Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and we are once again returning to the world of comics. After a bizarre crossover from 1945, we jump a few years to the late '00s as we look at Disney Kingdoms' Figment 2. The sequel to the fantastic Figment miniseries. Last November, I reviewed all 5 issues of the Figment miniseries and had nothing but praise for them. And one month before that, Disney Kingdom put out a sequel simply titled Figment 2 or if you pick up, the trade paperback, Figment 2: Legacy of Imagination. Now as I mentioned here in this intro, we see Dreamfinder and Figment head from 1920's London to modern day Florida. Yikes, good thing that they haven't seen Radio Dead Air but something that has stuck with me, when I first brought up the sequel is something that Les said in the comments.
I’m loving the set up for the next series, having Dreamfinder and Figment end up in 2015…very Captain America-ish.
That aspect is very much evident as a central theme of this story is that Dreamfinder in this miniseries is the doubt that Dreamfinder is experiencing now because of how much time has passed him by in the 100 years that he and Figment have been travelling and as we will explore in this weekly look at this sequel miniseries, we will see what happens, when one lets doubt consume oneself.
The Staff
Writer - Jim Zub
The team of Zub and Bachs return from the first miniseries and that is a good thing as it keeps the writing and artwork consistent with the original. As we explored in our look at the first miniseries, Zub is a fan of this ride and truly understands what makes me these characters so relatable and how they work as a duo. And here, we are able to see him bring yet another layer to these two.
Artist - Ramon Bachs
One of my biggest regrets in the review of the first miniseries is that I neglected to bring up the artwork by Ramon Bachs. I knew that if I were to review the sequel, I would rectify that mistake and I have decided to do that here and Bachs brings a whimsical charm to the first few issues before we see something truly terrifying take hold of one of our heroes.
Seeing as I read this from a trade, I will be skipping the cover and dipping right into the plot.
The Plot
We open at a house in present day Florida as we see a mailman delivering mail as we see a mother calling out her child, Capri. Who as we observe is a bit of a messy inventor and as we will learn, a dreamer. She had submitted a letter to hopefully get accepted into the Scientific Academy. Do to her age, she's about 12, she has been turned down. Even though, she has a connection to someone special that is an important part of the Academy's history.
We then cut to Dreamfinder and Figment flying towards what looks like Spaceship Earth from EPCOT. It's not called that in the comic but it's practically, Spaceship Earth. As we will see with this issue, this comic was written in mind with fans of early EPCOT and might as well should have be subtitled EPCOT: The Comic. Now as we saw at the end of the last miniseries, they are flying in their Dream Machine but it has run out of dreams and they are about to crash. And where, should they crash but the Imagination Pavilion.
Okay, so it's actually the Academy Scientifca-Lucidus but the design is clearly based on the design of the Imagination Pavilion.
Which is a nice touch because this is where the original Journey could be found and til this day, Figment can be still found there to this day. So, that got a big smile out of me. Needless to say that Dreamfinder is happy to see the Academy once again and all of the teenagers are in awe and want to take pictures of Dreamfinder and Figment but there is one person that isn't taking so kindly to this. The would be the Chairman of the Academy as he thinks that Dreamfinder and Figment are making a mockery of the Academy wearing a costume to make fun of Dreamfinder and after a panel, where a student takes a selfie with Figment, Figment and Dreamfinder have an old friend step in and defend them. Here, we are re-introduced to Fye, who we first met in the third issue of the first miniseries. He has aged quite a bit but it's been a hundred years and with his old age, his role changed as he is now more of a mentor figure for Dreamfinder and Figment. It really makes the dynamic between the two very interesting. We learn that the Academy has been up for over a century and that many students have followed in the footsteps laid out by Dreamfinder. And this is when, we also get the story of why the Academy is now in Florida and if you are a Disney fan, especially of Disney World, this story should sound familiar to you.
Dreamfinder: Where are we? What happened to the hustle and bustle of London?
