‘Timeless #1’ Review (Marvel Comics)
Written by Jed Mackay | Art by Various | Published by Marvel Comics
Love the ,er, love that Kang is getting from Marvel these days. I’ve always loved him, and that includes that goofy green and purple costume that used to get so much hate. To my mind he’s always been one of the big guns, but I don’t think he’s always been given the respect he should have, apart from one or two storylines here and there. Roger Stern always seemed to have a good grasp of him I think, but not too many others spring to mind. After the big reveal in the Loki TV show, Kang is suddenly a hot property again, his own book being followed by this starring role in Marvel’s big new series. Alternate timelines and multiverses are all the rage at the moment of course, so you would think Kang as a character has been waiting for this moment.
Anatoly Petrov is one of the most prominent experts on superhuman studies in the twentieth century, and has also had the privilege/ pleasure/ honour/ experience or misfortune to accompany a certain Nathaniel Richards on his adventures across time and space. Kang, to me and you. Kang took exception at Dr. Doom being lauded as the pre-eminent villain of the day, and wanted show Petrov it was he who was the greatest. Not a hero, not a villain, just a human who pushes himself to the limits of human experience. It seems a little as though Marvel are positioning Kang to be a little like DC’s Vandal Savage, a man who has experienced much in many different times. He is so superior, he is above all petty human morality and restraint. Or so he thinks.
After an epic mammoth hunt, designed to impress Petrov, the tribe Kang has been leading disappear. A timequake has occured. This is when some point in the future becomes unstable, and the effects ripple back through time, like echoes. Kang goes to one of his bases, which exist outside time-space, and surveys all the timelines. Things that have happened, things that will happen, even things that may never happen. Kang does sometimes, of course, ‘nurture’ particular events to happen or undoes others before they occur. Although the Watcher sees all, Kang interferes with all. It seems a rogue timeline has been causing all this chronal disruption. A rogue timeline that was left to die, by Immortus, has somehow survived. Not by chance, either. It seems someone, a very powerful someone, is keeping it alive.
The assumption by Kang, of course, is that it must be that reality’s Dr. Doom. He must be killed, and the timeline purged. After dealing with some insurgent Deathlok’s, who apparently roam the timelines, it is time to see the end of the world. The pirate timeline that is, not ours. Petrov is also reminded of just how emotionless Kang can be, when he sacrifices an entire base of followers without a second thought. So, who is holding this timeline together? Well, Kang is half-right. It’s a Doom costume, but the man inside it is Reed Richards. Hooray! Er, not so fast. This Richards has made some ‘interesting’ decisions, one of which has been to replace his eyes with two of the infinity stones. When his reality began to collapse, he took and used the Time and Reality stones, and murdered anyone who stood between himself and saving the timeline. Even Celestials. Truly, he was Doom.
The faceoff between Richards/Doom and Kang is fun, but it’s the theme underlining it all is most interesting. Does power beat arrogance? Does power and arrogance always cancel out the other, leading to inevitable defeat? Things to think about. The ending here though shows us that the real centre point of all this was Anatoly Petrov himself. He ultimately decided the fate of both an individual and an entire timeline, and was left with full memory of all those timelines he saw. Which of those will happen? which are happening? And why is a particular symbol stuck in his mind? it’s one that has huge ramifications for the Marvel Universe going forward. Everyone enjoys a Miracle, Man.
This was a hugely entertaining read from start to finish, and alongside the recent Kang series, just a perfect insight into what makes Kang tick. Mackay writes him as a being who is not either good or bad, he is simply superior to such self-imposed restraints. He is Kang. Although the Kang focus was superbly done, it’s the hints at the wider ramifications that will make people sit up and pay attention. That last panel is a doozy of a tease. The art was pretty good, though having five artists involved for no apparent reason was a little jarring. I suppose it was to distinguish the different time and place of each scenario, but felt a little unnecessary. All the artists did a great job though, some e nice stuff in there.
2022 needs a Miracle, and Man will it get one in the Marvel Universe. Maybe.
