Friday 8 March 2013

THE PSYCHEDELIC JOURNAL OF TIME TRAVEL - Review






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.