Fye: A few years after you vanished, old man Illocrant decided that the best way to avoid a lawsuit was to find a secluded space where we could conduct our experiments in peace. He bought a big plot of land in Florida and built a new whole new academy here.
Yep, they incorporated the story of Walt Disney buying the land for Disney World into this comic. Which makes so much sense as this comic has the spirit of what Walt wanted to do with EPCOT, in that he wanted to use technology to build a better future. In much the same way, that Tomorrowland from Brad Bird is less a movie based on Tomorrowland and more a movie celebrating the spirit of EPCOT, that is what these comics do as well. They take the spirit of EPCOT and show how we as a community can use what we have to make this world, a better place. I said at the opening of this review, that one of the core themes of this book is doubt and that's true and it explores how we must fight doubt. And to extend that a bit, it is also showing that we cannot let cynicism stand in the way of progress. If Walt Disney had listened to every cynic that came his way, we'd never have Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs or Disneyland. So this book not only has the spirit of EPCOT but the Disney Spirit of optimism. But as always, there is one cynic that stands in the way of Dreamfinder. And like with the first miniseries, it's the chairman of the Academy, Chairman Auckley. This guy is a real stick in the mud. (And I swear he looks like a skinnier James Earl Jones).
Auckley and Fye give a tour of the Academy to Dreamfinder and Figment and this dude is already on my list for scolding Figment because Figment suggests that he could sign up to take a few classes here.
Figment: A school of discovery, an institution of imagination. Boy oh boy, when I can start?
Fye: We're midway through the semester, Figment. Maybe next term?
Chairman Auckley: We have strict rules for applications, Mr. Figment. Maybe once you reach adulthood and pass our entry requirements....
Dreamfinder: I'm sure an exception could be for--
Chariman Auckley: No exceptions! A place like this can't function if everyone runs around breaking the rules, doing whatever they want!
Figment: I don't understand....
Chairman Auckley: And is why you can't be a student!
Whoa oh oh, slow your roll. If it weren't for the contribution of Figment aiding Dreamfinder in the fight against The Singular and his army, you wouldn't even have an Academy. So, maybe... just maybe, you might show this hero, a little more respect. Although, that does have me wondering if this character is meant to be based on Dr. Nigel Channing. For those that do not recall, I talked about this character during my A Look at Disney World event in an article explaining why Dreamfinder is a better character. And I described his personality as follows...
Dr. Channing, on the other hand is stuffy, uptight and takes himself way too seriously. He is the kind of character, where if something goes wrong, he can't handle it.
And in many ways, that description also fits Chairman Auckley with the two key differences being his name and his race. Part of me wonders why Zub didn't just use Dr. Channing but then I think about it again and I'm happy that he didn't as I cannot stand that character. He is easily up there as one of my least favorite Disney characters of all time. We will just have to see if this character comes around on his feelings towards Dreamfinder and Figment but as of right now, it looks to be an uphill battle.
Fye and the Grump take Dreamfinder take our heroes to their latest experiment, Spaceship Earth. Again, it's not called that but it is clear that is what they designed it after. I wonder if any of the students refer to it as the giant golf ball. A bit of EPCOT humor for ya. And this is where we see that with the computers around, Dreamfinder is starting to feel out of place as no one is using the machinery that he knows such as valves and pistons. We learn that the giant sphere, aka Spaceship Earth. I'm just going to keep calling it that as it's easier for me and being a Disney Parks fan, I'm always to going to refer to it as that. Dreamfinder asks if there is a power source and Fye explains that the potential power source is Spaceship Earth and it appeared over 30 years ago. Perhaps, this isn't set in 2015 after all. What do I mean? Well, it's a comic starring EPCOT characters and a huge plot device is a power source based on the design of Spaceship Earth that appeared over 30 years ago in this comic's timeline. This could possibly place this comic in 2012. Why 2012? 2012 was the year that EPCOT turned 30.
I should know, I was lucky enough to go to EPCOT that year and they had a lot of Dreamfinder and Figment merchandise on sale. Now granted, the first Figment miniseries came out two years after the 30th anniversary of EPCOT but the Disney Kingdom line didn't start until that year. And there is nothing to suggest that this story has to be set in 2015 and if that is the case, that is another nice nod to EPCOT's history.
