do so because he doesn’t know what the device does. He doesn’t tell the general about this, who is upset that he has been working for two days with seemingly no update. He tells Dr. Quest that he will fire him and shut down his entire research operation if he doesn’t have an update by the next day.
Not wanting his dad to be fired, Jonny sneaks in after dark with Hadji and Bandit and puts the amplification circuit into the machine. The mysterious figures chase them as the machine fires and sends them away while bringing Janet and Jace to Area 51. Scared, the figures flee, and Janet and Jace are discovered by Dr. Quest as Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit come face to face with Space Ghost.
Analysis
Despite this being a continuation of last year’s Jonny Quest storyline, Space Ghost/Jonny Quest: Space Quest #1 is an excellent place for new readers to start. Previous plot points are explained without going into too much detail, and there is nothing overly complicated about the setting or characters that might confuse a new reader. However, there is a moment between Race and Jade that is treated like a cliffhanger, when he tells her that he met someone from their past, but is having second thoughts about telling her who.
I am a new reader to Jonny Quest and Space Ghost, but I can’t imagine that whoever he speaks about wasn’t included in the previous storyline. Treating it like a new piece of information waiting to be uncovered may frustrate readers who are more familiar with the storyline, but we won’t know until Race shares what he knows.
The cover for Space Ghost/Jonny Quest: Space Quest #1 originally made me skeptical about the artwork. Based on what I’ve seen about Jonny Quest and Space Ghost, the hyper-realistic style felt out of place. While I wasn’t expecting a one-to-one replication of the style from the cartoons, it still threw me off. So I was pleasantly surprised when the art style for the comic was very different.
Everything from the chosen colors to how the characters were drawn felt classic. Every panel is a reminder that this story takes place in the past and a world adjacent to but not quite the same as ours. There are a few odd faces every now and again, just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to distract you from the story for good.
There are also moments where it feels like the text boxes are taking over the panels. You can tell that each piece of dialogue was carefully written, but a better balance would be to the comics’ benefit.
The story itself is handled very well. Very little time is wasted between story beats, giving this issue the feeling of a fast-paced adventure without rushing the reader through everything. The conflict is also set up in a way that feels understandable. It doesn’t just rush into the teleportation; it explains to the reader how they got to that point and why.
Each action is explained by the character who makes it, making every motion and decision, even the one that lands Jonny and Hadji teleported away, feel intentional. This keeps with the characterization that even the children in this comic are seasoned explorers.
Final Thoughts
Space Ghost/Jonny Quest: Space Quest #1 is a great start to this crossover with good dialogue and classic-looking art. However, some artistic mishaps and an overabundance of text can distract the reader from some of the comic’s good moments.
