Volume
No. 1
Issue
No. 3
March
1992
Quantum
Leap ™ & © 1992 Universal City Studios, Inc.
Link Yaco
Andy Price
Vickie Williams
Scott Rockwell
George Broderick, Jr.
John Holland
Andy Price
Vickie Williams
Scott Rockwell
George Broderick, Jr.
Excerpt from this issue
Next issue leap-in page
December
20th, 1963
New York City, New York
In the first story, "He Knows if You've Been Bad or Good," Sam leaps into a man named Nick in New York City. Ziggy can't find any info or background for Nick, but he works as a department store Santa Claus with a man named Mark, who is the ultimate nice-guy and works 80 hours a week to help support the company. He has two small children, the oldest of which is a girl who wishes her father would spend more time with her instead of working and helping neighbors. She has given up on believing in Christmas and has been damaged by the death of her mother. While trying to uncover the real identity of Nick, Sam and Al must work together to bring the family together before a conspiring employee at work frames Mark for theft.
April 2nd, 1968
In the second story, "The Infinite Corridor," Sam inadvertently changes the course of history when he upsets Ellen, an M.I.T. student who will eventually write the thesis which convinces Sam that time-travel is possible! If Sam can't get the leap back on track, Quantum Leap will never become a reality and could create a universe-threatening paradox! (Personal Note: The artwork in this story is incredible.)
Summary by mshirley27
Two leaps in one issue!
December 1963, and Sam leaps into a department store Santa who must help a widower with his two children! "He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good..."
In 1968, Sam leaps into an MIT research assistant who has to help another assistant discover how to travel back in time!
M. B. Stenzel, Assistant Professor at the University of California and R. Winchester, Telecommunications Specialist at MIT are credited for research and consultation for "The Infinite Corridor".
airdave's Quantum Leap #1 - "First There Was a Mountain, Then There Was No Mountain, Then There Was" review
Breaking Format
Quantum Leap follows a pretty familiar, typical format. Sam leaps in. He's confused. Al shows up and gives Sam some bullet points to get started. Then, Al gives Sam the "kicker"; which is, the near impossible challenge of what needs "fixing" or "righting" in order for Sam to leap out. Or so Al and Ziggy guess. Some leaps have a surprising reveal, maybe something totally unrelated to the situation Sam finds himself in.
John Holland's "He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good..." breaks the format of a Quantum Leap story. Andy Price leaves a few hints in the art that it's December 20th, 1963, just a month after the Kennedy assassination, and just a few weeks before the British invasion led by The Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It is not clear where Sam has leaped. He's a mysterious department store Santa that has to help a widower father with his daughter and son. The daughter is angry that her father has to work long hours to support the family. Holland's story hints that Santa might be more than what he appears to be. It all plays out like "Miracle on 34th Street", with a little bit of "It's A Wonderful Life". It's a fun story, that sees a bit of action and danger near the end. As Sam leaps out, the question is still, is he or isn't he?
Lincoln Yaco's "The Infinite Corridor" is pretty similar. It breaks format, too. Sam leaps into an MIT research assistant. From a newspaper headline he finds that it is 1968, but no exact date is revealed. Sam has to win back Ellen Kim and help her discover that time travel to the past is possible. It's pretty simple and straight-forward.
I'm not a fan of splitting an issue up with two stories. Both stories are enjoyable as is, less is actually more. I enjoy an issue that is one story. Both stories are brisk and smooth paced. Yet, both stories could have been two or three percent better with a little more breathing room. Holland's Christmas story has a surprise twist. "The Infinite Corridor", while smooth, seems abrupt. The resolution a bit too easy. Sam does have an urgent task, however there's no twists or turns to the story. It's pretty much a straight line from problem to solution.
Still, both stories are enjoyable. This could be a split decision, since it's a split issue. Four stars for story (quality); three stars for jamming two leaps (quantity) into one issue.
Hayden McQueenie's Quantum Leap #1 - "First There Was a Mountain, Then There Was No Mountain, Then There Was" review
Since I received the entire series of Quantum Leap comics, I've been having a great time reading them, so I thought I'd leave a little review of each of them. And since the silly season is fast approaching, I thought I'd start with Number 3 "He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good".
These are just my thoughts as I was reading the comic, so forgive the disjointed nature of my points. It's just to show my thought processes as I enjoy the comic for the first (or possibly second) time.
This is the first comic to consist of two separate leaps. I actually like the fact that we can see multiple stories be played out in the space of one "episode". We should have seen this more often in the show as well - it really only happened once, in "Honeymoon Express".
A Prescription For Subscription:
I expect that this preface was very useful back in the day, but it is quite funny reading about people being impatient about not having received the entire series of comic books more than two decades after the comic series ended.
He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good:
- The cover art showing Sam as the shopping mall Santa is absolutely beautiful. The attention to detail on the children is fantastic (I especially love the screaming/crying child). The likenesses of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are also spot-on.
- The first few frames appear to be of the same few seconds shown from different angles. I especially love the frame that captures Al's view of Santa's Helper's derriere.
- Nice continuity with the show picking up that small children can see Sam and Al. It's surprising that more kids haven't reacted to Santa being switched out with a different man. Then again, maybe that's why the kid on the front page was screaming?
- Shannon doesn't strike me as looking like a child, despite everyone talking to and about her as though she is one. She looks more in her late teens or early twenties. Maybe she is too tall or her features or hairstyle are too mature?
