Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Image, Review | Tagged: comic book reviews, Declan Shalvey, noir, science fiction, time before time, time travel

Time Before Time #6 Review: Satisfies

Published Sun, 31 Oct 2021 09:32:12 -0500

by Hannibal Tabu

Comments

In this self-contained issue, Time Before Time #6 takes a closer look at the lucrative business of chronal relocation and shows the desperation many feel for escaping the future. With co-creator Declan Shalvey returning to his visual roots, this is a wonderful snapshot of the whole series premise in a "done in one" vignette that satisfies.

Time Before Time #6 Review: Satisfies — Time Before Time #6 Cover. Credit: Image Comics

Three different parties have ended up in the year 1994. First, a family of three who needed some rules bent to safely escape the year 2140. Second, the "courier" who bent the rules and got them all out safely is fleeing his employers and life. Finally, there are minions of the Syndicate, his employers, one of two criminal organizations with a monopoly on time travel. They have come to hunt down said courier and make an example of anyone else who wants to run. That last bit is especially relevant to the series' prevailing storyline about another runaway courier.

The seeds for how this is all going to play out are laid in early. Given that time travel factors heavily into this work, the reader is left to wonder how much of this was left to chance, and that is a delicious kind of Schroedinger's narrative thread that's almost best left unexplored. When you get to the end of the issue, and you see how it all tied together, you'll have to give a respectful slow clap as the script from Rory McConville and Declan Shalvey elegantly swirls plot threads in and around each other until they get to a harsh but satisfying conclusion.

Shalvey's artwork here is less stylized and exaggerated than series regular Joe Palmer's, and that ups the noir quotient on this by quite a large degree. That's a nice palate cleanser, which is not to say Palmer's science fiction gonzo-ness is bad, but this is good too. As always, Chris O'Halloran and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou provide visual continuity with colors and lettering that keep the reader in situ.

This issue is excellent, and with the collected edition out last week, fans can get a huge chunk of this frightening look ahead in one sitting if they choose. RATING: BUY.

Time Before Time #6
By Rory McConville, Declan Shalvey
Oscar Gomez is on the hunt for a Syndicate deserter hiding out in the year 1994. Can he rely on the local Syndicate network to track the deserter down? This standalone story features art by series co-creator DECLAN SHALVEY!

Time Before Time #6