One little spark of inspiration, is at the heart of all creation…
Growing up in Southern California as a Disney fan, those words triggered the dream of someday making it to EPCOT Center, seeing Dreamfinder and Figment on the Dream Machine and experiencing Journey Into Imagination. Sadly, by the time I made it to central Florida, Dreamfinder was about to take his last flight. However, I was able to experience the classic attraction a few times before Dr. Channing eventually took over. It was over 15 years before the Dreamfinder would make his return thanks to Jim Zub and the Disney Kingdoms Figment series that debuted in June of 2014. Now he and Figment have both returned to the shores of Bay Lake in Figment 2!
This sequel to the surprise hit initial series, picks up right where issue 5 left off — with Dreamfinder and Figment looking toward the Academy which has been relocated to Central Florida, complete with Glass pyramids and a geodesic sphere. This issue starts by introducing Capricious Harmony — a young inventor with a dream to attend the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus USA — and her very understanding mother Jess who no doubt will play a larger part in the story as it continues.
Now that the new characters have been established, it is back to finding out what our favorite Epcot duo are up to, with a great transition from page to page going from Capri’s crying eye to Dreamfinder’s wide-eyed awe of the new world in front of him.
I was initially weary of the first Figment series due to the steampunk feel it had, but I did learn to love it. This series does its best to establish right away that you are no longer in the Victorian era… even though Dreamfinder may wish he were as he comes up against strange light boxes and the realization that the Academy he desired to be such a part of in his time has now drawn its inspiration from him and Figment.
Jim Zub returns as writer and does an amazing job not only holding true to what was established in the first series but adding much more dimension to the our leads who are quickly becoming more than just two lovable characters from a bygone Disney attraction. After reading the first issue, not only do I feel that Jim has created the perfect voice for Figment, but has also really brought out the “dash of childish delight” that Dreamfinder added to compliment our favorite purple dragon all those years ago.
In my years reading comics, I have learned that there are two type of artists: those who only want the focus to be on the stars of the book or those that make every line a star. Ramon Bachs does an outstanding job doing the latter. Between Ramon’s art and Jean-Francois brilliant choice of color palette, you will need to go through this book two times — once to read it and a second time just to look at it.
This book is a great follow up to an amazing series with two of the most lovable characters in Disney Parks lore. I look forward to seeing where this whole new century takes Figment and Dreamfinder and going along for the wild ride!
Figment 2 #1 is available September 2nd at your local comic book store, Marvel.com and on the Marvel comics app.