Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we continue our look at Figment 2 as we look at Issues # 3 - # 5. With that out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
We open on Figment finding our young heroine, Capri and she is stoked as she is something of a Figment fangirl
Figment accidentally scares Capri but she's okay with it as Figment is a legend and Capri has a lot of questions about Figment about whether, he's real or mechanical but as Figment says that he's imaginary. Figment says that he would love to answer every question but there is no time to waste as the Dreamfinder and everyone else at the academy is in danger. And this is when we find out that that Dreamfinder is the great-great-great grand-uncle of Capri. Told ya that she was related to someone important.
So, Figment explains what happened.
Okay, okay! Here's what's going on! Your great times three grand uncle and I traveled through dreamscapes to get to now, a hundred years after what we knew before. Dreamfinder got worried and that worried turned into doubt and that doubt turned into something dark and awful that crawled out of him, turned him into the Doubtfinder, and took over the whole school.
This is all it took to convince Capri as she has been waiting for a moment like this her whole life and so late at night, Capri and Figment head off to the academy to save her uncle. They sort of have a plan as Capri thinks that the Mesmonic Converter is the key as that is what brought out the doubt and when they get to the academy, they see that it has been engulfed in green smoke and Figment is scared and wants to come back in the morning but Capri says that they need to go in now as they won't be expecting them.
We see that the students have become mindless zombies and the Dreamfinder statue has now become one of Doubtfinder and to sneak in, Capri and Figment pretend that they are mindless drones like the other zombie students and it seems to work as they get to The Sherman Auditorium, where Doubtfinder has stationed himself and we learn that he feeds off fear. And that fear makes him stronger but he soon discovers that someone has entered his lair and he is not happy. But just as they enter, Capri's imaginary friend that we saw in the previous issue, Spark comes to life.
And Spark is an interesting character that could get on one's nerves as he speaks in Disney lyrics. For example.
Bibbidi-boo, what can I do?
So, yeah that could be grating but I actually found that endearing. But Doubtfinder responds by saying nothing as he has his student zombies attack our heroes with Capri now wearing the helmet that controls her uncle's experiment and that is how Spark came to life. Capri tries to stand up to Doubtfinder and get her uncle back but Doubtfinder says that he's already gone as his doubts are impossible to shake. But Capri knows that Dreamfinder inside the shadows of Doubtfinder and they run into Doubtfinder and fall through a black hole as we enter the fourth issue.
And when they land, they are at the childhood school of Blair (Dreamfinder) and we see a young Blair and we see that he is scared and lets his fear control him.
And things get worse, when young Blair's teacher asks to see his homework and we see that he has been doodling. And his teacher tells him that these are a waste of time and soon, the students and teacher in the school turn into shadows of the Doubtfinder that attack our heroine and her two friends.
Capri asks for the help from the two as she attacks the shadowy figures with the helmet and we get another Disney lyric reference from Spark.
A thing-a-mabob to do the job!
Okay, so Spark can reference these Disney lyrics but none of this lines reference the song that he is named after. The head shadow gets into the mind of young Blair and they pulls him away from the heroes. And soon our heroes are in a black void as the Doubtfinder leads them to the Maze of Melancholy, and Dreamfinder is within.
He calls it the labyrinth of loathing and Figment is more determined than ever to find his friend. And Capri is unsure of they can do this as she tells Spark and we get perhaps one of the more obscure Disney lyric references.
Hockety, pockety, wockety wack, we won't stop 'til we get him back!
A shadow creature from Doubtfinder attacks Capri as it bites her on the hand. But Figment and Spark saves the heroine as Doubtfinder looms over them trying to pull their dreams away from them.
And soon our heroes find Dreamfinder and the great Dreamfinder is a shell of who he once was. All of the negativity wore Dreamfinder down and Doubtfinder wants him to give up but Figment says that he has to believe because without hope, all of his dreams including him will fade away. Dreamfinder questions why he built all these things and Doubtfinder tries to get in his head but Capri gets to him.
Dreamfinder please... you have to listen to me! These dreams we have, they're bigger than just us! They live, they grow, and they change the world! All it takes is one little spark!
But Doubtfinder tries to tell him that she's wrong but the thing that finally gets Dreamfinder is when Capri tells him that he is her hero. And thankfully, this does the job as Figment, who faded out of existence comes back and gives Dreamfinder the courage that he needs as Figment reminds Dreamfinder that he has inspired generations of dreamers to build a better future.
And that does the trick as it snaps Dreamfinder out of his stupor and they head back to the academy and see what Doubtfinder has done. And so, we come to the final issue.
We open with Capri's mom driving to the academy with tears in her eyes after she had read the note that her daughter left explaining where she had gone.
And we cut back to our heroes facing off against Doubtfinder, who has now taken a very demonic form.
They seem outnumbered as everyone including Fye and the Chairman are under the control of the Doubtfinder as the Doubtfinder continually tries to attack them as he thinks that power of doubt is unstoppable.
Dreamfinder puts on the helmet as he wants to get to his device but one of the zombified students or doubtlings as Doubtfinder calls them takes the helmet from Dreamfinder but Figment gets it back but Chairman Auckley gets it and it becomes a game of keepaway. And with a Robin Hood song reference, Spark gets and Capri puts it on as she uses her bike, which is her mini version of a dream machine and just then, Capri's mom shows up and enters and sees what is going on.
Capri is distracted by her mom showing up and that allows Doubtfinder to knock her off her bike and Dreamfinder grabs the helmet as Doubtfinder holds Capri hostage. Capri's mom is shocked to see that Dreamfinder is there and Dreamfinder plays with Doubtfinder as he lets him think that he is getting in our hero's head but Dreamfinder points out that while yes, he did cause all of this, he now knows that dream power is bigger than just him and that everyone deserves a piece of it.
So, Dreamfinder decides to dream big and smashes the helmet to Mesmonic Converter and that frees the students from the grasp of the Doubtfinder and standing behind Dreamfinder along with students are imaginary friends of the students of the academy.
To Doubtfinder, this is impossible because doubt is everywhere but Dreamfinder shuts him up.
It's true. As long as we take risks, and try news things, we'll have moments of despair, times where we wonder if it's all worth it but as long as we keep dreaming, we'll win in the end. Imagination is stronger than fear. Of that there can be no doubt.
He says this as all the imaginary friends attack Doubtfinder in his demonic form letting go of his grasp of Capri and Spark gives us one more Disney lyric reference.
Supercali-figmentistic
The day has been saved by our heroes and now Auckley sees why Fye saw in Dreamfinder all those years ago and realizes that it's time for a new dawn at the academy. Capri is finally allowed to enroll at the academy as that is all she ever wanted. And Auckley offers Dreamfinder a professor position at the academy but he turns it down as he and Figment have many more places to travel to and more discoveries to make. Capri is said that she'll never get to see her uncle/hero again but he reminds her that they'll be with her in her dreams.
All in all, this was a great end to this miniseries. It was quite enjoyable and I liked it just as much as the first miniseries and would love to see more stories starring Figment and Dreamfinder.
Characters
Main Characters
Capri
Capri really stepped in the two middle issues and we saw her take charge and how much of her uncle, there is in her. She is quite a brave young soul that is willing to do anything for those that she cares most about and never gave up on Dreamfinder because she always believed in him.
Dreamfinder
Dreamfinder struggling with doubt is comparable to what he went through in the first miniseries but as we observed with this story, that fear manifested itself into something much worse as he let his doubt consume him and give birth to Doubtfinder. It took reassurance from a young girl that looked up to him for him to remember, who he is and what he does and why it's so important.
Supporting Characters
Figment
I think overall, Figment was better in the latter half than he was in the first two issues as you saw how determined to save his friend and would never give up on Dreamfinder. He was willing to go to great lengths to get his friend back. And that, he did.
Spark
Spark is cute and I do like him making references to Disney lyrics with his dialogue but there really isn't much else to him. He's not as well rounded as Figment but he's still enjoyable, even if there were parts of the story, where it felt as though, he was just along for the ride and served no real purpose in the grand scheme of things.
Villain
The Doubtfinder
The Doubtfinder only seemed to grow stronger as the story went on and that made sense as he somehow was able to feed off the fear of everyone at the academy and that allowed him to become the demonic creature that we see standing in front of our heroes. He put up a good fight but Dreamfinder was able to overcome his doubts and defeat the creature that he had created with help from others. And it was a beautiful takedown.
My Final Thoughts
I greatly enjoyed this miniseries. The first one gave us the origin story of Dreamfinder and Figment. In this second miniseries, we see a man out of time confronted by his fears and doubts that he lets consume him until that manifest into the monster that serves as the main antagonist of the story. Making it a more personal struggle for Dreamfinder but through a character like Capri, we see how his legacy lives on and how he and Figment will continue to inspire countless young minds for generations to come. Quite honestly, I really enjoyed this series and I say pick it up as it's worth a read. Peace!
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