Ivar, Timewalker #1
Publisher: Valiant
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Clayton Henry
Cover: Raul Allen
There ware too many times where stories that center around time travel can just be a headache to read to the point where it’s downright confusing and boring. Well, it’s nice to know that Van Lente does none of that here and brings another crowning achievement to the line of Valiant comics! Ivar, Timewalker focuses on the eldest immortal Anni-Padda brother as he attempts to keep a young scientist alive who is being hunted because she will invent time travel.
You might start to get a familiar vibe from a certain film when you start reading this but the wonderful thing is that Van Lente already knows this. He even tweaks a line from that film to make it fit this adventure that has no problem with taking liberties and just having fun. As the villainous Prometheans are chasing Ivar and Neela through time it’s very evident that Van Lente has decided to dismiss many of the time travel taboo that pepper a lot of similar stories. Made very entertaining by Neela’s worrying that she’s causing a time paradox by accidently saving people or when she freaks out because she almost crushes a weevil. Moments like these do show a more frantic and humorous side of Neela but it doesn’t diminish the fact that she’s a brilliant scientist whose more than capable of taking care of herself. Ivar also seems to embody the best characteristics of both of his brothers while maintaining his own identity.
Clayton Henry really pulls out some really great scenes from this script as his artwork is once again telling Van Lente’s story. The opening scenes are very cinematic and unfold to a nice splash page that screams booming music if you were watching this! The jumps through time are just done with some eye catching panel layouts and a dose of humor that are made all the better with Brian Reber’s colors. There’s also a trip to New Japan where we get to see Rai in action and maybe one day we’ll get to see Henry and Reber on that title because that scene looks great.
Ivar, Timewalker plays with both the science and the fiction of time travel while making sure you get a first issue that wants you to come back for more! It’s an intro that is worth checking out if you’re looking for something that doesn’t take itself too seriously but isn’t going to insult your intelligence either. So do yourself a favor and see what Valiant has in store for comic fans!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
