Time travel has long fascinated mankind. From Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau's 1887 book El Anacronópete all the way
through to Doctor Who, we blummen well love it, despite the headaches it can
bring. Well, if you have a thing for bizarre time travel stories you should
enjoy the latest production from the Crazy Fox stable, who have previously
given us the top notch “Doctor WTF?” mags.
Now I should point out here that this review
is based on a downloaded copy of TPJOTT (yeah, like I’m gonna keep typing that mouthful!),
and as such I cannot comment on the quality of the physical issue. What I will
say is that if it is up to the standard of previous publications (and I am
assured that it is) then you will have no worries and can settle down to enjoy
a glossy A5 publication that won’t fall apart like Lib Dem promises.
And so to the stories. There are twelve short
bursts of creativity contained within, with the expected mixture of skill and
storytelling. One thing to point out is there isn’t a duffer in sight. This is
no amateur hour, and it’s astounding how detailed, complex and downright fun a
three or four page story can be. We have some gorgeous as well as scripts.
George Coleman takes the black and white crown for his work on “History Lesson”,
skating perilously close to Dave Gibbons levels of greatness with great talent
and clarity. The story itself is a neat and clever look at the affects of
altering your personal history, a common theme in time travel stories but
handled in an original fashion here. Special mention must go to “the Time
Templars Vs The Daemonic Dinos, firstly for having an awesome title, secondly
for being lots of fun and thirdly for some gorgeous colour art from David
Broughton. Add a fun script from Oscar Maltby with a brave pun at the end and
you’ve got a winner. Another story of particular note is “3000
Dollar Second”, a very smart look at localised time pockets, very well written
by Mike Lynch and expertly drawn and coloured by Neil Ford. This one starts off
the issue and was a very good choice from editor Owen Watts (who owes me a wig made
from his lustrous locks for this review).
TPJOTT really is a first class collection,
with enough variety to entertain everyone who likes a bit of good old fashioned
time travel sci-fi. The quality of scripts and art is very high, with plenty of
stuff you wouldn’t bat an eyelid at if it popped up in the likes of
2000AD. As ever, it’s a labour of love from the creators, who may get a bacon
sandwich at the upcoming Bristol Comics Convention if they are lucky but sod
all else. This is am love that deserves to be shared, though, so click on the link,
part with your cash and enjoy one of the more enjoyable comic collections of
2013 so far.
