Sean’s killing himself.
Creative Staff:
Story: John Layman
Art: Karl Mostert
Colors: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: John Layman
What They Say:
The armored Neanderthal foot-soldiers who serve the evil emperor Abraham Lincoln VI have orders to bring in time-traveling f#%&-up Sean Bennett dead or alive— and they choose dead!
That’s right, we kill our lead character on page two of issue #3. So, uh…what’s next? Well, either a lotta blank pages…or a surprise twist so amazing YOU DARE NOT MISS THIS ISSUE!!! (Spoiler: it’s the latter.)
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installments of this series were definitely a lot of fun and certainly memorable enough that coming back into it after a few months gap thanks to COVID-19 is easy. John Layman has a simple concept with all kinds of wacky outcomes that makes it pretty accessible and easy to reconnect with while furthering the larger intrigue of what’s really going on. And like the opening issues, Karl Moster and Dee Cunniffe do a great job here of capturing the weirdness and absurdity of it all in a way that feels coherent and cohesive even when it shouldn’t, at least from an outsiders point of view. There are some fun creative moments in here that definitely work well, even if it’s one way to get an easy page or two into the mix as well.
Sean’s life has gone south hard since his future self arrived and suggested the small fixes that he did, which is why he’s got a neanderthal of a guy now chopping his head off in the name of Abraham Lincoln the sixth, the current emperor of the US. But that life flashing before your eyes thing is what gives him a critical bit of information that finally has some things making sense. Going back to how things ended between him and his fiance with photographic proof of him drunkenly kissing some other woman now has him understanding that he didn’t do it; his future self did. He’s been sabotaging himself in order to achieve some other goal that he can’t understand but Sean now realizes that he completely cannot trust any other versions of himself. The recap of that, just as his head comes flying off, is wonderful.
Of course, we can’t have a dead lead so there’s some comical creativity in getting him alive again that involves those that guard the time streams and some hasty negotiations on Sean’s part for his future survival. It’s the kind of loose approach that works for something that tackles time travel like this so it’s easy to roll with. At the same time, he’s now trying to stay alive and find this timelines version of the other professors in order to get help moving into the time stream again. Realizing that things are in flux helps that in a big way, as does the reveal of his own complicity of sorts in putting the time stream like it is now – which is a wonderfully absurd moment as they look at the history books. Of course, future self isn’t far behind…
In Summary:
As the series progresses I’m definitely getting into a position of wondering what Future Sean is up to and just how John Layman may pull the rug out from under us overall. There are enough twists and turns you can do with time travel and I’m hoping for some good surprises that leave me in disbelief. This installment is a lot of fun as Sean contends with the truth of some of his past and figuring out how to secure a future while he has some time left. Karl Mostert has a lot of fun with the look and feel of this particular timeline and embraces its weirdness and wonkiness while making it feel cohesive. I’m excited to see what comes next and hope it’s just as surprising.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: June 17th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
