RET:CON #1by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 5 "Retcon" can be used as a noun or a verb and creates a shift in backstory or history. It's used in lots of fictional stories, but it can be heavily wielded in stories that involve time travel. Not to be confused with the Retcon comic series Image put out in 2017, this new series is the story of a world ruled by A.I., where a few humans have survived and are attempting to break the past to save the future. In fact, the world is literally falling apart. And those who travel through time with missions of "repair" are called Slingshotters.Stories involving time travel are almost always hit or miss. There are always paradoxes, and most of the time they don't address the fact that it would probably be more realistic to create an alternate / parallel timeline rather than actually changing the current one. This one, in an attempt to use it to change the current time (rather than parallel) at least acknowledges how badly this can go, especially with multiple time travelers trying to change things. I like the "slingshotter" idea and execution. It's different, and it creates a time limit for the time traveler, which can create a good deal of tension for a story. The first story in this issue involves a time traveler involved with Hitler's death. It's a bit ho-hum. Yes, it does everyone's favorite time-travel murder, but because of that, it's already less interesting than it could be. On top of that, things play out in a way to fit with what we perceive in reality outside this story -- basically, it's a theory for what "really happened" that already exists, outside the time travel aspect. The slingshotter use in this story reminds me of how things work in Assassin's Creed, except this person is physically travelling (and I wasn't even sure about that at first, especially given that there's no explanation for how the slingshotter changes race and body type). There's a lot that's unclear about how slingshotting works, and it took me a bit to work out what I did. Slingshotting appears to be very detrimental to the mind and body of the slingshotter. It's used to provide us with the history of Earth and the time travel wars that started destroying everything. That history is interesting, but I'm left wondering things. Shouldn't the technology have improved? Made it easier to time travel? Not more painful and fraught with memory issues? And how are they using technology like this in a world ruled by A.I.? Why aren't the A.I. stopping them? How is their technology not connected to the A.I.? Why don't they look like they're struggling to survive, as the story pitched? And why was killing Hitler (around the same time and way he was historically) so important? The second story is completely different. It takes place before the first story, which only makes things fit less. The lead slingshots without the negative side effects! Is this the same Indian woman we learn about in the first story? If so, why is she so intent on her side mission, when it's only been 70 years? What was the mission she was assigned to? I'm missing why this is important or interesting (other than the story making a statement about feminism and racial equality, which is important, but gets buried under everything else, including my level of confusion by this point). On the upside, we get a good sense of how slingshotting works. I love that India is the country that is the first to succeed; it's a refreshing change from the expected, especially given the typical list of power player countries in this story. I'm not sure why most of this story was told as prose rather than as a comic. There's some art here and there, but it's mostly stills / snapshots, which is not what I want when I pick up a comic book. I also take issue with the judo arm bar being that effective while all the other thugs just stand around and watch their boss squirm; it's highly unrealistic, especially given how outnumbered she was (based on the picture). Out of all the fighting styles and submission hold scenarios, they went with one that leaves her on her back with no hands or feet free to protect herself from the gang that could have stomped or shot her easily (even assuming the guy being pinned can't retaliate, which isn't always the case). I would have benefitted from having two chapters that focused on the same character, instead of two different characters and stories. Both could have been built on to really hook me, and instead, neither did. And that page at the end about how the suit and timesteam work? That would have been beneficial at an earlier point, but I'm glad it was there. The art is well done. I like the character designs, linework, and coloring. The two two-page spreads are really nice visuals, making excellent use of that much page space! This comic does offer something new in the world of time travel, but the overall plot that's pitched in the blurb for this comic isn't anything more than a few pages of history explanation right now. If you're a fan of retcon stories or time travel in general, you may enjoy this more than I did. You may also find it has enough to make you curious for more. It has potential, but this first issue is far from wowing. Written: May 5, 2019
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