Shawn Thacker maintains a mundane life that holds a secret. He isn’t who you think he is, and he is not from this time. Shawn yearns for revenge against the one man that has kept him on an endless cycle across time and space, Ferris. Shawn’s journey for revenge will take him through different places in time, and it’s only a matter of time until one kills the other. Who will become the victor?
Matt Tomlin writes a time-traveling story that is refreshingly different than the usual that is associated with time-traveling stories. Tomlin introduces readers to the protagonist, Shawn, and his opposite, Ferris. Both are equally trained and equipped to handle one another regardless of time and era which makes for an impressive time-traveling revenge tale. The writing is well-paced and fluid. The story never seems to drag and holds your attention page after page and with good reason. Shawn’s journey for revenge for some of the horror that Ferris has caused on his loved ones is one part that garners interest, but the concept and execution of time travel that is displayed within this story provides full investment as to the why and how of Shawn’s journey for revenge.
Although Tomlin’s writing and characterization of the story and characters are great, what really pushes the book into the forefront is the heavily detailed, photo-realistic, yet lively stylized art of Lee Bermejo. Anyone familiar with his back catalog of work knows what he can do. But this story pushes Bremejo to draw things that no one has ever seen him draw, let alone in a variety of art styles that pays homage to legendary artists in comics history, along with art styles from different periods of art history. His ability to establish layouts that are emotive is impressive since most artists of his caliber can run the risk of having very stiff and static work. Bermejo displays a wide range of his artistic abilities as an illustrator and as a color artist, delivering different kinds of color styles that match the tone, time, and period that the characters battle through. Becca Carrey’s lettering cements the tone of the book even further, providing different kinds of voices for each character and sounds of different devices and periods.
This comic is like Demolition Man, Terminator, and Looper, which birthed a different kind of time-traveling 3-issue limited series that is filled with a solid premise, and fantastic art. If you’re looking for something different in the comics space, be sure to check this out.
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