THE MAN WHO EFFED UP TIME # 1 (Aftershock Comics, February 05, 2020 release date) John Layman: writer,co-creator; Karl Mostert: artist, co-creator. Dee Cunniffe: colorist. John Layman: letterer.
Main cover by Karl Mostert. Incentive cover by Larry Stroman. Cardstock cover with extra content, $4.99. “The Here And Now.” www.aftershockcomics.com
Time travel is an oft-used theme in comics, movies, and popular fiction. As many times as the creative team gets it right - - there is an equal number of muddled and confusing story-telling. Layman and Mostert got it right in this entertaining and thought-provoking story.
Using the frequently-referenced “butterfly effect” as its’ launchpad, THE MAN WHO EFFED UP TIME bears a twisted similarity to the classic BACK TO THE FUTURE film series. Think of this as “Back To The Near Future” or “Back To The Weird Future.”
Main character Sean Bennett is immediately likable, a poor lab assistant trying to make ends meet, constantly abused by a fellow worker who refers to him as “janitor boy.” Readers will empathize with his plight and feel his anxiety as things get stranger and stranger.
The temporal physics department where Sean works is experimenting with a time travel machine. Sean, in a particularly glum moment, is persuaded by his future self to travel back in time only one week and improve his standing in life by making a few alterations. When he returns to the present, it’s not as he remembered. A descendent of Abraham Lincoln is President, police ride on dinosaurs, Vikings walk the streets, and pyramids rise up next to temples and huge concrete barrier walls. Sean needs to fix things or face the consequences, but he doesn’t have a clue as to what, when or how it all changed.
Beginning with their February releases, Aftershock Comics is making some changes to their Issue #1 debuts. All issues will include a heavier, cardstock cover plus four extra pages of relevant content. For THE MAN WHO EFFED UP TIME, that content includes an encyclopedia entry that informs us of the failed assassination attempt on President Abraham Lincoln (which set up the version of reality that Sean returns to); a humorous letter from the Human Resources Department to a lab chemist who filed a complaint against Sean; and a police incident report from the wacky version of 2020 that Sean finds himself trapped in. NOTE: Only the Number One issues will feature this cover and extra content. Future issues of the series will be standard size, and priced at $3.99.
Beginning with their February releases, Aftershock Comics is making some changes to their Issue #1 debuts. All issues will include a heavier, cardstock cover plus four extra pages of relevant content. For THE MAN WHO EFFED UP TIME, that content includes an encyclopedia entry that informs us of the failed assassination attempt on President Abraham Lincoln (which set up the version of reality that Sean returns to); a humorous letter from the Human Resources Department to a lab chemist who filed a complaint against Sean; and a police incident report from the wacky version of 2020 that Sean finds himself trapped in. NOTE: Only the Number One issues will feature this cover and extra content. Future issues of the series will be standard size, and priced at $3.99.
RATING SYSTEM
STORY: Very clever. Layman’s crazy vision hits the mark again. 2.5 POINTS.
ART: This is the first published comic drawn by Mostert, and he’s definitely an artist to watch. Creative. Fluid,moving panels. Great character features and expressions. Love the exxagerated ears. 2.5 POINTS
COVER: This says it all. Readers know exactly what’s in store from viewing the images on the main cover. 2 POINTS
READ AGAIN? I certainly will. So will you. 1 POINT.
RECOMMEND? Nothing beats a good time travel story. Especially when it’s done right and has a humorous side. 1 POINT
TOTAL RATING: 9 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10 POINTS. DEFINITELY STANDS OUT FROM THE PACK. PICK IT UP, provided you can find it. CAPTAIN BLUE HEN in Newark, DE sold out their 10 copies on the first day.
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