The science fiction genre teaches you many things, but if there’s one specific lesson it reminds you of again and again, it’s that time is circular. Whether it’s a memorable episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation or a great read by Phillip K. Dick, events, we’re told, are meant to be repeated.
The same is true in comics.
Back in 1979-1980, DC Comics published the five-issue sci-fi anthology series, Time Warp. Today, the title comes back with a more sophisticated slant, courtesy of top industry writers and artists and published under the Vertigo Comics banner.
And boy! Is there a lot to look forward to here!
Time Warp #1
Written by: Various
Illustrated by: Various
Published by: Vertigo Comics
The original Time Warp series had the most enticing, most mystifying of tag lines on its five covers: “Doomsday tales and other things”. How could you not pick up a comic book proclaiming such a thing? Those comics contained stories by burgeoning writers and artists that were either already legends in the industry or on the cusp of greatness. Here you’ll find works by Arnold Drake, Paul Kupperberg, Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, Howard Chaykin, Joe Orlando, Denny O’Neil, Michael Fleisher, Paul Levitz and Mike W. Barr, among many others. Yes. It’s a who’s who laundry list amazing talent! Not to mention the beautifully rendered covers of Michael Kaluta!
I know many of you will recognize those names. Those that don’t should look up their respective works. All of them have seminal runs on a myriad of comic book characters through decades of publishing history.
The twenty-first century’s version of Time Warp is a one-issue, 80-page bonanza of short, sci-fi stories by established and up-and-coming talents. Here, you’ll find works by Damon Lindelof (Lost) and Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Peter Milligan (Hellblazer), Ray Fawkes (Constantine), Matt Kindt (MIND MGMT), Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire), and Gail Simone (Birds of Prey) with her very first Vertigo tale! All this and an Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets) cover! Of course, there are many other names involved as well and it makes you wonder if, in two or three decades, the will be spoken of in the same breath as the names involved in the original Time Warp series!
So get your science fiction fix today and make the run to your local comic book store to pick up the giant-sized Time Warp #1. Today, repeated time gives way to an underlying lesson of amazing genre reading!
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
