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Time² #1
Time²: The Epiphany
Time², book one.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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52 people want to read
About the author
Howard Chaykin
1,074 books112 followersHoward Victor Chaykin is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 15, 2016
I was somewhat surprised by this 1986 book (in many ways, not all of them 'Good'). First of all, it is magazine-sized. Interesting. The story is only 47 pages long, basically a one-shot. You would think that's not long enough for a Chaykin project, but personally I found the story 'just okay' and so the short length suited me just fine. Interesting world, although I'm still a bit fuzzy where & how the Time² comes in & its significance. What bothered me the most (and still does) is the fact that I paid $47 for this collector's item. Oh well.
What surprised me most is the fact that this book (and its sequel Time²: The Satisfaction of Black Mariah) is supposed to have been (and to remain to this day) 'influential'. I didn't see it, and I'm still trying to figure out how exactly, it influenced comics as a medium... I guess I was expecting something along the lines of American Flagg!. I'm still looking forward to reading the sequel, though.
**
From The Art of Howard Chaykin:
'The book had a unique look, founded on Chaykin's attempt to translate the cadence of jazz music into print. [...] Time² was one of the first projects to utilize 'blue-line color', which represented a step beyond traditional comics color and proved a popular enhancement until computer coloring became affordable and prevalent.' (p.116)
'Chaykin's experience with the book drove home an understanding that the things that influenced and excited him did not necessarily connect with readers, many of whom expressed confusion about the Time² stories. The cultural breadth and depth Chaykin plumbed in the work failed to resonate with an audience whose influences were frequently located in the 1970s and 1980s.' (p.118)
**
So the book was influential for using new colouring techniques. Ah. Now I see.
And that bit about translating the cadence of jazz into print? You lost me there, Howard.
Confusion about the stories? Damn straight. It's like there's pieces missing!
What surprised me most is the fact that this book (and its sequel Time²: The Satisfaction of Black Mariah) is supposed to have been (and to remain to this day) 'influential'. I didn't see it, and I'm still trying to figure out how exactly, it influenced comics as a medium... I guess I was expecting something along the lines of American Flagg!. I'm still looking forward to reading the sequel, though.
**
From The Art of Howard Chaykin:
'The book had a unique look, founded on Chaykin's attempt to translate the cadence of jazz music into print. [...] Time² was one of the first projects to utilize 'blue-line color', which represented a step beyond traditional comics color and proved a popular enhancement until computer coloring became affordable and prevalent.' (p.116)
'Chaykin's experience with the book drove home an understanding that the things that influenced and excited him did not necessarily connect with readers, many of whom expressed confusion about the Time² stories. The cultural breadth and depth Chaykin plumbed in the work failed to resonate with an audience whose influences were frequently located in the 1970s and 1980s.' (p.118)
**
So the book was influential for using new colouring techniques. Ah. Now I see.
And that bit about translating the cadence of jazz into print? You lost me there, Howard.
Confusion about the stories? Damn straight. It's like there's pieces missing!
September 7, 2021
2.5 Stars; This is peak-Howard Chaykin. A guy who I have such mixed feelings about. I know very little about him personally, but from the vibe I get from his stories? He's the creep's creep.
Time^2 is "an intersection of the infinite where eternity meets forever". It's a world of Deja-Voodoo and Reincarnation and Zombie and Robots meets cheap booze, cigarettes, cheap perfume, and urban pollution. It's a story with eyes bigger than its stomach. And it's hearts not strong enough to keep going.
It's Chaykin giving pure over-lettered pop-art, but making it difficult to follow-up with the excess of word balloons. It's cheap thrills from a guy who like Tijuana Bibles and Raymond Chandler.
Time^2 is "an intersection of the infinite where eternity meets forever". It's a world of Deja-Voodoo and Reincarnation and Zombie and Robots meets cheap booze, cigarettes, cheap perfume, and urban pollution. It's a story with eyes bigger than its stomach. And it's hearts not strong enough to keep going.
It's Chaykin giving pure over-lettered pop-art, but making it difficult to follow-up with the excess of word balloons. It's cheap thrills from a guy who like Tijuana Bibles and Raymond Chandler.
April 24, 2013
re-read 23/03/2013
Classic Chaykin.
The story was a little hard to grasp, but the "feeling" of it was crystal-clear.
You could smell the cheap booze, cheap perfume, car fumes and cheap cigarettes coming off the pages.
Men in classic suits, women in classy dresses, robot-women in sultry dresses, zombies demonstarting for equal rights and the right to vote, demon cops and a re-incarnated into a robot-body (but he hates robots) jazz saxophonist murdered by his wife (but that's OK, he dont hold no grudge) and the quintessential Chaykin "hero".
Like I said, classic Chaykin.
Classic Chaykin.
The story was a little hard to grasp, but the "feeling" of it was crystal-clear.
You could smell the cheap booze, cheap perfume, car fumes and cheap cigarettes coming off the pages.
Men in classic suits, women in classy dresses, robot-women in sultry dresses, zombies demonstarting for equal rights and the right to vote, demon cops and a re-incarnated into a robot-body (but he hates robots) jazz saxophonist murdered by his wife (but that's OK, he dont hold no grudge) and the quintessential Chaykin "hero".
Like I said, classic Chaykin.
December 2, 2023
Great artwork, action, robots, sex, sorcery and seamed stockings!
This is actually the first of two volumes Chaykin produced for First Comics with these characters, the second being Time2 The Satisfaction of Black Mariah . I'd love to see these collected in one book, along with the introductory crossover story Chaykin did for American Flagg! in which Reuben and his talking-cat buddy Raoul end up in the universe of Maxim Glory and company, plus whatever sketches or notes he still has.
It's a great pity this wasn't continued beyond the second volume, because it has everything you look for in a Chaykin title: killer line work, dynamic storytelling, dialogue that leaps off the page, lots of profanity, sex and violence, biting social satire, ingenious concepts and hot babes in lingerie who aren't the least bit shy about showing it (though a lot less of the last than you'll find in his other major non-superhero work, Black Kiss ). A must for Chaykin fans, or for that matter anyone who likes their sequential art with a bit of an edge to it.
This is actually the first of two volumes Chaykin produced for First Comics with these characters, the second being Time2 The Satisfaction of Black Mariah . I'd love to see these collected in one book, along with the introductory crossover story Chaykin did for American Flagg! in which Reuben and his talking-cat buddy Raoul end up in the universe of Maxim Glory and company, plus whatever sketches or notes he still has.
It's a great pity this wasn't continued beyond the second volume, because it has everything you look for in a Chaykin title: killer line work, dynamic storytelling, dialogue that leaps off the page, lots of profanity, sex and violence, biting social satire, ingenious concepts and hot babes in lingerie who aren't the least bit shy about showing it (though a lot less of the last than you'll find in his other major non-superhero work, Black Kiss ). A must for Chaykin fans, or for that matter anyone who likes their sequential art with a bit of an edge to it.
March 28, 2013
Okay--I slowly realize I should have read this one first. Don't know how, but I got this and The Satisfaction of Black Mariah reversed in order of publication. Like Satisfaction, this is a beautifully drawn story--though sometimes not a very clear narrative. After reading both of these graphic novels I get the feeling that there were more planned, but no more are available. A pity, because I liked this dark comedy of an alternate 1950s style New York where demons, zombies and robots walk hand in hand and could read it all day long.
Note: Also loved the tip of the hat to Rossum's Universal Robots--the play by Karel Capek that introduced the word "robot" into modern usage. The play is still in print and I recommend anyone interested in reading the classics of SF to pick it up.
Note: Also loved the tip of the hat to Rossum's Universal Robots--the play by Karel Capek that introduced the word "robot" into modern usage. The play is still in print and I recommend anyone interested in reading the classics of SF to pick it up.
July 30, 2020
Howard Chaykin's unconventional layouts - with Ken Bruzenak's lettering and sound effects placed like a cacophony all over the pages - make reading this an extremely exhausting experience. The plot - as far as I can make out from this landslide of words and images - has something to do with the death in a near-future New York City of a famous saxophonist who is somehow connected to an empire of (Jewish?) lesbian sex-robots who are being murdered by a maniac with a screwdriver. In other words, typical Chaykin sleaze.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2015
3 and 1/2 actually.
May 16, 2020
I re-read this and enjoyed it a lot more this time round. It made more sense to this reader and the fabulous injokes. Think Damon Runyon goes SF in New York. Howard Chaykin pushes the boundary of comics after his magnificent run on American Flagg. This is much more experimental, book two is next up and maybe, just maybe there is going to be book 3.
April 27, 2020
Three stars almost entirely for the art. Chaykin tried more interesting and dynamic layouts as well as color, but the story is not terribly coherent. I can get behind stories that are going for mood more than plot, and apparently he wanted to mimic Bop jazz, but this ain’t it.
June 16, 2017
Like a bad spin-off version of American Flagg
March 21, 2010
Re-reading these for an online piece. Will post a link here when it's up in a couple of weeks.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews