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My Time Machine
My Time Machine takes off when Carol Lay’s silver-haired protagonist (who happens to resemble the author) embarks on a foolhardy odyssey that transports her from the politically addled and environmentally anxious America of 2020 to a bleak and distant future.
“When I came to, I had that ‘Where am I?' feeling.
“Only it was more like, ‘When am I?’”
Trapped in a glitchy time machine at the end of the world, a strange creature banging unnervingly at the door, what else is an exhausted amateur time traveler to do but sit back and play her concertina?
Having inherited the blueprints designed by the Time Traveler of H.G. Wells’ historical account, our curious and all-too-human adventurer enlists her genius ex-husband to construct a modern version of the time machine. Torn between wanting to fix the past and needing to know what lies ahead, she decides to see how our follies will play out in order to bring back information that might help save civilization from itself. She anticipates trouble, but it’s far worse ― not only has humanity failed to mitigate climate change, but by 2035 the world has succumbed to fascism. Then, by 2045, it has devolved to anarchy. Intrigued by the possibilities detailed in Wells’ book, she decides to visit the year 802,701 to verify the original Traveler’s tale. In that inexplicably lush land she encounters enemies that propel her to the earth’s last, hellish days.
Carol Lay’s My Time Machine is serious and funny, a sly cautionary political satire, and a rollicking time travel story full of puzzling paradoxes, edge-of-your-seat suspense, breezy badinage, and a deeply felt wonder at the universe.
“When I came to, I had that ‘Where am I?' feeling.
“Only it was more like, ‘When am I?’”
Trapped in a glitchy time machine at the end of the world, a strange creature banging unnervingly at the door, what else is an exhausted amateur time traveler to do but sit back and play her concertina?
Having inherited the blueprints designed by the Time Traveler of H.G. Wells’ historical account, our curious and all-too-human adventurer enlists her genius ex-husband to construct a modern version of the time machine. Torn between wanting to fix the past and needing to know what lies ahead, she decides to see how our follies will play out in order to bring back information that might help save civilization from itself. She anticipates trouble, but it’s far worse ― not only has humanity failed to mitigate climate change, but by 2035 the world has succumbed to fascism. Then, by 2045, it has devolved to anarchy. Intrigued by the possibilities detailed in Wells’ book, she decides to visit the year 802,701 to verify the original Traveler’s tale. In that inexplicably lush land she encounters enemies that propel her to the earth’s last, hellish days.
Carol Lay’s My Time Machine is serious and funny, a sly cautionary political satire, and a rollicking time travel story full of puzzling paradoxes, edge-of-your-seat suspense, breezy badinage, and a deeply felt wonder at the universe.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2024
2 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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December 11, 2024In this sequel to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, a woman in her seventies inherits the plans to the original time machine in 2016 and her ex-husband, a physicist, is able to turn them into a working craft. After debating whether to kill Hitler, survey the long-term effects of climate change, or see if the Morlocks and Eloi are real, she sets off on the voyage of a lifetime . . . humanity's lifetime.
It's a melancholy and subdued tale about people tending more toward toward contemplation and dithering rather than exploration and adventure. I mean, the cover pretty much captures the tone of the whole book.
I've been following Carol Lay's comic strips and short stories for decades, and it is good to see her branch out into graphic novels, but I wish she had brought along more of her quirky humor instead of taking this foray into bleakness.
It's a melancholy and subdued tale about people tending more toward toward contemplation and dithering rather than exploration and adventure. I mean, the cover pretty much captures the tone of the whole book.
I've been following Carol Lay's comic strips and short stories for decades, and it is good to see her branch out into graphic novels, but I wish she had brought along more of her quirky humor instead of taking this foray into bleakness.
July 31, 2025
Interesting in its own way but I don’t remember much nor can I muster up enough enthusiasm (I read it quickly about a week ago) to write more.
If it’s okay, let me quote an excellent reviewer I follow (Rod) who succinctly and accurately describes this graphic novel as follows:
“It’s a melancholy and subdued tale about people tending more towards contemplation and dithering rather than exploration and adventure. I mean, the cover pretty much captures the tone of the whole book.”
Thank you, Rod.
If it’s okay, let me quote an excellent reviewer I follow (Rod) who succinctly and accurately describes this graphic novel as follows:
“It’s a melancholy and subdued tale about people tending more towards contemplation and dithering rather than exploration and adventure. I mean, the cover pretty much captures the tone of the whole book.”
Thank you, Rod.
Read
October 17, 2024My Time Machine takes the Time Traveler story to spin it around current issues such as climate change, authoritarianism, and the loss of the world we knew. In this graphic novel, our hero is an older woman whose genius ex-husband builds a time machine after the Time Traveler’s blueprints. She’s determined to try it out and she does - taking us further through 2040, 2045, and then much, much further, to 800,000 and beyond. The book follows her thoughts, her relationship with her divorced husband and with her cat, Buddy, and jumps from memory-to-present, creating another sort of time-travel within it. I was caught in its philosophical whirlwinds which ask some of the right questions, in a very simple way. Delightful!
Although the story is very much inspired by H G Wells' “The Time Machine”, it’s a beautiful read even without having read Wells’ work.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Fantagraphics Books for the e-arc!
Although the story is very much inspired by H G Wells' “The Time Machine”, it’s a beautiful read even without having read Wells’ work.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Fantagraphics Books for the e-arc!
November 18, 2024
Interesting imagination of a sort of sequel to the classic story.
January 1, 2025
Trippy. A welcome long-form from one of my favorite cartoonists.
October 29, 2024
8 I had a great time reading this graphic novel. My only criticism is that I found the art a bit too flat - or let me put it differently: not expressive enough with regards to the emotions. The protagonist and her ex always seemed to have the same expressions, and the way those were drawn expressed a slight boredom to me. That may be a personal interpretation, but it kept me from being all too exited, at least at the start.
Because (as it should be with a four star graphic novel) ultimately I was pulled in and I felt for the protagonist and her troubles (and cared about the outcome of the story). Also, I realise the art style may be a conscious choice as the protagonist is (clearly) introverted and a thinker - often mostly involved in reflecting on the circumstances she finds herself in, and how those came to be. And it's important stuff she thinks about!
Like the SF-story this is based on ('The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells) the technology of time travel is not the point. There is no higher level physics here. And in contrast with some 'golden age'-time travel stories, the solving of paradoxes is not what this story is about either. Here you will find no man who fathered himself or things like that (even though there is some fun exploration of paradoxes and whether or not the protagonist can try to change the past). Like Wells' story this is about following the trajectory of our own history to the future. Wells wrote about the ultimate development of the division between the rich and the poor, the working class and the gentry. One became the Eloi, the other became the Morlocks. Carol Lay suggests a way the Morlocks could have come to be from our 21th century perspective, but more importantly she explores the consequences of climate change, ecosystem collapse and the rule of authoritarian government and the loss of privacy. At first the futures the protagonist visits are frightfully realistic (I hope her vision of the world in 2045 does not come to be).
As this book was written and drawn during the Corona crisis and the around the end of the first Trump presidency - the fact that the author views the coming century through an apocalyptic lens is almost a given. But when the titular time machine makes some larger jumps forward things get weirder.
I enjoyed these explorations - and at the end the story even manages to end on a hopeful note. Because even when we cannot change the past, we all have the chance to change the future. We can now live, vote and act in such a way that our society does not turn the corner into disaster, but manages to renew itself. Mind you, I don't think the cold scientific rationality of the characters in this graphic novel will really manage to change the future. Accepting that things are what they are, and in 30 million years everything mankind has done will be forgotten anyway, is not very inspiring. But well, that means it's up to other authors to provide the inspiration.
Because (as it should be with a four star graphic novel) ultimately I was pulled in and I felt for the protagonist and her troubles (and cared about the outcome of the story). Also, I realise the art style may be a conscious choice as the protagonist is (clearly) introverted and a thinker - often mostly involved in reflecting on the circumstances she finds herself in, and how those came to be. And it's important stuff she thinks about!
Like the SF-story this is based on ('The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells) the technology of time travel is not the point. There is no higher level physics here. And in contrast with some 'golden age'-time travel stories, the solving of paradoxes is not what this story is about either. Here you will find no man who fathered himself or things like that (even though there is some fun exploration of paradoxes and whether or not the protagonist can try to change the past). Like Wells' story this is about following the trajectory of our own history to the future. Wells wrote about the ultimate development of the division between the rich and the poor, the working class and the gentry. One became the Eloi, the other became the Morlocks. Carol Lay suggests a way the Morlocks could have come to be from our 21th century perspective, but more importantly she explores the consequences of climate change, ecosystem collapse and the rule of authoritarian government and the loss of privacy. At first the futures the protagonist visits are frightfully realistic (I hope her vision of the world in 2045 does not come to be).