- The frame showing the mirror shot is great. The Leapee definitely looks a lot like Santa. But if the Leapee already had such a great beard, why did Sam leap in wearing a fake beard?
- The shot of Sam's scarf through Al's head is a good reminder that Al is a hologram. I've noticed in the comics that these random shots of Al through objects seem to happen a lot more than in the show (for obvious reasons).
- The frame in the bottom corner of page 4 is the first one that really makes Shannon look like a child. Maybe it's her childist tantrum-esque pose with her arms crossed that is adding to this child-like quality?
- Story-wise, it's a nice picture of how children can internalise everything and make it about themselves. Shannon sees her father helping out as many people as he can, and she takes this to believe that she's not good enough for his attention, and now she's acting out.
- I take back what I said about the artist capturing Dean Stockwell's likeness. Some close-up frames of Al are really ugly, especially in the bottom-left corner of page 5. He also looks far too similar to Mark (Shannon's father).
- As a side note, the Christmas decorations sprawled across the borders of the pages are a really nice touch.
- Whenever there's a story about a messed-up child, there always seems to be a dead parent. It makes sense, but couldn't there be a story about a child being messed up by poor parenting instead?
- The stockings on page 6 are gorgeous! Shame that the three at the top of the page were cut off. Of course Al would get a Playboy for Christmas ;) hahaha. Sam's empty stocking and Donna's book "Absent Husbands" are equally heartbreaking.
- I love the nod to "Miracle on 34th Street".
- Damn those "elves" are ugly!
- "Flubber" causing people to lose their hair? At least it makes cars fly :p hahaha.
- Really Al, perving on a mannequin?!?!
- If that's such a rare album by the Beatles, why not buy it for Al and leave it somewhere safe for him to retrieve in present day? Would be a great Christmas present!
- Does Mark ever stop working? As son as he gets home he goes to help out a neighbour. Shannon has a point to be honest...
- So "elves" can see Al too?
- I know that the embezzling storyline had to be explained, but really, who in their right mind would tell the person they're framing that they're being framed? Why not just do it out of the blue? It would certainly be easier than dealing with conflicting stories and a murder...
- I agree with Sam, Ziggy can surely research more than just Nick's background...
- The conclusion feels a bit... rushed... and unbelievable... Out of the blue a higher boss just drops the charges against Mark and fires Amos. On the other hand, the neighbours raising bail money makes perfect sense and is heartwarming. Faith in humanity restored.
- So Sam leapt into the real Santa?!?!
- Overall - a very cute story, if not entirely believable at times. I don't really know how I feel about another supernatural character proving to be real (or at least possible) in the Quantum Leap universe though. At least they're consistent.
The Infinite Corridor:
- The second story's leading page has some beautiful artwork of a science laboratory. Sam's reflection on the computer screen is a nice touch.
- The chick has a LOVELY arse!
- Sam, for crying out loud, when you leap in mid-kiss, take it as a hint that GTFW is rewarding you!!!
- Why do women get so offended if a man is unable to perform?
- Isn't it called a "slide rule", not "slide ruler"?
- So Sam recognises MIT? Nice to see his memory isn't COMPLETELY Swiss-cheesed.
- Nice history lesson about 1968.
- A time paradox? We didn't see anywhere near enough of these in the show.
Al very much resembles James Bond. Shame he doesn't much resemble Dean Stockwell...
- Ah, they are talking about the infinite series 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ... = 1, but only if an infinite number of terms are added. It's an interesting paradox that if each leap gets Sam half of the remaining distance home, then he will never get home...
- Technology has come so far! Still, at least this computer isn't using key cards...
- Why is there a Bunsen Burner in the Imaging Chamber?
- So this research directly affected Sam's own research. So it has to go ahead so that Sam eventually makes his very first leap.
- Why would analogue circuitry be able to handle more traffic than digital?
- Al in the computer is very cute!
- So Sam has to get Ellen to marry his Leapee... Shouldn't be too hard...
- So Ellen proved time travel is possible and Sam built on that result. And if she marries the other guy who is interested in her, he'll make her quit her research and cause the paradox... Right...
- Another nice reflection in the window.
- Ellen is Asian? The artwork could have fooled me...
- Awww, Sam playfully trying to wring Al's neck is so cute! I love seeing their friendly gestures.
- OK I'll admit it, the hippies thinking Sam is on drugs for talking to himself is hilarious!
- Typical! If the man is distracted it's the most offensive thing in the world, but if the woman is, it's totally acceptable. I know, it's not that important, I just get annoyed seeing this trope getting constantly used...
- Overall, again it's a cute story, and I liked the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, but one thing really sticks out at me. The whole leap seemed completely pointless! In the original history, Ellen completed her research and Sam built on it to create Quantum Leap. He leaps in, almost ruins it, has to fix what he messed up, and then leaps. What was the point?! My only guess is that in the original history, Matt and Ellen stayed together long enough so that she wasn't distracted and still completed the research, but they broke up not long afterwards. I shouldn't have to be coming up with scenarios to make a story make sense. This was a disappointing story, and should not have been paired up with the heart-warming story that preceded it.
I may be being overly critical, but that's only because I am such a huge Quantum Leap fan and put a lot of thought into things. I still really enjoyed these stories, even if one was a bit unbelievable and the other was a bit pointless.