Getting back to the review at hand, Chairman Auckley tells our two heroes that Spaceship Earth will disappear on a whim and sometimes for months on end and just return without notice and they need energy to harness it and Dreamfinder volunteers to use the Dream Machine to conjure up dream power but Auckley isn't convinced because even though, he has read the documents by Fye, he says that they read more like fiction than fact. Fye vouches for his friends and tells Chairman Auckley to watch what they can do but it doesn't exactly go as planned as when Dreamfinder goes to fly the Dream Machine, he crashes hard and the Dream Machine explodes into smithereens. Thankfully, Figment is there to save Dreamfinder and Chairman Auckley isn't convinced of what Dreamfinder and Figment can do. Even with Fye vouching for them and neither is Dreamfinder.
Dreamfinder: When we saved London I felt like I could do anything. I imagined things and in a flash, they came true. No gears or pistons... everything's so different, Figment.
Figment: How did this happen? What about the power of imagination?
Dreamfinder: It just didn't... work But now instead of believing, I just froze up... I had that awful feeling all over again. That feeling that I had before I succeeded with the Mesmonic Converter.
Figment: "Feeling"? What Feeling?
Dreamfinder:...Doubt
And thus end the first part of the Figment 2 miniseries. I gotta say that I love the set up here and plus all the nods to EPCOT and Disney World put a a big old smile on my face because like I said, this is basically EPCOT: The Comic. (Disney Kingdoms, when are you going to do a Captain EO comic, it makes more sense than the Tiki Room.) But even beyond all of that, I enjoy the characterization that Mr. Zub has done with these characters and we explore that even though, you may have successes, there will always be obstacles that you'll face that will make you question your abilities and you will always have those moments, where there will be things that make you feel worthless.
Characters
Now, there aren't too many characters to talk about in this first issue here. So, let's get this out of the way.
Main Characters
Dreamfinder
At the end of the first miniseries, we saw Dreamfinder at the highest of his highest highs but here like with a lot of sequels, we see that things have changed for him and in a way, everything has been taken away from him but again, it has been 100 years in this comic's timeline. So, of course things have changed and we see how much that has affected Dreamfinder and that fact eats at him and we see doubt starting to consume him and it appears that he may have forgotten a lesson that he learned in the first miniseries as one of the lessons that was in the first miniseries was to not let fear take control of you but it is understandable how the fear of being in a new world would get to Dreamfinder and eat at him.
Figment
Figment didn't have a much to do in this first issue as I would have liked but he was still adorable but it is understandable that Figment would take a backseat as the story had a lot of setup to do in introducing the characters and via the audience to this new world that this story is set in. Sure, for Disney fans a lot of stuff are already familiar with the things in this comic but for any outsiders coming into this story, the setup for the story is more important.
Supporting Characters
Fye
Fye in this story is such an interesting contrast to his appearance in the first miniseries. And the big part of that is that he has aged whereas Dreamfinder and Figment haven't in 100 years. So, that changes the relationship between these three especially between Dreamfinder and Fye. In the first miniseries, Fye like Dreamfinder was an outsider but here he has been a part of the Academy for ages and you see how he teaches and that he has care for his students and wants to see them succeed. That is most evident in how he interacts with Dreamfinder. Though, one does have to wonder if that may nag at Dreamfinder seeing his friend grow old and by the very nature of that, it changes the relationship that these two friends had with each other in the past.
Chairman Auckley
Chairman Auckley is a bit of a stick in the mud and as I said in the review is the cynic that stands in the way of Dreamfinder's optimism and success. He very much feels the same role that the Chairman served in the original miniseries but with a more modern twist and sensibility.
My Final Thoughts
All in all, this was a good first part of this comic and I'm excited to see where it goes next, especially with the theme of doubt playing a large part in this story and how it can effect oneself. Join me next time as we look at the second part of this miniseries.
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