Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Quantum Leap #13: Time and Space

....Yes, there was a Quantum Leap book. Before one can even comprehend that statement, he or she must ask this: "What is Quantum Leap?"

For those who don't know, QL was a scifi show that aired on NBC in the late 80's and early 90's. The show dealt with time travel in a unusal and unique way...I'll let the intro explain it to you. Unfortunately, it got cancelled and it ended pretty disappointing. I harped on that ending here a while back. I missed the show while it was on, but did see some of it on the Scifi Channel (aka the Channel Formally Known as Scifi). It's not my favorite show, but it is still pretty interesting. Seeing Sam and Al deal with those situations is fun.

A few weeks ago, I found this issue in a 50 cent longbox and knew I had to talk about it.  It was done by some company called Innovation. The series lasted for about a few issues before the company basically went out of business. I can actually see why right on the cover. That issue went for $2.95 back then. Yeah, I could make a joke about it, but that's a lot for that time.  Apparently, Innovation wasn't that innovative. Anyway, this was the last issue of the run. Is it good? Let find out, shall we?

Quantum Leap #13: Time and Space
Writer: Christine Elaine Hantzopulos
Artist: Luke Ross
Inker: Mike Deodato. Sr


We start the issue with two pages of the intro from the show. I have to admit that I liked this moment.

We catch up with Sam Beckett in a white body suit. He then realizes that he is in space. All this is missing is that "awesome" theme song....Ooooo, what's this?

Anyway, we then move to 1999 where Sam is from. Some scientists are look over the person that has taken over Sam's body and see that things are not right... let me explain that. When Sam leaps into someones body, that person is then transported to 1999 and resides in Sam's body until all is fixed. I know, it's pretty weird. Al, the sidekick, shows up at the lab wondering what the heck is going on. We see that's it's an alien and it looks less like the stereotypical one on the cover. Through here, it's found out that there is a language barrier and that this alien knows about someone named Pete Pappas. Al latches onto this and uses Ziggy (the awesomely smart A.I. supercomputer) to find out about the man.

We then move back to Sam's current time, which is 1963. We find out that these aliens contact each other through telepathy.  Al comes back in hologram form and tells Sam that there's a human on board.Sam and Al then see Pete Pappas and his really pregnant wife, Pauline. Al informs Sam that Pete's life went to crap after this incident, so Sam tries to help his situation. He tells the other aliens to get out while he tries to save Pauline and the  baby. Unfortunately, the baby is lost but Pauline is safe.

Sam tries to get the alien scientists to let the couple go, but they won't. It's made worse because of the language barrier. The news they get from Ziggy is also bad, so Al heads back to 1999 to figure out another plan. Since Ziggy is no help in finding relevant info, Al and his team decide to bring the alien (named Jifunt) back with him through an imaging chamber. All this does is make the other aliens more suspicious of Sam. They probe his mind and start to see Al and Jifunt. Everything gets all messy at first but gets calmed down  when the other aliens find out that Jifunt hasn't been harmed.

The aliens then take Sam, Al, Jifunt, and the Pappas to the leader of the expedition  and she is quite a looker. She figures out that Sam is in Jifunt's body and then sees both Al and Jifunt in hologram form. She and the other aliens think Sam's a spy and that Al's a demon.  Sam's almost taken into custody, but he decides to tell the aliens everything about his situation. At first, the aliens think he lying, but Sam goes into "BMS mode" and convinces them that it's all legit. The aliens decide to let the couple go and Ziggy tells Sam that all goes well for the Pappas. All is well as Sam leaps from Jifunt's body... into a little boy. "Oh boy" indeed.

.............................................

Well, that was a nice break from the usual Marvel/DC junk. What do I think of the story? It's okay. It's not the greatest thing I have read, but it is still pretty decent. I haven't watched an episode in a long time, but this comic felt like it could fit in with the show (yes, even the aliens). Sam and Al are written well here. They feel like they're from the show.  The situation they're in  is a little far-fetched even for the show, but it works here in comic form.  It's a simple done-in-one story. The art, while good, can get a little wonky at times. The coloring is a little weird and some panels get a little mixed up. Also, sometimes it's hard to see who's supposed to be saying what. Other than that, this is not that bad.

I have to say that it sucks that this series pretty much stopped here. It seems like Dr. Beckett can never catch a break in any form. Still, this has gotten me somewhat interested in watching the whole series on Netflix. If you're interested in finding out more about this forgotten series and the well-remembered show, check out Quantum Leap's fan site and this one blogger who had some useful info on the book.  Well, this is arw1985 (hmm...still need to work on a new name) saying....I'm back.