Time Samplers #1
writers- David Pickney/Erik
Koconis/Thomas Gorence
artist- Nicolas Colacitti
Time Samplers is the latest venture from Paranoid American, Inc. The book begins in present day. Two
brothers, Cal and Lex, buy a tuning fork that once belonged to
Alexander Graham Bell. That tuning fork is the key component to a
pseudo-time travel device called the W.I.L.D. (Wake Initiated Lucid
Dream) Machine. This machine sends the brothers back to 1913, in an
alternate reality, where they find Bell asking men like J.P. Morgan,
William Rockefeller, Theodore Vail, and Nelson Aldrich to help fund
his newest invention. What does Alexander Graham Bell have to do
with a seemingly mind controlled shopping mall mob with tendencies to
spontaneously combust? That's the big question our heroes aim to
answer.
Before I ever laid eyes on this book, I
was completely hooked thanks to the name of the story. Time
Samplers: Escape From Jekyll Island. Immediately, the title conjures
up images of a storm battered mansion on one of the Golden isles of
Georgia, with some sort of unnatural horror waiting within its walls.
Time Samplers #1 definitely has all of that, but it was much more
than I expected. Pickney, Koconis, and Gorence have done their
homework to create an exciting comic book world of believable
science, alternate history, and the coolest time traveling duo in
this genre or any other.
Using the location of Jekyll Island was
a good move on the writers' part. The Jekyll Island Hunt Club was
one of those clubs that helped to perpetuate the idea of an
Illuminati, or a secret society of rich and powerful men controlling
the world with economic, militaristic, or even supernatural power.
It creates another interesting aspect alongside everything else going
on in the story. Alternate historians and conspiracy theorists are
either going to love Time Samplers, or it's going to make them more
paranoid, because Gorence and company take us on crazy ride,
and we know for a fact that it's based in reality.
What can I say about Colacitti's art?
The characterization is carried out in way that makes me think
“animated feature.” I'm usually a fan of a more photo realistic
style of art, but this art fits Time Samplers like a glove. It's
lively and energetic and it jumps off the page in full color.
There's something brilliant about the simplicity of Nicolas
Colacitti's backgrounds. They aren't muddied up by unnecessary
details. He draws a scene and gives it life by creating exhilarating
action sequences that have me appreciating the style more and more with every panel. Paranoid American has their hands in music, comics, and video
games. I can almost bet that they're not far from taking their
properties to the small or big screen, especially if this issue's
illustrator is behind the art.
After reading Time Samplers: Escape
From Jekyll Island, I was sold on the idea that Paranoid American is
on their way up as a strong force in the comic industry. I could
have finished the story, put the book down, and been blown away waiting for #2 to hit the shelves... but Thomas Gorence and his gang
of Paranoid Americans weren't finished with me yet.
As a back-up story in Time Samplers #1,
writer Thomas Gorence and artist Christopher Hanchey continue their
Paranoid American brand with Operation Midnight Climax. It's one
man's telling of the CIA's involvement in the experimentation of
narcotics and a supposed “truth drug” originally used by the
Nazis. The story touches on government drug deals, illegal
experimentation on humans, and murder. Gorence and Hanchey do a
great job of inciting some paranoia and they definitely put questions
into my head. Is our government involved in the narcotics industry?
Did Alexander Graham Bell create a human/sheep hybrid race? I can't
give you the answers myself, but if you read Time Samplers #1 you
can be the judge. As they say at Paranoid American, “If
you are not paranoid, you're not paying attention.”
Time Samplers #1 is due out December 12, 2012.
Time Samplers #1 is due out December 12, 2012.
I like your review and the book looks facinating.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Don't forget to check Time Samplers out on their website and Facebook page.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really cool book. Thank you for introducing me to it!
ReplyDelete