Well, that’s not supposed to happen.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Scott Kolins
What They Say:
Across space and time, the immortal Past Aways have battled their share of monsters—but a new beast has reared its ugly head, and the team may not be able to survive the onslaught of the terrible creature known as . . . celebrity!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
What happens when the central conceit of the series is shot out of the water?
Therein lies the rub with Past Aways. This issue brings the first arc to a close and has us taking a break until October, which is fine as I prefer to retain the creative team and give them time to get it done right. We’ve spent much of the six issues that we’ve had with the idea of all these crazy things going on but understanding that the team that Art has here can’t be killed. Time protects them. They’ve been in some insane situations where they shouldn’t have survived but some quirk always knocks it back to where it needs to be. So the arrival of Hein in the past, with Phil’s help, feels like it should end up in the usual set of expectations. Attempts will be made but Art won’t due. in fact, we see the protection element full in play when Hein at first attacks the others that are watching a movie only to be repeatedly defeated before Phil tells him to wait until Art is back. There’s a reinforcement of the central conceit here and it’s hammered home well.
So having Art come back and the group going about things just as Hein comes in and literally blows Art’s head off has you blinking at it much the same way as everyone else. How did it happen? The easy guess is that Hein’s ability allows him to sidestep the restriction – though I don’t believe Art will remain dead as there’s likely some trick ahead. But by blowing away one of the pillars of the series it makes everything questionable now in a way that it wasn’t before. With Phil having orchestrated this, and not being too subtle in the eyes of some, he’s set something entirely new into motion and after the relative period of understanding we have it feels like it’s all over the map again where it could go. And considering what we’ve seen so far, it’s an exciting prospect to see where it will go with Phil taking charge here.
As with past issues, there’s a lot to enjoy in the details of the book. I loved watching Hein picking and choosing weapons and getting the descriptive nods below the page. Hein’s not been a known for the most part and he brings a creepy feeling about him mired in a sixties style space suit that reminded me of the original Iron Man in a really good way. But I also loved seeing the way the cast reacts to what’s going on even as it becomes incredibly telegraphed with Art himself. His going on a date, almost getting lucky and feeling like the luckiest guy in the world has him floating on air. So having him repeat things within the base that just happened in a sense only to have it play out as it does is kind of surreal. Especially because you expect the quirk to kick in.
In Summary:
Past Aways has been pretty much one of the best gambles of the year for me. I try to be picky about which series I take on to write about because it’s an investment in time for me beyond reading the book. This book has been worth every moment of time, especially because it’s one that I read through a couple of times to soak in the details in both the writing and artwork. Kindt really finds some great bits here with the cast and how they spend their time and interact with each other and the setup of the situation is spot on, especially with the cover providing for a ruse. Kolins artwork is just as much a draw for me as the writing because he gives everything such a rich sense of design and detail and some utterly fantastic facial expressions that it just leaves me giddy. Art’s face after he walks home after the end of the date is a thing of beauty, much as the expressions on others after the way events play out there. It may be a long two months until the next installment but it’s one that will have me anticipating it the entire time. This is a can’t miss book for those that like some smart and fun science fiction adventure material that plays by its own rules.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 26th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
