Time travel has been a common theme throughout sci-fi stories for decades. As fun as time travel can be, it can get played out and stories become unoriginal. Thankfully, this is not the case with “Time Before Time” #1, which brings a thrilling crime adventure that feels fresh and new.
Written By Declan Shalvey and Rory McConvilleCover by Declan Shalvey
Illustrated By Joe Palmer
Colored By Chris O’Halloran
Lettered By Hassan Otsmane-ElhaouThe year is 2140, and to escape a world with no future, many turn to the Syndicate, a criminal organization who, for the right price, will smuggle you back in time to a better life. After working for the Syndicate for years, Tatsuo and Oscar decide to steal one of their boss’s time machines—but soon find that the one thing you can’t run from is your past. TIME BEFORE TIME is a brand-new ongoing series where writer/artist DECLAN SHALVEY (BOG BODIES) joins forces with the WRITE IT IN BLOOD team of RORY McCONVILLE and JOE PALMER. Looper meets SAGA in this extra-sized debut issue.
Within the first few pages, the creators do a great job setting the tone and environment of this story. We’re shown a future world with little to no hope; everything is run down and has a very quiet and lonely vibe. The art does an excellent job portraying the sense of the characters being lost.
Declan Shalvey and Rory McConville do a decent job explaining how things work and function in this world and what the main character, Tatsuo’s, place is in this story. Tatsuo is part of a crime organization and isn’t happy with either his life or the world around him. We’re also shown the struggles of families that use his time traveling services and how these families work with Tatsuo.
Shalvey and McConville are able to focus the readers’s attention on this story’s landscape, and the reason why people time travel within this unique world. Instead of just being centered around the idea of traveling through time, the plot seems to focus more about a place that is tough to live in and comes with its own hardships. The story revolves around people migrating through time for a better life, which should be relatable to anyone.
Joe Palmer has a loose, minimalist style that works well with this story as the art depicts everything clearly, even when it comes to smaller objects in the background that some minimalist art can sometimes lack. Palmer has some really different layouts and beautiful backgrounds that help explore this environment. Palmer uses a fish-eye perspective in a panel, which is an usual technique that is impressively rendered. The use of fish-eye really gave the pacing its own speed that made time feel quicker, while also still allowing the narrative to explain what needed to be said. Overall, it was a really good choice in perspective and was a nice showcase for Palmer.
Colorist Chris O’Halloran uses a palette filled with cooler greys that resemble a rustic and run down future. Between the cooler greys, there are also some bright warmer colors that peak through to keep these pages from being too dark and gloomy. Letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou makes sure sounds are heard when things get louder on the pages and keeps the story moving.
Overall, “Time Before Time” #1 shows a lot of potential for this series going forward. Hopefully down the road, this series does discuss more of the consequences of time-traveling and perhaps even more information on how time-travel works in this story.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – This first issue brings a fun story and a new twist to time-travel that can appeal to a wide variety of comic fans.
