This week, the Wednesday Comics Review team has had a light week on famous books, but there are still some strong titles, especially Time is waiting #3 and Godzilla Monster Theater #3! Warning: Possible spoilers.
Are you a weekly comic sicko? You’ve come to the right place. The Beat’s review team is here to write about new #1 titles from non-Big 2 publishers, finales, and other noteworthy issues in the store…enjoy!
Time is waiting #3
writer: Chip Zdarski and Brothers David
artist: Marcus To and Marvin Sinipal
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Writer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: DSTLRY
Comments by Jordan Jennings
time is waiting It’s a simple yet complex story. Chip Zdarski and brother david Making a high concept time travel action story about a man who is sent on a job but is unable to complete it. Blue finds peace and comfort in the past and attempts to escape his life as a corporate time-traveling agent. However, his past catches up with him when he is taken back to the future for a show trial and execution. It is in this future that we can truly see the twisted capitalist hellscape that Zdarski and his brothers have created. Overall, I wasn’t a big fan of the time travel plot. Don’t get me wrong, I love some time travel themed stories, but most of the time, stories with time travel as the central plot tend to try to make time travel too cutesy. Zdarski and the brothers do a good job of making their time travel rules work and avoid the split timelines that many works of fiction like to employ. It’s not cute, but it’s simple and effective.
The world is consistent with many cyberpunk novels on your bookshelf, but it has a grounded sense of reality. Maybe it says something about the current state of the world, especially the current state of America, but this comic spoke to me in a way that few can. Very pessimistic at times. There is a sense of destiny that cannot be changed. The bad guys always win, but this book shows that’s not the case. In fact, it ends on a positive note filled with hope for the past and future. Yes, Blue and his companions can’t change history, but they can find peace and bring hope in times of despair.
The characterization between Blue, Grace, and Duke is solid. Zdarsky and Britothers work wonders with the 48-page format, allowing the softer moments to breathe and allowing the actors to savor their moments. The use of memories and flashbacks is a recurring device in the book, allowing readers to organically understand past events. So far, the flashbacks have been mostly about Blue’s final work and training, but in this issue, we’ll see Blue and Grace’s romance blossom. This is a simple and effective showcase, but they add weight to the final question. Then the flashbacks start showing memories that Blue doesn’t have yet, and it becomes something special.
Du Zhiqiang and Marvin Sinipal Depicts beautiful comics full of small details and clean action work. There’s a lot of world-building in this issue in particular, as it almost all takes place in the future and so far hasn’t been detailed beyond a dark room. The world doesn’t feel super futuristic either. No flying cars or blaster rifles, but a world that doesn’t feel all that different from our own. It’s almost like a commentary on how runaway capitalism and corporate greed never breed innovation to improve people’s lives, but instead enrich corporations at the expense of the world.
The fight choreography in this issue is simply one of the best. It’s clean, easy to read, yet packed with impact. To and Sianipar also use traditional comic panels, without once pushing the boundaries. The fact that they were able to display so much kinetic energy without inlaying or panel breakage speaks volumes about their skill.
Time is waiting #3 A strong final installment in an excellent series. This is a comic I’ve been waiting for for a long time and it was well worth the wait. It is a complete package where writing and art complement each other in every aspect. The character work is sincere and the action is thrilling. I highly recommend this comic. Find all three issues and check out this series. You’ll be glad you did.
Godzilla Monster Theater #3
Writer/Artist/Writer: Tom Shorey
Publisher: IDW Press
Review by Zach Quintens
You know, as someone who writes comics every week, I feel like I throw this phrase out a lot Crazy frolic. I hate to admit that it’s devalued, but every now and then, it can be overused in these pieces. and Godzilla Monster Theater, However, I real Seriously. It’s been a wild romp from the beginning, all the way to this week’s finale.
The first issue – as regular readers of this space may remember – was praised for the way it incorporated ideas from the author (and even some straight passages). the great gatsby And damn Zillah. From there, the story organically (to some extent) incorporates other famous literary figures from roughly the same era, from Sherlock Holmes to Dracula to HG Wells and his time machine.
As the series progresses, much of the passage in “Gatsby” disappears, but the level of interest remains. Instead of the literature-meets-Godzilla mashup, we have bigger, crazier ideas. Now in this finale we have many classic monsters from literature amplified into kaiju and taking on Godzilla.
These are the rules, and they’re just like the comic books. But what’s more interesting is that the love triangle between Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and Daisy also plays out as the matter progresses. Great fun and while the first issue is still my favorite of the three (you can only experience the absurdity of the concept the first time once) the whole thing is great and got mine once collected in trade Highest recommendation, due
Avant-garde
- AD 2000 2416 (Rebellion): I really like this mix of genres, The Devil on the Western Front: Wilde West. It’s already Chapter 4. This comic strip was written by the author Ian Eddington, artist Tiernan Trevalion, and engraver Jim Campbell. The film is truly a perfect combination of story ingredients including vampires, cowboys and Oscar Wilde. It’s a little jarring to read this list, but the story’s commitment to it all is so profound that it works, and it works well. This week’s segment is a (surprisingly) character-driven one that reminded me of a good Hellboy story that makes good use of folklore, history, and the passage of time to add to its drama. Overall, I really like this. I read a lot of comics every week, keeping up with The Beat’s various works, and it’s nice to get a comic that understands so thoroughly how to do interesting things with the medium. Elsewhere in Avant-gardeI thought Judge Dredd: Soft provides a satisfying ending to this three-person drama, advances the larger ongoing plot, and Eagle Killer Raises its game and ends on an interesting note, I’ll probably write more about this next week. This week’s cover (above) is by Dave Taylor. As always, you can get a digital copy of Avant-garde here. —Zach Quentins
Read more entries in our weekly Wednesday Comic Review series!
Next week, the team will work on a series of major releases, including season —A new book from Rick Raymond and Paul Asaceta – and the beginning of a new arc. ninja turtlesand more!