Time Trial (Time Trial: The Graphic Novel) #1

Time Trial: The Graphic Novel #1

by Rysa Walker, Heather Nuhfer, Agustín Padilla (Penciller)

Bestselling author Rysa Walker (Timebound) takes readers on a time-hopping adventure in this stand-alone series set in her CHRONOS Files world. Written by fan favorite Heather Nuhfer (My Little Pony) and featuring pulse-pounding art from Agustin Padilla (Smallville).

Nineteen-year-old Clio Dunne has lived a life of secrecy. Her world-saving, time-traveling parents have kept a low profile in a boring, small town…but Clio yearns for her own adventure. In the fall of 1931, Clio packs her bags and heads to the big, modern city of Chicago. While following her dreams of becoming a famous illustrator, Clio’s own nascent skills as a time traveler are put to the test. A nasty acquaintance from her parents’ past stumbles upon Clio in an unexpected place—the trial of Al Capone. Now Clio must jump through time to keep the past, present, and future safe.

Genres: Time Travel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

RYSA WALKER is the author of the bestselling CHRONOS Files series. Timebound, the first book in the series, was the Young Adult and Grand Prize winner in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. The CHRONOS Files has sold nearly half a million copies since 2013 and has been translated into fourteen languages.

In addition to speculative fiction, she occasionally writes mysteries as C. Rysa Walker.

Rysa currently resides in North Carolina with her husband, two youngest sons, and a hyperactive golden retriever. When not working on the next installment in her CHRONOS Files universe, she watches shows where travelers boldly go to galaxies far away, or reads about magical creatures and superheroes from alternate timelines. She has neither the time nor the patience for reality TV.

If you see her on social media, please tell her to get back into the writing cave.

For updates, check her website: www.rysa.com.

Reviews

[Karen’s Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first graphic novel I've ever read or owned and I really loved the experience of reading it. I'm a huge fan of Rysa Walker's Timebound and the rest of The Chronos Files series, so having the chance to have a new story set in this world was fantastic! And being Team Kiernan throughout the entire series, this storyline about his daughter Clio was an added bonus!

Clio leaves home and moves to the big city of Chicago to follow her dream of becoming an artist. When a chance meeting brings her to the attention of the "rat bastard", she finds her life turned upside down as Simon forces her to time travel where she has a number of adventures.

This was a fun read and I thought the artwork was incredible! Being able to see what I only visualized in my head before now was a real treat, especially with how the Chronos keys worked.

The ending for me was a great epilogue to Time's Divide and I'm thrilled that we got this glimpse of Kiernan's family!! Well done, Rysa!!

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read a comic book since I was in grammar school! I have picked up a few since then but nothing intrigued me.

I was very intrigued to see that Rysa Walker, author of one of my favorite YA series, the Chronos Files Timebound book one, has written the story for a new comic book series ,Time Trial #1 that is set in the world of the Chronos Files.

I wasn't disappointed! The pictures are gorgeous and are reminiscent of the great comics I read several years ago. Everything is a full picture and not bits and pieces of things as if they had been magnified! The story is not only set in the Chronos World but follows the Chronos rules. The main character 19- year old Clio Dunne is an ambitious artist who has inherited her parents ability to time travel and her parents have given her a medallion enabling her to do so. So when Clio encounters trouble in the Chicago30s during the trial of Al Capone, will she be able to remember how to use the medallion and time travel safely for herself and the timeline?

I recommend this to anyone to give it a try. And if you like time travel, adult or YA, the Chronos files books are top notch!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to have a galley of this to read and review.

[Karen’s Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really excited to hear that Rysa had a new story set in her amazing Chronos Files world. And then I found out that it stars Kiernan's daughter. Yay! I've always been Team Kiernan so knew I'd love this! And, yup!! There he was right on the 2nd page, in the flesh!

Kiernan's daughter, Clio, heads to the big city of Chicago to pursue her dream of being an artist. She runs into the one and only "rat bastard" and gets swept up in his version of fun time traveling antics!

