Time Before Time: The Sci-Fi Comic You've Been Waiting For!

A Spoiler-Free review of Time Before Time #1 from Image Comics

Time Before Time is the Sci-Fi comic I have been craving way longer than I thought!

Time Before Time takes place in the dystopian future- but it’s not one of THOSE stories. No,

this is the story of the rich and powerful controlling who gets to escape the horrible future (or, arguably, present, right?) they live in. The only way to do that? Pay The Syndicate to take you back in time, where you can live out the rest of your time “back in the good ol days”. What a terrifically terrifying concept, huh? It’s truly scary to me because I could see this actually happening- it’s not so far off to think the rich would leverage something like that over the rest of us. Additionally, it really takes the idea of reminiscing on the past to a whole new level!

Tatsuo is our protagonist and from the second we meet, he’s relatable and flawed AF. I really

love it when writers and artists aren’t afraid to show a protagonist's flaws from the start. He’s that person using sarcasm and humor to make it through life. As such, he becomes clearly in over his head, working for The Syndicate but wanting more out of life for himself, and he can’t stop himself. As the story goes on, we see him take steps to take what he wants for once, instead of just giving others what they want, and that leads to results that are both monumentally important AND monumentally destructive- for himself and others.

I don’t want to spoil it, but there is a HUGE moment in this issue that I NEVER could have guessed. You know how we all see the consequences of time travel and such eventually? Well, at one point, an unforeseen consequence happens, and, holy sh*t, it had me questioning whether or not I could ever trust myself with time travel! It hits HARD. Trust me when I say you’ll know it when it happens. That ALONE knocked me on my a*s in the best way possible. It definitely is a humbling moment where I think many of us, myself included, are reminded of how we forget the consequences of our actions sometimes- especially on those we care about. To me, that moment really solidified how solid and original this line is. If you’re hesitant to pick it up because you think you've seen it all with time travel- trust me when I say you haven't, and if you don’t believe me, pick this up and prove me wrong!

In addition to the great characterization of our protagonist and the great story itself, the art

of this is PERFECT. Is it my favorite style of art alone? No, but is it the perfect style for this book? YES! The rigidity of each face and every background of every page adds to each gritty layer of this incredible story. Let me tell you, it had me feeling like I was in a legit sci-fi movie the entire time I read this issue. I really loved how some transition scenes went from panel to panel in a kaleidoscope lens; It really made it feel even more like a movie! Also, not gonna lie, I LOVE the sound effects on the pages of some of the action scenes! YES GIVE ME SOUND WORDS!

Overall Consensus

It was REALLY HARD to keep this Spoiler-Free, but I was determined to because everyone needs to pick this up! Get it in your pulls, especially if you are a fan of sci-fi and great storytelling- this is such a fun, solid read and, I know this is only issue 1, but if I don’t see this turned into a TV show in the future, I’m gonna be disappointed in you all! I don’t read enough sci-fi, but I can now say I have a sci-fi story that I will be getting every issue of- as long as it stays this good. Cop this book!