As this book was written and drawn during the Corona crisis and the around the end of the first Trump presidency - the fact that the author views the coming century through an apocalyptic lens is almost a given. But when the titular time machine makes some larger jumps forward things get weirder.
I enjoyed these explorations - and at the end the story even manages to end on a hopeful note. Because even when we cannot change the past, we all have the chance to change the future. We can now live, vote and act in such a way that our society does not turn the corner into disaster, but manages to renew itself. Mind you, I don't think the cold scientific rationality of the characters in this graphic novel will really manage to change the future. Accepting that things are what they are, and in 30 million years everything mankind has done will be forgotten anyway, is not very inspiring. But well, that means it's up to other authors to provide the inspiration.
January 23, 2025
A contemporary sequel to HG Wells’ The Time Machine. It’s pretty good. The protagonist isn’t really interested in where humankind is going, she’s more interested in saving current society by arresting climate change or learning how to stop the current political administration.
Some interesting ideas and I like how it treats time travel. Its laser focus on our current troubles instead of a macro view of where we’re going as a species is an interesting angle. One nitpick I have is the tone of the book is pretty bleak and somber. Almost too bleak. There’s not really even a hopeful punctuation at the end.
Some interesting ideas and I like how it treats time travel. Its laser focus on our current troubles instead of a macro view of where we’re going as a species is an interesting angle. One nitpick I have is the tone of the book is pretty bleak and somber. Almost too bleak. There’s not really even a hopeful punctuation at the end.
March 30, 2025
(4.3) This book gives the reader a grounded yet contemporary perspective of time travel that builds with an interesting lower sense of urgency. The scientific concept initially evolves from escapist’s obsession to prototype, where pitfalls of other sci-fi time travelers serve as baseline cautionary tales. Surprisingly, the characters are quite accepting of the past and methodical when considering the impact of future consequences.
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February 5, 2025Read half way through...ending up being not for me so I decided to dnf it 😅
December 29, 2024
A contemporary take on the "kill Hitler if you had a time machine" trope, Carol Lay digs into the possibility of saving humanity from the impending climate crisis. In My Time Machine, an elderly woman receives the blueprints to a device meant to allow the user to travel through time. Sharing the design with her physicist ex-boyfriend, the pair end up building the time machine and prepare to use it from her backyard. Keen on discovering what the impact of climate change will be, she decides to make intermittent excursions into the future to discover what the fate of the planet looks like.
Carol Lay's take here acts as a loose sequel of sorts to H.G. Well's famous novella, so several references to the original text are present. What ensues as the story progresses is a rather dour outlook on the future of humanity as Lay really drives through the point that anthropogenic climate change is really the only true existential crisis we face. My Time Machine is a solidly entertaining affair despite the grim future depicted, largely due to the bits of quirky humor from both the dialogue and the artwork. Lay's art is simple and evocative, though rarely grandiose.
It's very subdued sci-fi despite the heavy Wellsian undertones, though Lay does take the effort to explain out the time travel mechanics. As someone who loves time travel stories (films like Primer, 12 Monkeys, Groundhog Day, etc. and books like Replay, Kindred, The End of Eternity, etc.), Lay's approach to explaining bootstrap paradoxes, the butterfly effect and multiverse theory is sound, but also not novel at this point. Good contemporary time travel stories are tough since the field has been laid out for decades now, and even approaching these stories from a humanist angle is also quite saturated at this point. Thus, My Time Machine really isn't doing anything too distinguished from its peers. It's a good time travel story that hits the personal and emotional marks well, all while paced and drawn well.
Carol Lay's take here acts as a loose sequel of sorts to H.G. Well's famous novella, so several references to the original text are present. What ensues as the story progresses is a rather dour outlook on the future of humanity as Lay really drives through the point that anthropogenic climate change is really the only true existential crisis we face. My Time Machine is a solidly entertaining affair despite the grim future depicted, largely due to the bits of quirky humor from both the dialogue and the artwork. Lay's art is simple and evocative, though rarely grandiose.
It's very subdued sci-fi despite the heavy Wellsian undertones, though Lay does take the effort to explain out the time travel mechanics. As someone who loves time travel stories (films like Primer, 12 Monkeys, Groundhog Day, etc. and books like Replay, Kindred, The End of Eternity, etc.), Lay's approach to explaining bootstrap paradoxes, the butterfly effect and multiverse theory is sound, but also not novel at this point. Good contemporary time travel stories are tough since the field has been laid out for decades now, and even approaching these stories from a humanist angle is also quite saturated at this point. Thus, My Time Machine really isn't doing anything too distinguished from its peers. It's a good time travel story that hits the personal and emotional marks well, all while paced and drawn well.
