Time Before Time Vol. 1
Declan Shalvey & Rory McConville, writers; Joe Palmer, artist; Chris O'Halloran, colors; Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, letterer
Image Comics, 2021
This wild time-travel adventure has the year 2140 as its central focus. There a criminal organization called the Syndicate can smuggle people back in time for a fresh start. Tatsuo works for them as a smuggler, but wants to leave the Syndicate and his life of crime behind. When he makes his move to steal a time machine, he is forced to take an FBI agent along as a partner, which makes them both time fugitives. Their trip back to 2093 puts them into the hands of rival group the Union, where Tatsuo takes the gamble of selling out the Syndicate in return for his freedom. From here things get complicated in a way that can only happen in time travel stories, which also includes an undercover Syndicate agent in the Union and Tatsuo's vengeful boss. Forced to travel to 3455, he returns to 2093 with a mystery package and an upgraded time machine. They take off, having triggered a fight between the Syndicate and the Union, as well as coming to the attention of the Syndicate's leader in 2679. It promises lots of mayhem in the next installment. Palmer's art is on the cartoony side (with fairly basic backgrounds), but he captures characters and action sequences very effectively.
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