Warning: Contains spoilers for Jonny Quest #2!
Jonny Quest lore takes a dark twist, revealing that the titular hero fought in the Vietnam War. Classic Jonny Quest the cartoon, despite being aimed at children, contained dark undercurrents, namely its villains. Still Jonny Quest #2 by Dynamite Entertainment, volhis darkness is taken a step further as it is revealed that old Jonny was forced to fight for his part in the Vietnam War.
Jonny Quest #2 Written by Joe Casey and drawn by Sebastian Piriz. Team Quest jumps to 2024 and joins Jonny Quest of that era to return home. During a momentary break, Race and the Jonnys of 2024 share a heart-to-heart. Race notices that Jonny doesn't call him “Race” anymore and asks when he stopped. Matters get complicated as Jonny reveals that he stopped calling him Race in 1971 the day his “number came out”.. According to Jonny, Race told him he couldn't call him “Race” anymore.
Jonny Quest was just up against a real world event
Jonny Quest debuted on the eve of major social unrest
Jonny's references to “the number approaching” are a clear allusion to the draft and the Vietnam War. The roots of the conflict go back to French colonialism. After gaining independence, the country was divided into two parts: North and South. In time, North Vietnam would turn to the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries for help. These countries were communist and at that time the US was waging a “cold war” against the Soviet Union. As a result, the Vietnam War became a proxy war and became one of the worst conflicts of the Cold War.
This did not end well for the United States, which began fighting in the region in 1955. The Vietnam War lasted until the fall of Saigon in 1975, and by the end of the 1960s it was very unpopular with a segment of the American public. Protests against the war began, sometimes turning violent and in some cases deadly. At the time, the United States still had conscription on the books, in the form of the draft. Acting as a lottery, young people were given a number. If there was a number, they were called to battle.
Jonny Quest is dealing with the real world for the first time
Did Jonny Quest really fight in Vietnam?
When Jonny Quest Premiered on television in 1964, the US was slowly building up its presence in Vietnam. The war was still not what people thought it was a few years later. of Jonny Quest the single season neither touched on the socio-political climate of its time, nor did it last long enough to do so. Casey and Piriz mostly kept the tone of the classics Jonny Quest cartoon, but Jonny's involvement in Vietnam significantly darkens the lore. Making matters worse is the fact that Jonny is drafted and doesn't really have a choice.
There is a possibility, but Jonny did not fight in the Vietnam War. At the height of the war, some men who were called up for military service and did not want to fight fled the country. Although these “devotees” were few, they did exist. However, given how upset Johnny was when he was told he was being drafted, it's more likely that he went to Vietnam and became a soldier. The Jonny Quest The year 2024 is a broken and lonely man, and some of his trauma may stem from fighting in the Vietnam War.
Jonny Quest #2 on sale now from Dynamite Entertainment.