January 5, 2025
Great Premise buuuuuuuuuut... This is straight Far Left Propaganda. It's so bad. 1/5
August 11, 2024
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Fantagraphics Books for an advance copy of this graphic novel that tells of a time traveller from our past, passing through time, the wondrous that are seen, and the sad realities that might be our future.
I love the idea that time travel has so many rules, so many warnings about something that might not be possible. Going back in time if one sneezes on a dinosaur, the entire future can change. If one goes back and kills Hitler, that might change everything meaning the person who went back in time to kill Hitler was never born. Or does it cause an alternate reality. A world where Nelson Mandela died in prison, like so many people remember or where the Berenstain Bears are really the Berenstein Bears. Or vice versa. Maybe someone has gone back in time and changed things, or gone forward in time to make changes now. The possibilities like the rules that so many made up are endless. That's why I think that Carol Lay has travelled through time, and written this graphic novel as both a warning of what can be, and to create change through entertainment. Lay's story is just too good to be fiction, and the future to scary to be thought of as not real. My Time Machine is written and illustrated by Carol Lay and works as a log book of Lay's adventures in time, always moving forward to our inevitable end.
Carol Lay's Uncle had a very good streak playing poker and won, from a lawyer what looked to be engineering plans. These plans were from the original time traveller from the H. G. Wells novel the Time Machine, and after he passed away, the Uncle gave them to Lay because of her interest in art. Not thinking much Lay approached her ex-husband who taught physics and loved to tinker and showed him the plans. He was enthralled, and soon after a lot of time and expense, presented Lay with the gift of a time machine. An actual working time machine, controlled by an app on her phone. Lay had dreams of finding a solution to climate change, but the reality of the time, 2019 with an election coming, and COVID being talked about, Lay wanted more to see what the future held. Soon she went ahead, to find a country rationing water, low on food, not able to touch, and patrolled by drones, that seemed everywhere. And as she went further into the future, things did not get better.
I really loved this story as time travel usually doesn't look much at the near future, nor the times that it is written in. Writing about 5 years from now is much harder than writing about a 1,000 years, as who can say one is wrong. However the future shown, seems pretty real. And even closer to happening than we want to admit. The characters were very interesting, and one can see Lay being a time traveller, though leaving the cat must have been hard. Also, Lay has good taste in music, soundtracking her time travel with some nice progressive music. There is a lot of action far more than i expected with a lot of scenes that really hold the reader's interest. The art is excellent, complementing the story and character well, and yet being really dynamic when the story asks for it.
What I really enjoyed was that there were a lot of questions asked, buy no answers. Lay refers to the original user of the time machine, but has no idea what happened to him, or why she was seeing things different than he had. Had time changed, did Lay do something different somehow? Also this is not jus a story about hope, but about love. Lay finding her ex-husband has a new woman in his life, means a lot to Lay. Lay is happy that he is happy. One doesn't see that much in stories, and real moments like that made me enjoy the story more. Not just a good time travel story, but a graphic novel with great art and characters that really love and care for each other. And the world.
I love the idea that time travel has so many rules, so many warnings about something that might not be possible. Going back in time if one sneezes on a dinosaur, the entire future can change. If one goes back and kills Hitler, that might change everything meaning the person who went back in time to kill Hitler was never born. Or does it cause an alternate reality. A world where Nelson Mandela died in prison, like so many people remember or where the Berenstain Bears are really the Berenstein Bears. Or vice versa. Maybe someone has gone back in time and changed things, or gone forward in time to make changes now. The possibilities like the rules that so many made up are endless. That's why I think that Carol Lay has travelled through time, and written this graphic novel as both a warning of what can be, and to create change through entertainment. Lay's story is just too good to be fiction, and the future to scary to be thought of as not real. My Time Machine is written and illustrated by Carol Lay and works as a log book of Lay's adventures in time, always moving forward to our inevitable end.
Carol Lay's Uncle had a very good streak playing poker and won, from a lawyer what looked to be engineering plans. These plans were from the original time traveller from the H. G. Wells novel the Time Machine, and after he passed away, the Uncle gave them to Lay because of her interest in art. Not thinking much Lay approached her ex-husband who taught physics and loved to tinker and showed him the plans. He was enthralled, and soon after a lot of time and expense, presented Lay with the gift of a time machine. An actual working time machine, controlled by an app on her phone. Lay had dreams of finding a solution to climate change, but the reality of the time, 2019 with an election coming, and COVID being talked about, Lay wanted more to see what the future held. Soon she went ahead, to find a country rationing water, low on food, not able to touch, and patrolled by drones, that seemed everywhere. And as she went further into the future, things did not get better.
I really loved this story as time travel usually doesn't look much at the near future, nor the times that it is written in. Writing about 5 years from now is much harder than writing about a 1,000 years, as who can say one is wrong. However the future shown, seems pretty real. And even closer to happening than we want to admit. The characters were very interesting, and one can see Lay being a time traveller, though leaving the cat must have been hard. Also, Lay has good taste in music, soundtracking her time travel with some nice progressive music. There is a lot of action far more than i expected with a lot of scenes that really hold the reader's interest. The art is excellent, complementing the story and character well, and yet being really dynamic when the story asks for it.
What I really enjoyed was that there were a lot of questions asked, buy no answers. Lay refers to the original user of the time machine, but has no idea what happened to him, or why she was seeing things different than he had. Had time changed, did Lay do something different somehow? Also this is not jus a story about hope, but about love. Lay finding her ex-husband has a new woman in his life, means a lot to Lay. Lay is happy that he is happy. One doesn't see that much in stories, and real moments like that made me enjoy the story more. Not just a good time travel story, but a graphic novel with great art and characters that really love and care for each other. And the world.
October 29, 2024
I liked this, but it sometimes felt like a mish-mash of different ideas. The basic conceit is that, in this universe, the time traveler in the Wells novel was real (we get references to the George Pal *documentary*), and Carol Lay has inherited the blueprints to the machine, which her ex (a talented scientist) builds. We get relatively short time jumps (a decade or so) along with extremely long time jumps, with a heavy mix of politics from a liberal perspective and with a focus on climate change.
What I liked best is what I liked best from Carol Lay stories in the past: a sense of nostalgia or revisiting, served by flashbacks to Carol's earlier life as the future whizzes past her machine. (The afterword mentions the origin of the novel as a story focused on Carol's brother.) And there are other pieces that work quite well, including the depiction of some future creatures and the disconnect of learning in the future what happened to the USA after you started time travel in early 2020.
But those bits are surrounded by often very talky sections (there's far too much discussion of the ethics of time travel for my taste) and what feels like some confusing transitions in tone. It's as if the narrative is as jumpy as the time trips, and at the end, I wasn't quite sure which of many points Lay wanted to get across.
What I liked best is what I liked best from Carol Lay stories in the past: a sense of nostalgia or revisiting, served by flashbacks to Carol's earlier life as the future whizzes past her machine. (The afterword mentions the origin of the novel as a story focused on Carol's brother.) And there are other pieces that work quite well, including the depiction of some future creatures and the disconnect of learning in the future what happened to the USA after you started time travel in early 2020.
But those bits are surrounded by often very talky sections (there's far too much discussion of the ethics of time travel for my taste) and what feels like some confusing transitions in tone. It's as if the narrative is as jumpy as the time trips, and at the end, I wasn't quite sure which of many points Lay wanted to get across.
November 7, 2024
Read the full review on urbaneturtle.com
My Time Machine dares to imagine a world where nothing ever happens. Carol Lay’s new comic is an intentionally mundane take on time travel. The blasé attitude is charming at first but quickly exhausting, as this comic drowns you in dialogue and exposition. The art does not do much to enhance the story or emotion with its stiff figures and simplistic design. This approach is interesting conceptually—the Time Machine moves only in time and never in space and so our intrepid hero experiences the future first in small jumps and then millions of years ahead. There are some potentially compelling techniques you could use to make this conceit visually exciting or compelling in ways unique to comics. (Richard McGuire’s Here comes to mind, with its single POV unchanging over millennia).
There is no such flair here. The backdrop changes a bit in the near future but our traveler never moves beyond the confines of her home. As a result we the readers experience this future only through pages of characters talking. She does not encounter the future and neither do we.
My Time Machine dares to imagine a world where nothing ever happens. Carol Lay’s new comic is an intentionally mundane take on time travel. The blasé attitude is charming at first but quickly exhausting, as this comic drowns you in dialogue and exposition. The art does not do much to enhance the story or emotion with its stiff figures and simplistic design. This approach is interesting conceptually—the Time Machine moves only in time and never in space and so our intrepid hero experiences the future first in small jumps and then millions of years ahead. There are some potentially compelling techniques you could use to make this conceit visually exciting or compelling in ways unique to comics. (Richard McGuire’s Here comes to mind, with its single POV unchanging over millennia).
There is no such flair here. The backdrop changes a bit in the near future but our traveler never moves beyond the confines of her home. As a result we the readers experience this future only through pages of characters talking. She does not encounter the future and neither do we.
August 1, 2024
Read the ARC. This is a science fiction graphic novel that further explores H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine." What if that were a true story and the plans for the traveler's time machine were passed down the generations until the protagonist inherits them? So begins this story. Instead of thinking the plans are a joke, she takes them to her physicist ex-husband who proceeds to build a newer version of the time machine. There are philosophical discussions of the butterfly effect and alternate timelines. The scenarios were fun and realistic. This is not a linear story. Instead it unfolds as reflective journal entries while she is stranded in the future with a glitching time machine.
It has been a long time since I read Wells' "The Time Machine" and I am considering rereading it just for comparison as I enjoyed the critique and differences (particularly the safety features). As a thoughtful exploration of what time travel to the future could look like and how it may impact the lives and decisions of the traveller and their confidants this was an entertaining and visually awesome graphic novel (ARC is black and white - can only imagine how much more amazing it will be in color).
It has been a long time since I read Wells' "The Time Machine" and I am considering rereading it just for comparison as I enjoyed the critique and differences (particularly the safety features). As a thoughtful exploration of what time travel to the future could look like and how it may impact the lives and decisions of the traveller and their confidants this was an entertaining and visually awesome graphic novel (ARC is black and white - can only imagine how much more amazing it will be in color).
May 23, 2024
This is a slower-paced time-travel GN, great for readers who like the pacing of To Be Taught, If Fortunate, for example.
The story relies heavily and frequently refers to H G Wells ' The Time Machine. Although I have read that book, it's been probably 20 years; anyone who reads at least a bit of sci-fi and/or has a kind of generic cultural knowledge of the story will be just fine.
I enjoyed the illustration style, which I'll describe as gentle but not cutesy. I would definitely read more GNs by this creator.
I received a free copy as a PDF during May 2024 Library Journal Day of Dialogue; I appreciate the publisher making this available!
The story relies heavily and frequently refers to H G Wells ' The Time Machine. Although I have read that book, it's been probably 20 years; anyone who reads at least a bit of sci-fi and/or has a kind of generic cultural knowledge of the story will be just fine.
I enjoyed the illustration style, which I'll describe as gentle but not cutesy. I would definitely read more GNs by this creator.
I received a free copy as a PDF during May 2024 Library Journal Day of Dialogue; I appreciate the publisher making this available!
October 17, 2024
In My Time Machine, our protagonist (who bears a striking resemblance to author Carol Lay) literally travels millions of years into the future, in a time machine built by her ex-husband. Finding herself stranded, waiting for the machine to reset, our traveler remembers her previous stops just a few decades ahead of 2024, and things do not look good for the human race.
This graphic novel was absolutely terrifying. The predictions of how California will look mere decades from now makes for brutal reading. Especially upsetting was a brief mention of the eventual fate of household pets. And given the upcoming election, there were a few sections that were just a little too close to home right now.
But I loved reading My Time Machine. Lays illustrations are clear, and her visualizations of the act of traveling through time are really beautiful. The one thing I really appreciated about this book is that it’s set in a world where H.G Wells novel, The Time Machine, is treated as fact, and the blueprints for the titular machine were inherited from Wells. A really beautiful touch.
My Time Machine is a genuinely exciting, thoughtful adventure, with a wonderful protagonist.
This graphic novel was absolutely terrifying. The predictions of how California will look mere decades from now makes for brutal reading. Especially upsetting was a brief mention of the eventual fate of household pets. And given the upcoming election, there were a few sections that were just a little too close to home right now.
But I loved reading My Time Machine. Lays illustrations are clear, and her visualizations of the act of traveling through time are really beautiful. The one thing I really appreciated about this book is that it’s set in a world where H.G Wells novel, The Time Machine, is treated as fact, and the blueprints for the titular machine were inherited from Wells. A really beautiful touch.
My Time Machine is a genuinely exciting, thoughtful adventure, with a wonderful protagonist.
October 27, 2024
So great. Carol Lay essentially places herself into a time travel story in which she revisits some of the eras that H.G. Wells' Time Traveller visited (albeit from California rather than Wells' native England).
Through this lens, Lay paints a rather disturbing picture of the next 10, 15, 25 years... The reality of climate change and authoritarianism are painted rather too believably - but don't worry, 800,000 years into the future the biosphere has recovered, although there's no sign of humans.
Lay's art is both ligne-claire comicky in the way her comics have tended to be for decades, but with space for some quite sumptuous full page pieces, and occasional photographic insertions. The story's a little zany, a little serious, and also quite good science fiction speculation.
I was expecting it to be fun and silly, but it turned out a lot better really - silly me, as Carol Lay is a past master, even if she hasn't produced much at this kind of length.
Through this lens, Lay paints a rather disturbing picture of the next 10, 15, 25 years... The reality of climate change and authoritarianism are painted rather too believably - but don't worry, 800,000 years into the future the biosphere has recovered, although there's no sign of humans.
Lay's art is both ligne-claire comicky in the way her comics have tended to be for decades, but with space for some quite sumptuous full page pieces, and occasional photographic insertions. The story's a little zany, a little serious, and also quite good science fiction speculation.
I was expecting it to be fun and silly, but it turned out a lot better really - silly me, as Carol Lay is a past master, even if she hasn't produced much at this kind of length.
October 23, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley, Fantagraphics, Fantagraphics Books, and Carol Lay for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
Generally set in 2020, My Time Machine follows an older female character whose ex-husband has built a successful time machine. His experiments come from the H.G. Wells novel "The Time Machine," as he considers it so be fact rather than fiction. With this mindset, he stays in the past while his ex-wife travels into the future to look for a solution to climate change.
The various decades offer an interesting glimpse of a possible future based on people's ways in today's world. This graphic novel is a harrowing tale that shed slight on the changes humanity needs to make TODAY in order to exist TOMORROW. Readers will certainly identify some political bias, though anyone interested in science, climate, change, and the future will find this an intriguing read.
Generally set in 2020, My Time Machine follows an older female character whose ex-husband has built a successful time machine. His experiments come from the H.G. Wells novel "The Time Machine," as he considers it so be fact rather than fiction. With this mindset, he stays in the past while his ex-wife travels into the future to look for a solution to climate change.
The various decades offer an interesting glimpse of a possible future based on people's ways in today's world. This graphic novel is a harrowing tale that shed slight on the changes humanity needs to make TODAY in order to exist TOMORROW. Readers will certainly identify some political bias, though anyone interested in science, climate, change, and the future will find this an intriguing read.
January 12, 2025
Picked this graphic novel on a whim and immediately was intrigued. An older couple have figured out how to recreate the classic Time Traveler’s time machine. I liked their disgruntled discussions on the Orange President as well as their scientific musings as they perfect the machine.
The silver-haired lady jumps forward through the years several times, observing how her family, California hometown, and home planet fare — no spoiler, humans continuously make things worse. Ruined landscapes, a jet pack, lush green paradise, technological terrors, desolate emptiness, and an achingly solitary desert. Is there a solution to climate change to be found? Are there Eloi and Morlocks anywhere around?
“Good and evil and human inventions. Things just are what they are. Nature is neutral.”
A contemplative, thoughtful read.
The silver-haired lady jumps forward through the years several times, observing how her family, California hometown, and home planet fare — no spoiler, humans continuously make things worse. Ruined landscapes, a jet pack, lush green paradise, technological terrors, desolate emptiness, and an achingly solitary desert. Is there a solution to climate change to be found? Are there Eloi and Morlocks anywhere around?
“Good and evil and human inventions. Things just are what they are. Nature is neutral.”
A contemplative, thoughtful read.
October 12, 2024
This reminds me of The Martian by Andy Weir. In this graphic novel the main character travels through time in hope to find a solution for climate change. It first shows us her stop 30 million years into the future. While she’s there, to pass the time she writes a journal log of her adventures. And we see the whole story play out from there.
It was a very entertaining read and the art was wonderful. This book focused on the climate crisis and the grim future we could face. Do I think this book is realistic in terms of how our future will look? Yes and no. I think the idea is right at least. That we’re heading down a gloomy path.
It was a very entertaining read and the art was wonderful. This book focused on the climate crisis and the grim future we could face. Do I think this book is realistic in terms of how our future will look? Yes and no. I think the idea is right at least. That we’re heading down a gloomy path.
December 6, 2024
The graphic novel explores the concept of time travel in a lighthearted yet thought-provoking way, blending humor with deeper reflections on life and choices. Lay’s art style is charming and perfectly complements the narrative.
I really enjoyed the unique take on time travel, with each vignette offering a fresh perspective. However, some of the story arcs felt a bit rushed, leaving me wanting more depth in certain areas.
Overall, My Time Machine is a delightful exploration of time, memory, and the moments that shape us. It's a fun read that manages to provoke some serious thoughts while keeping the tone light.
I really enjoyed the unique take on time travel, with each vignette offering a fresh perspective. However, some of the story arcs felt a bit rushed, leaving me wanting more depth in certain areas.
Overall, My Time Machine is a delightful exploration of time, memory, and the moments that shape us. It's a fun read that manages to provoke some serious thoughts while keeping the tone light.
February 25, 2025
2.5⭐. This story is well-paced, but the exaggerated view of the future feels unrealistic. It reminds me of the old CollegeHumor video "The Other Side Wins." While I share Lay's concern about the climate crisis, I don't feel as pessimistic as she does in this narrative. I had to look up the connections to H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," which I haven't read, but I found it a creative way to continue that story. Lay's reflection on what inspired her to write this, particularly regarding her brother, deepened my appreciation for the work. However, I believe a more personal approach, rather than a large-scale political one, might have conveyed the message more effectively.
March 24, 2025
Very UnImaginative — !
Way too Political !
George Bush & The Supreme Court effectively destroy The world in as little as 50 years, Global Warming depopulates The world, along with The Corona Virus, & a technological nuisance from our time survives for 800,000 years, along with AI Robots & no humans or animals of any kind, except for Birds.
Along with zero interesting animals or buildings, it consists of nothing but political commentary based on how evil state institutions & children are.
Dull & Boring.
So many opportunities to insert something interesting was trampled down for cat tragedies.
Way too Political !
George Bush & The Supreme Court effectively destroy The world in as little as 50 years, Global Warming depopulates The world, along with The Corona Virus, & a technological nuisance from our time survives for 800,000 years, along with AI Robots & no humans or animals of any kind, except for Birds.
Along with zero interesting animals or buildings, it consists of nothing but political commentary based on how evil state institutions & children are.
Dull & Boring.
So many opportunities to insert something interesting was trampled down for cat tragedies.
October 20, 2024
In "My Time Machine: Carol Lay has created an intelligent and thought provoking book that will engage and challenge readers. Nominally a time travel adventure story, the book uses H.G Well’s famous story "The Time Machine" as the basis for a deep and nuanced look at the current state of global affairs. Part cautionary tale, part literary tribute and complete nerd fest this is a book for readers who love introspection and fear that the future might be just as bad as we imagine.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Fantagraphics Books, for providing me with a eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Fantagraphics Books, for providing me with a eARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 8, 2025
Welcome to depressing comics!
This book has a lot of back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, hard to focus on what is really important. Oh, I know: the cat is dead! :(
Anyway...
This book has a lot of movie references and it's not that the drawing doesn't coincide with the text, but that it feels like it never ends. And the real threat is drones. Oops, spoiler! And thinking that bringing it to the time when you left (souvenir) actually helps prevent the future, pardon me, change, improve it, avoid problems. And, of course, it does!
Anyway...
The cat is alive!
This book has a lot of back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, hard to focus on what is really important. Oh, I know: the cat is dead! :(
Anyway...
This book has a lot of movie references and it's not that the drawing doesn't coincide with the text, but that it feels like it never ends. And the real threat is drones. Oops, spoiler! And thinking that bringing it to the time when you left (souvenir) actually helps prevent the future, pardon me, change, improve it, avoid problems. And, of course, it does!
Anyway...
The cat is alive!
March 1, 2025
Hmmm. This graphic novel is sort of a sequel to H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, which I read years ago. I really enjoyed that novel and the imagery Wells was able to conjure up with the story. I expected to have that similar experience here but it was definitely more of a social commentary than science fiction. The art was alright, but I think I had a harder time with this being a sequel that if the author had just said “I’m pulling from this story”. Can’t say for sure that I liked this one that much, I guess.
June 3, 2024
The concept was cool: The protagonist inherits blue prints to a time travel machine, and enlists the help of her ex-husband to build it and travels into the future in various increments. However, the future is grim, which sets the overall tone for the story.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 30, 2024
I think this story could have done with more pages. The vignettes in time are too quick to really impart any emotion or even spark curiosity about the era. It was not particularly tense or funny, and left me feeling more jaded than anything.
May 1, 2024
Thank you Carol Lay, Netgalley, & Fantagraphics Books for this free ARC in exchange for a review.
A serviceable graphic novel for those who enjoy time travel science fiction. Nothing incredibly new here, but worth a read.
A serviceable graphic novel for those who enjoy time travel science fiction. Nothing incredibly new here, but worth a read.
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