The Traveler Vol. 1

Stan Lee's Boom! Studios titles

by Stan Lee, Mark Waid, Chad Hardin (Illustrator)

Legendary creator Stan Lee and best-selling author Mark Waid rewrite history in this story of a man out of time!

Stan Lee, the great innovator of the entertainment industry, teams up with BOOM! Studios to deliver a brand new line of superhero comics. In THE TRAVELER, Stan teams up with critically acclaimed writer Mark Waid (IRREDEEMABLE, KINGDOM COME) and fan-favorite artist Chad Hardin (AGE OF HEROES, AMAZING SPIDERMAN) to bring you a man out of time! A mysterious hero known only as the Traveler battles the forces of evil in a time-bending thriller that finds all of history and the future hanging in the balance!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Superheroes, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Comic Book

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is absolutely nothing extraordinary about Stan Lee's The Traveler. Lee and Mark Waid together (both excellent writers and creators) plus a reasonable grasp of physics and some nice art cannot elevate this book above the level of "standard fare." I hate time travel stories in general. (Exception: Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates-go read that instead of this!) Sorry folks.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non è che la Boom Studios sia mai stata una etichetta in grado di attrarmi, ma avendo avuto l'occasione di acquistare a prezzo stracciato questo volumetto praticamente intonso ho deciso per la prova di lettura.
Stan Lee può anche aver avuto l'idea, ma è chiaramente Mark Waid che ha portato avanti il progetto.
La storia riguarda la teoria del campo unificato, ossia quella teoria che prevede che la genesi delle 4 forze fondamentali (gravità, forza debole, elettromagnetismo e forza forte) sia unica. Il Viaggiatore (del tempo) che è il protagonista domina la gravità, e si sposta nel tempo cercando di salvare la vita di alcune persone dagli altri 3 spilt-second men. Perché?
Ma perché con i salti temporali queste persone hanno un influenza sul suo destino, e sulla sua storia d'amore.

Discreti i disegni di Chad Hardin.
3 stelle

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stan Lee & Mark Waid combine to tell a very standard, by the number time travel hi-jinks story. If this were the mid 80s, this would have seemed new, but here its very generic. Its not bad, but very formulaic and Waid is better than this. The story wasn't bad by any means but not challenging. Hardin's art was decent but unspectacular. Overall, the first volume wasn't the thrill ride it needed to be but there is a foundation that might be able to sustain success.

[Bevans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very likable new character, with an interesting story and some cool villains, and some excellent, cool artwork. Unfortunately, the story itself is pretty disjointed, it's full of deus ex machinas, and the ending seems like they didn't have enough time to tell the story they wanted to tell.

I'd definitely like to see more though. I know this team of creators has the chops to do great stuff, but this is a single where I was hoping for a homerun. (And I just used a baseball analogy for the first, and probably last, time ever.)

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel Comics founder and icon Stan Lee continues to create new universes with his newest properties. Dubbed Kronus by those he encounters, the mysterious Traveler demonstrates his control over time while sheltering ordinary strangers from time-jumping adversaries. Played as a typical time-travel story, Stan Lee spend too much time having his lead explain himself (and his powers) in detail. While I enjoyed the initial premise, the simplistic plot and easy-to-spot twist left me wishing Stan had spent a little more time on this book.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say former Boom! Studios editor Mark Waid knew what he was doing when he put the famous (or infamous to some) Stan Lee under contract. He let Lee come up with the ideas, and then signed high profile writers to do the actual writing, and with The Traveler the writer is Waid himself. Yes, some story points are painfully obvious, and the time travel paradoxes are ignored. This remained an entertaining story, and one much better than I expected with Lee's name attached to it.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

very simple, uncomplicated writing. it is enjoyable and quick but nothing exciting. a good use of science powers. very obvious twists and plots.
art and colours were fine. I dont see myself rereading this but it is a super quick read.

some parts don't add up like the driver without glasses seems dangerous even if you want her to have select accidents. but it seems like Traveler didn't need to delay Roland or whatever his name is as at the last second he directly interferes regardless.

[Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty terrible. Completely scattered storyline that was supposed to wrap things up at the end and lead the way to future stories but I just couldn't wrap my head around it. The whole concept was super weak as well.

[B.C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a semi-interesting book. It had a semi-cohesive story. It had semi-interesting characters.

It also had on the nose dialoge and descriptions. If you read it like a silver age tribute, then it's okay. If you read it as if a modern graphic novel it is pretty lame.

