It's a bit of a head-scratcher

Future Quest Presents: Space Ghost 1-3
DC Comics
Creators: Jeff Parker, Ariel Olivetti, A Larger World Studio, Steve Rude, Brittany Holzherr and Marie Javins
Release dates: October-December 2017

I liked the 12-issue Future Quest title DC used to unite all of the Hanna-Barbera sci-fi and action/adventure characters together. Don't believe me, just read about it here.

Based on the strength of that series, I decided to pick up the follow-up book, Future Quest Presents, which so far is a solo Space Ghost story with cameos by the Herculoids. It clearly takes place after the events of the previous Future Quest series because Space Ghost and his teen allies, Jan and Jace, mention that adventure as having just happened.

I like this story on its own merits, so far. I also like how it is continuing to flesh out the back stories of its various characters. We learn more about the Space Force Space Ghost was once a part of, as well as more of the backstory of the twins now in his care. The fact that Jan and Jace are twins was taken directly from the "Space Ghost" cartoon, but viewers knew nothing about their parents or how they came to be under Space Ghost's care and tutelage.

This series shows the two youngsters attending school and keeping a secret the fact that they are training under Space Ghost to rebuild the once proud Space Force, and that's where I have issues that don't seem to quite line up for me. I can't think of a single instance where Jan and Jace are given a specific age, but they always seemed like teenagers to me in the show. Nothing in Future Quest made me think differently. And nothing in Future Quest Presents specifically contradicts that idea.

But the twins are drawn in these issues in a way that makes them seem younger than teens. The same goes for their classmates in the school they attend. I very much get an 8- to 10-year-old vibe, maybe slightly younger. They also make very obvious reference to the fact that noone at their school is supposed to know about their association with Space Ghost. Despite their undercover status at school, they wear their uniforms, identical to those worn by the members of the previous Space Force, something you'd expect to be a dead giveaway. Add to these oddities the absence of their usual comm badges; both teens typically wore red triangle badges with a picture of Space Ghost's head on them. These were used to communicate with each other while in space, and would also be a dead giveaway. Those comm badges are missing in these issues, even when the twins are with Space Ghost. I started to doubt that they did sport these devices in the show. But I checked out some episodes. They did wear them in the show, and they were drawn with them in Future Quest. So where are they now.

None of these discrepancies are ruining this book for me. But they do leave me scratching my head as to how these things were overlooked or "wrong" in an otherwise excellent series.