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Jonni Future

Jonni Future

Jonni Future is an adventurer who travels between this far-future reality and one which resembles our own.

Name:
Jonni Future
Publisher:
Real name:
Jonni Ray
Aliases:
  • Jonni Ray
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Female
Powers:
  • Gadgets
  • Intellect
  • Omni-lingual
First issue:
ABC Sketchbook (2001) #1
cover

Creation

Jonni Future
Jonni Future

Jonni Future's first appearance was in ABC Sketchbook #1. She made subsequent appearances in Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, a series published under writer Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line of comic books for Wildstorm. Jonni Future's stories were written by Steve Moore (no relation) and illustrated by Art Adams.

Jonni Future's character and stories are an amalgamation of John Carter of Mars, Captain Future, Adam Strange, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Barbarella. The major thematic change being her gender, compared to the stereotypical male hero.

The plots are deliberate homages to pulp science fiction/ pulp magazines, due to the plot point that her uncle Johnny Future often returned to 20th century Earth and wrote up his adventures as pulp fiction in a magazine named Startling Stories, a reference to the real-life magazine Amazing Stories. The result is that many of the characters and situations that are considered outlandish and silly by the heroine (and readers) are actually reality in the stories.

The plots usually involve binary opposition. Jonni Future often becomes a barely-clothed damsel in distress despite being a strong female character and eventually winning by her own efforts.

ORIGIN

Jermaal leads the way for Jonni to begin her training.
Jermaal leads the way for Jonni to begin her training.

Her entry into the life of a costumed pulp adventuress comes when she inherits her uncle's spooky old mansion, on the condition it cannot be sold. On spending the night, she finds her uncle's old magazines and starts reading about his fanciful exploits.

Soon after, Jonni is disturbed and encounters the paraman Jermaal Van Pavane, a humanoid cheetah, who crossed from the pulp universe via a dimensional bridge in the attic. He brings her back with him, shows her the ropes and becomes her sidekick (and ardent admirer) in the campy action; explaining that her uncle wished her to take up his mantle as a hero and protector of the Grand Array, the fantastic universe he lost his life defending. His legacy to Jonni includes trappings like the fish-shaped spaceship Coelacanth, a war suit and a "universal translator" helmet that enable her to communicate with Jermaal and various other aliens. Thus, the adventure begins.

Powers

Abilities/Equipment

Jonni Future has no known super-powers of any sort, but is smart and capable. She possesses a "universal translator" helmet, a fish-shaped spaceship and a ray gun along with other "pulp-style" equipment.

Issues

January 2002

March 2002

June 2002

November 2002

April 2003

July 2003

October 2003

December 2003

January 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

September 2004

January 2005

May 2006

Volumes

1999

2002

2006

Authors

Friends

Teams