Although I read and collected comic books as a kid, I haven't really owned or read any since I was a pre-teen so I was surprised at how easy it was to slip right back into this format of story telling. I especially loved having the visuals of the Chronos keys and the act of time traveling. The artwork is incredible!

I'm excited to read the next installments of this awesome world that Rysa has created!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason I thought this was pretty unrelated to the other CHRONOS stories. I thought it was the daughter of some random historians stranded that we never hear about. I would have been happy with that, but I'm so glad that it's not!

I really enjoyed this. The art is lovely, and it's cool seeing the CHRONOS keys in action!

Spoilers ahead
I actually read the synopsis for this during the main series, but it must have been early on enough that I didn't make the connection with the name Dunne! And I guess I wouldn't have known how his and Kate's storyline would have ended then, so even more reason not to connect the dots. But after I finished the main series, it was such a nice surprise to be able to get even more information on what happened after they went back.

[Anna Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected, but it definitely figures that the rat-bastard would be the catalyst for Clio's time travel "adventures." Also, I'm reading another book with a girl named Clio, and it just clicked before I opened this up again that she's named after her Grandma. I think to get much out of this you have to have read the entire Chronos Files series. I've seen a bunch of reviews for people who enjoyed it as a standalone, but I'm SO glad I knew the world. That ending though! #insanity #RysaIsLife

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Time Trial #1' by Rysa Walker is a comic book from her CHRONOS Files world. I'm not familiar with the series, but I like time travel, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Clio Dunne lives with her parents and is very familiar with time travel. When she decides to go make a life for herself as an illustrator, her parents have the normal concerns of parents. She is given a code phrase to use in case she is found and off she goes. She finds herself in Chicago and working for a newspaper as a court illustrator on the case against Al Capone. She meets a young man who is interested in her, and notices another strange man among the jury. She wonders who he could be and what it might mean that he is there.

I received the first issue, and even though I was unfamiliar with the world, I had no trouble figuring things out. The characters are engaging, the art is pretty good, and I'd like to end up reading more.

I received a review copy of this digital comic from Amazon Publishing, Jet City Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this comic book.

[em · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free kindle ARC of this book from a Goodreads giveaway, all opinions stated are my own.

DNF: at 54%

All though I found the premise intriguing. And I really liked the art style that was used to tell the story. Everything else about this graphic novel felt underdeveloped. I'm not opposed to being thrust into a tale within a blink of an eye; especially considering the main plot point has to deal with time travel. In this case it fell completely flat. Very little was given in the way of information on how this world worked & characters motivations. It didn't help that the dialogue between characters felt disjointed. I actually questioned a couple times whether they had accidentally edited out some pages by accident. Or if the author knows how people talk to each other. Which is comical cause I received this as a digital download. Either way, nothing about this story intrigued me enough to continue.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never heard of Rysa and her books, so I had no background going into this first issue of a four issues series, but wow, it was fun. I love time-travel anyway, and even though there wasn't much of that in the first issue, the cliff-hanger pointed to lots of time travel in the next few issues.

Clio has the ability to time-travel, as her parents do, but chooses, instead to be an illustrator, and that is what puts her at the trial of Al Capone, and she stops another traveler, who ambushes her after the trail, and forces her to travel in time against her will. This is basically what happens in the first issue, and the description of the comic gives this much information away.

Well paced, well illustrated, looks like a good start to the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Sadie Forsythe]

I liked the artwork and that the heroine is spunky and self-sufficient. But the story is rushed and basically just her jumping from place to place with no apparent objective beyond someone saying, 'do it.' No plot develops in any of the jumps. The whole thing, while pretty, just kind of felt pointless.

I suppose if you've read the books the comic is based on it might make more sense and feel like it has more of a purpose, but as a stand alone, I was underwhelmed.

I won an e-copy here on Goodreads.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Full review to come!

