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Time² #2
Time²: The Satisfaction of Black Mariah
A tuned out guy... a turned on doll... and a psychosexual police car on the prowl... First it is an undertone, subtle and tentative, honking and choking behind the blunt clamor of the klaxon fugue... Then it is a harmony, gliding erotically against the subdued roar of the wet midnight street... Now it is a counterpoint, seductively retracing the melody, reclaiming its elegance from the urban ensemble... And finally a voice, growling and caressing a language beyond human comprehension--yet rife with meaning, both universal and transcendent... There'll be hell to pay.
52 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 1987
38 people want to read
About the author
Howard Chaykin
1,073 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 15, 2016
Anyone following my reviews will notice that this review is a lot like the one I wrote for Time²: The Epiphany.
I was somewhat surprised by this 1987 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 $44 for this collector's item. Oh well.
What surprised me most is the fact that this book (and its prequel Time²: The Epiphany) 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!.
**
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!
I was somewhat surprised by this 1987 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 $44 for this collector's item. Oh well.
What surprised me most is the fact that this book (and its prequel Time²: The Epiphany) 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!.
**
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!
April 20, 2017
There has never and will never be a world like the one created by the great Howard Chaykin in TIME2! We can only hope the mystery, stark weirdness, innovative scenes, and restless characters reemerge again . . .
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.
In the first book...
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".
This second book contains more of the same, adding in a sex-deprived jalloppy going around trying to fill-up on male victims... but you know that big black car is gonna be needing more than any man can supply... she's needing Demon seed! :-)
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.
In the first book...
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".
This second book contains more of the same, adding in a sex-deprived jalloppy going around trying to fill-up on male victims... but you know that big black car is gonna be needing more than any man can supply... she's needing Demon seed! :-)
Like I said, classic Chaykin.
May 9, 2025
I was way too young to appreciate this oversized 50-page graphic novel when I came across it in the early 2000s. Chaykin's doing a sort of "total art" here - his boxy square-jawed/sexy dame figures moving to the sounds of jazz music in a world of zombies, robots, and a demon policeman who keeps the police and keeps a sexually voracious automotive succubus fully satisfied - and there's really nothing like it. It's neither easy nor accessible, and it isn't immediately marketable despite being a high-level genre product...it's deliberately difficult, like much of his work, like he's increasing the difficulty because he's skilled, ornery, and only going to do what he wants. This is the sort of book an older person (which I now am, thankfully) can appreciate.
September 5, 2021
DO NOT READ THIS ON IT'S OWN- you will not understand anything and you will be frustrated by it as well. I've had it for years without being able to acquire the first reasonably so I went for it stupidly.
The art is excellent- he gives the best of that purely inimitable Chakin look.
The art is excellent- he gives the best of that purely inimitable Chakin look.
December 10, 2017
what the hell did I just read? Nothing quite makes sense. The production value is high and if you are a Howard Chaykin collector, this would be a rare find. But it's senseless crud otherwise.
April 27, 2020
Same critique as the first one, but more misogyny and a weirdly racist caricature of a villain this time. Only saved from one star by interesting art.
September 29, 2021
What the hell...
December 2, 2023
Maxim Glory and the gang from the Main Stem return!
Howard Chaykin brings back his characters and world from Time²: The Epiphany in this second graphic novel. The Satisfaction of Black Mariah provides the dynamic, masterful illustration for which Chaykin is justly famed, along with vivid characterizations and a story that tackles some of SF/F's favorite themes—immortality by machine, artificial intelligence, magic and sorcery, demons from the pits of Hell, class/labor relations, societal decay—all with a 1940s-'50s noir sensibility and plenty of sex, action, violence and gorgeous women in high heels, stockings and garter belts (for all of which Howie is also well known). If you enjoyed American Flagg!, Avengers: 1959, Black Kiss or any of Howie's other works, you won't want to miss this series. If, on the other hand, you aren't familiar with his work, this is as good an introduction to one of the comic-book industry's acknowledged grand masters as any.
Howard Chaykin brings back his characters and world from Time²: The Epiphany in this second graphic novel. The Satisfaction of Black Mariah provides the dynamic, masterful illustration for which Chaykin is justly famed, along with vivid characterizations and a story that tackles some of SF/F's favorite themes—immortality by machine, artificial intelligence, magic and sorcery, demons from the pits of Hell, class/labor relations, societal decay—all with a 1940s-'50s noir sensibility and plenty of sex, action, violence and gorgeous women in high heels, stockings and garter belts (for all of which Howie is also well known). If you enjoyed American Flagg!, Avengers: 1959, Black Kiss or any of Howie's other works, you won't want to miss this series. If, on the other hand, you aren't familiar with his work, this is as good an introduction to one of the comic-book industry's acknowledged grand masters as any.
March 28, 2013
A beautifully rendered, if not always clear narrative taking place in some alternate timeline that looks like the 50s but has robots and demons in it. Howard Chaykin follows his usual format of throwing the reader head first into a new world, so a quick read through of the first 20 pages or so followed by a more thorough re-read is recommended. A word of warning--this world depicted is corrupt, decadent and has scenes that give new meaning to the words "auto erotica." Not for anyone underage.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews