I barely remember reading the first volume of Out of Time. I remember it was okay. It had problems and really needed something extra to make it standout and be really good. Sadly, the second volume of Out of Time suffers from the exact same problem. Everything about this story is forgettable and frankly the first volume wasn’t strong enough to warrant this type of sequel. When I say, “this type of sequel” I mean one that’s picking up pretty much where the first left off. You know, it’s really rare that I can’t recall a comic I’ve read so the fact that I’m struggling so much with the first volume has me questioning my own score for it (review here).
At any rate, we’re at a time office. We’re reintroduced to our main characters: a gloomy dude, a normal lady, a guy who thinks he’s a robot and a butterfly that can travel dimensions. Great cast of characters, but they don’t do anything special together. After our training scene that’s used only to introduce the characters, we learn that our female character didn’t finish a job and that time may be screwed up.
I’m going to save you some time and just let you know that they fix time. Why did I tell you that? Because it’s going to help me illustrate the point that there’s no consequences to this story. There’s never any doubt that they’ll fix time and so there’s no reason not to tell you that they fix it. The point of the story is just to have the characters show up and do their gimmick, but their gimmick’s aren’t strong enough because we don’t spend any real time with them.
There’s a lot of attempts at humor in this volume and it really didn’t land with me. I think it’s because the characters are so one-dimensional that when they make a joke it’s like hearing something funny from a random stranger. You’re thinking, “who are you?” and not truly hearing the joke. Same thing here, I’m wondering who these characters really are rather than the dossier of bland details we’re given to them and the results are jokes that aren’t that funny.
The art is the same. It’s not bad, but it’s a weird almost stickman style. It’s a style that’s gotten popular over the years. Basically everything but the character’s faces have a lot of detail. It’s a good style and matches the story, but it would be funnier if the story was funnier. Instead it feels as if the art is trying to make all the jokes land, but it just can’t get to all of them.
Overall this sequel feels completely unnecessary. I know I wasn’t looking for it when it showed up in my inbox, but if the creators made it, they must have had a reason. The story is pretty bland and without any consequences there’s not much reason for new readers to pick this up. Readers of the first volume will likely consider if they really wanted a sequel before picking this volume up or just blindly give it a shot. Maybe it’s right up your alley, but for me it was a miss.
[button btn_url="" btn_color="violet" btn_size="large" btn_style="default" btn_outlined="no" link_target="self" link_rel="" icon_left="Score: 2/5" icon_right="Score: 2/5"]Score: 2/5[/button]
Out of Time II Writer: Luke James Halsall Artist/Letterer: Cuttlefish Self-Published Format: Digital Website