[Alex Jackl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too short and didn't make much sense

The villain was smug but stupid and I didn't get h uhh s toying with her and they didn't t set up why she didn't use her powers toescape

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually read the 4-iin-1 Kindle version, but that isn't in the GoodReads database. Anyway, it's a post-Chronos Files story, given the nature of Walker's fun with time travel conundrums, it intersects with characters and events across the Files timeframe. Simon is present again and he's in his full traveller's and villian's mode. Clio, the main character is in the Kier & Kate lineage, but in this story does not want to be part of that story which lets Simon play with her head. Being a graphic novel, a lot takes place in the pictures and on the Kindle one can dwell on each frame in greater detail. A fun read.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a history geek, I really loved this book and the opportunity to run through so many time periods. If I have any complaint I would have liked to have explored each time period more, and interacted with more of the side characters for which there was so much potential. I love the artwork, and would really like to read more in the series.

Overall, if you like a bit of time travel, a splash of romance, and a whole lot of adventure, then this is a fun book to dig into. I'm glad I read this!

*** This book was won in a Goodreads Giveaway, though that fact in no way influenced my review ***

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, adventurous and mysterious but lacked character build, history and connections.
The storyline had me entertained but mannnn. What was the point of the story? I finished and was like “and then there’s more...?”
The writing is not bad at all! I really enjoyed this read. I just needed more; too many holes.

[jboyg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Chronos, What Time Is It.

Thought I was downloading a novel but it was issue one of a Time Travel comic. Seems intriguing so far with nice illustration and a solid story. Definitely up for reading more.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short Comic.

Time Traveller’s daughter travels in time to once again meet Simon. First issue is about developing the plot. Not a lot of action. Hope the next few comics continue the interesting story of this one.

[… · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing.

The format, the lack of story, and the length of the "book" were all a disappointment. Save your money. This isn't Walker quality.

[Andrew Farley · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I read, I constantly had the feeling I was missing something or that there should be more. The characters seemed flat, and dialog was without a good sense of flow. I did like the premise, and I will try out Rysa's work, but I wouldn't recommend this GN.

I received a free kindle copy of this in a Goodreads giveaway.

[David Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collecting comic book issues #1-4, set in Rysa Walker's Chronos Files universe.


Nineteen-year-old Clio Dunne yearns for her own adventure. In the fall of 1931, Clio packs her bags and heads to the big, modern city of Chicago. While following her dreams of becoming a famous illustrator, Clio’s own nascent skills as a time traveler are put to the test. A nasty acquaintance from her parents’ past stumbles upon Clio in an unexpected place—the trial of Al Capone. Now Clio must jump through time to keep the past, present, and future safe.

The blurb makes this sound like Clio is doing all sorts of heroic deeds to save all time. But it is more like she is playing time travel tag with a bad guy so he won't realize that she isn't on his side. She mainly hops from time to time without doing a whole lot besides trying to avoid getting caught.While it isn't a bad story, I would have expected a bigger sense of peril. The artwork was nice. I give this one 3.5 stars.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

This is actually a 32 page comic book and not a full graphic novel, but it is a great teaser to a graphic novel to come!

"Best-selling" author Rysa Walker (whom I've never heard of) is building an exciting series, based on this first issue.

Nineteen year old Clio Dunne is the daughter of time-traveling parents. Like most parents, they are learning to 'let go' and let their daughter live her own life and experience the world on her own. But also like most parents, they want to keep her safe and be able to get in touch at a moment's notice. This is a little more challenging since Clio is moving not just to another city, but another time.

Stepping back to Chicago of 1931, Clio uses her talent at drawing to become a sketch artist for a newspaper covering the Al Capone trial. It seems dangerous work since Capone's henchmen might put the strong-arm on anyone not portraying Capone in a good light, but the real danger that Clio faces is from another time-traveler, a former friend of her parents' who forces her to do his bidding.

There's a lot going on in these thirty-two pages! Most books would be content to use the pages to set up the characters and the story, which Walker and script writer Heather Nuhfer do, but Nuhfer also builds an exciting, action-packed story in addition to the set-up, which definitely makes me want to read more.

The art by Agustin Padilla is strong. This is good, solid, comic book art. I only wish the two major comic publishers could get artists like this, but this is one of the reasons I'm losing interest in the big two publishers and enjoying work from the smaller, indy presses.

My only complaint here is that this is only the first part of a much longer story. Thirty-two pages is a tease.

Looking for a good book? Time Trial #1 is a comic book that is extremely well done and promises an exciting series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a free Kindle copy of this in a Goodreads giveaway. It happens occasionally.

I was intrigued by this book. I've been reading comics since kindergarten, and science fiction almost as long, so a graphic novel dealing with time travel? Sign me up! I'm almost disappointed that this turned out to be so ... average.

Clio Dunne lives with her parents and keeps a liw profile. Her entire family are time travellers, and they've saved the world a time or two. She's heading off on her own to 1931 Chicago to study art--she has her heart set on becoming an illustrator--but runs into an old acquaintance of her father's who may not have her best interests at heart ...

There's nothing wrong with any of this, per se. The story is competently told. The artwork is perfectly fine. It's just all curiously flat, somehow. It's missing some vital spark, and everything just kind of sits there on the page. Many story threads are left dangling. The story will continue in volume 2. I'm honestly not sure if I care about what happens next or not. Clio doesn't really do a whole lot, mostly just gets whisked from one place to another and gapes in astonishment. To be fair, it's not as though she's given much chance to do anything else. I get the feeling, though, that you could plug any of the other characters in the book into her role, and events would still unfold in approximately the same way. I think it's that underlying generic quality to this whole book that gets to me the most. This is, as I said, decently written and drawn. It's just that, for whatever reason, this project has no soul. Perhaps it will turn out to be more your cup of tea than it was mine ...

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

So this book is connected to Rysa Walker's Chronos Files series. I really like the idea behind it. There are time travelers that use keys to move around different eras. One group, known as Cyrists, want to take over the world and another group is out to stop them.

Time Trial seems to take place concurrent and after the events of the novels. There's time travel involved so I wouldn't quibble about any oddities with events. Anyway, Clio is the main character and her family is part of the group fighting the Cyrists. She is coming of age and wants to branch out on her own, ending up in 1931 Chicago. There she becomes involved with the trial of Al Capone and an old acquaintance of her parents.

There is a bit of time jumping that occurs after Clio meets the other time traveler. I liked seeing the different periods, although they could have been more varied. These highlight the differences between the two groups as well, even though it isn't stated outright. It gives a nice feel for the characters. I might have liked the story more if it had been more subtle about bringing in the Cyrists and really just let it be about Clio.

The art varied a bit for me. I like the character art. The period pieces are done nicely. The effectiveness of the coloring threw things off for me. There are times where the illustrations get too dark and muddle the drawings of the characters. This particularly bugged me when it meant half a character's face would be in shadow when it didn't need to be.

Despite some problems with approaches to the art and the story, it is still enjoyable. It takes a unique approach to time travel that is worth checking out.

[Monita Roy Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read this author before, but the premise of this book sounded good which is why I downloaded it from Netgalley.

The first book is short and gets straight to the heart of the central conflict. 19-year-old Clio is going out into the world for the first time, but has to keep in mind her legacy of time travelling. Mystery abounds with the constant mention of her mother, but the complete absence of her in the pages. We also see that her life can be treacherous - if she sees someone carrying a similar time-travelling key, she's to make a quick getaway.

It's a little hard to get into the story at first because you're trying to figure out the mechanics of the world. There's mention of 'blinking' but I'm still not sure if that means a quick glimpse of another time, or it is the term used in this world for the act of time-travelling. I guess we will find out with subsequent issues.

It's a pleasant surprise to see that the main character is a woman of colour - that is extremely rare to read. It did bother me that she is painfully naive; she doesn't come across as a confident person in the normal course of things, so I wonder how she will hold up when it comes to the real action.

I thought the art was decent; clean and precise, making the comic an easy read. My biggest grouse would be that two of the white male characters were drawn so similarly it was hard to make out the difference between them. I lot of back and forth between some pages was required.

I enjoyed this issue and am really looking forward to the rest. I hope Clio gets out of her naivety quickly, because that is holding her back from being a compelling protagonist. Let's bring on another!

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry it took me so long to update my review. When Ms Walker saw my netgalley review about there being just art and no words, she verified it was a glitch and made a good version available to me. I'm very happy to have that and I did up my rating a bit now that I can follow the plot!

Nineteen year old Clio wants to follow in her time traveling parents' footsteps and steps out on her own. She ends up watching the trial of Al Capone as she works on her skills as an artist (drawing court room scenes) but someone is after her and Clio has to protect herself and the timeline.

The art was lovely and the idea is a lot of fun. Clio is an interesting character. I like the 1930s as a historical setting, when a few enterprising women like Clio could strike out on their own, gaining more freedom than ever. She is intelligent and determined and I like that. This one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger after a man who seems to have something against her and her family decides to have a 'little fun' with her and sends her somewhere else in time.

If you like time travel stories, you'll enjoy this.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having not ever read anything from Rysa Walker’s CHRONOS FILES universe, I was a bit lost reading this first issue of the new stand-alone comicbook series, even though it was obviously created with newbies like me in mind. Basically, the entire episode was minimal back-story, trying to get the reader familiar with the main characters and their world. But I found it rather lacking in that area; more depth - both about Clio and the other main players, as well as their world - would have been greatly appreciated. Still, it was an enjoyable enough story, and the time-travel aspect is definitely appealing. I anticipate that future issues will have much more actual plot, which I look forward to reading.

The graphics are well done, clear and concise, for the most part; but no so overdone as to distract from the happenings.

I received a few copy of this Issue #1 from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ashley Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start, I received this graphic novel through goodreads giveaways.

I loved the storyline of this graphic novel despite the fact that at certain times it became a bit confusing. The main character Cleo was brought up on secrecy and is just finding out more about herself and her past. I did enjoy that she was jumping from one time period to another. I do wish that was a bit more to the story, however, there was a sufficient amount of the story to make it enjoyable.

What I was not sure that I was a fan of was the kindle addition of this. Until I was used to how the story was being told I found it quite difficult to read. However, once I was accustomed to how the graphic novel was set up as an ebook it became much easier to read as well as much more enjoyable. While I may or may not recommend this novel to others it was an enjoyable read.

[Chelsies Reading Escape · Rating 2 out of 5]

This first issue was a good start to the story but I dont think its the type of story for me. I appreciated the diversity in characters, specifically that the main character wasnt caucasian. I thought the art was ok and fit the time period but it wasnt my favorite.

I enjoyed the time travel aspect but the period isnt a time that interest me. This might change in the next issues as the main character time travels. However, I think a lot of people would enjoy that era and the mention of Capone.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this time travel comic book.The character of Clio and her Chronos Key are interesting.The author gives just a glimpse of the Chronos key and the abilities the key provides the owner.And it peaked my interest enough to make me want to continue the series.The artist did a great job portraying the vintage feel of the characters and their world.I received a copy of this comic from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a lot of promise. I'd love to read further issues. Clio comes from a family of time travelers but has led a very sheltered life up to this point. She's decided to head to 1931 Chicago and try to become an artist. She lucks into a job drawing Al Capone's trial for a newspaper. There she encounters another time traveler who seems to have nefarious intentions.

Received an advance copy from Jet City and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Bobbi]

This a comic book style book. Pictures with balloon words. Difficult to read the small print. Graphic should have been a clue for me; however, I have had a stroke and that did not compute to my brain!
I did not find this book of much value to me; others may be intrigued by this style, I am sorry I am not one! I was looking forward to a kindle "reading" book.
Best wishes to this author for a long and succesfull writing career!