[Jesse James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was okay, I could see the plot twists coming and I learned some new words and concepts I hadn't thought of before.

My roommate actually gave me this because the MC has powers similar to my protagonist, but beyond that it was eh.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent origin story, somewhat interesting character. Some of the dialogue is juvenile, however. I liked it enough to want to read more...

[Daryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Time travel paradoxes abound. Serviceable, though uninspiring, art. Probably 2 1/2 stars but I'll bump it to 3 for the silver age homage.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, which isn't surprising for a Mark Waid comic. However, it never really grabbed me. Perhaps, now that the premise is explained, future volumes will be better.

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5/5. I was expecting more from this. It started in a good way, but soon become unoriginal and full of clichés. Let's hope it will get better in volume two.

[Curious Madra · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw the cover and the great late Stan Lees name, I really wanted to get my hands on this. The art in this comic and Stan Lee would bring you back to your childhood. However I will admit there was a time skip that really wasn’t necessary tbh. I don’t want to go into spoiler territory here but I felt the sudden time change was rather off. That’s unfortunately all I’m going to say since I will be again saying spoilers from the whole thing. I also want our main superheros superpower, I would just love to turn back time and fix cringe things from my past man…

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for giving me the whole comic for free!

[Barry Hammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tragic tale of fate and how one man turned himself into his own worst enemy.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Produced by Stan Lee for Boom! Comics. Mysterious character with time specific powers. It's a very intriguing beginning to what could be a very cool series.

[Stephen Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very entertaining.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending made up for what I thought was going to be a fairly generic story.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Em conjunto com a Boom Studios Stan Lee, das suas veneráveis altitudes, criou novos personagens para comics que aliam o classicismo de um dos mentores da Marvel a uma novidade que não se baseia na exploração de violência e sexualização que caracteriza grande parte das "novidades" do mundo dos comics. Como aparte, note-se que Lady Death - essencialmente uma mulher albina bem proporcionada em fato de banho com aventuras cada vez mais infantis, voltou às estantes num comic feito para ser visto e certamente não lido. Por isso títulos como este The Traveler são refrescantes, sem serem avant-garde nem bleeding edge, mas pelo seu classicismo natural.

The Traveler é uma boa desculpa para Mark Waid, a quem Lee entregou os argumentos, escrever convolutos narrativas sobre coincidências e saltos no tempo que fazem as tiras de möbius parecer rectas tranquilas. Neste primeiro volume, o herói que curiosamente não inventa um nome para si próprio, corre pelo tempo e contra o tempo aparentemente para tentar evitar a sua própria criação, embora no curioso final se revele que tudo o que fez foi alterar levemente o decorrer dos acontecimentos para controlar a sua criação e poder vingar-se do responsável pelo acidente criminoso que o criou a si e matou a mulher que ama. Boa premissa para uma nova série que assenta sobre a viagem no tempo, um dos mais intrigantes conceitos da ficção científica.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid never fails to impress me. In fact, I forgot Stan Lee had anything to do with this until I came on Goodreads to review it because Waid's writing is where most of my attention has been while reading this book. I loved the dialogue, the occasional humor was refreshing, and I enjoyed the story. Yes, it was predictable at times, but honestly most comics are; I'm willing to give this one a break because it was still fun to read. Looking forward to reading volume 2!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am huge time travel geek and when I saw that Stan Lee and Mark Waid wrote a superhero that travels in time, I had to read it. I was not disappointed, this is a very cleverly and well plotted graphic novel, with an interesting hook, cool new bad guys and a superhero that controls time in interesting ways. I have read a lot of time travel stories, and this still had fresh ideas in it. This story is mostly an origin story, but one that is cleverly hidden inside. I really enjoyed this read.

[Léna · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT !

Le rythme est hyper soutenu, The Traveler est super drôle (à force d'être casse-pied pour ceux qui le rencontrent) et son identité reste imprévisible jusqu'à la fin.

Une histoire de voyage et de maîtrise du temps, des gens qui apparemment ne se connaissent pas sont tous la cible des mystérieux Split Second Men...

Un comic génial, que je recommande vivement à tous !

[Fiore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Traveler's tone, a sometimes playful voice in serious situations. The way events tied together were fairly satisfying even if some of the key points were made obvious.

[Ethan Vinyard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and original story centered on a hero of super style. A fun quick read and an all audiences appropriate read.

[Collier Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid concept from Stan "The Man" Lee, excellently expanded upon by Mark Waid and Chad Hardin. Highly recommended if you're looking for a new twist on superhero fiction.