Time Bomb Comics’ Quantum Retrospective
Quantum: The New British Comics Anthology
2023 was a banner year for Time Bomb Comics. Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief- Steve Tanner and Co. have a winning lineup of books with exciting and cutting edge stories. Quantum, which was launched bi-monthly in April, is an exemplary anthology series that showcases the best of Time Bomb’s talent.
The smash-hit new British anthology comic is now available through PREVIEWS! Quantum is a perfect bound, 52 page, US format colour anthology, featuring 5 ongoing tales set in worlds that are not our own. From steampunk to westerns to mystery and sci-fi, Quantum is the anthology you need! Issue #1 will be available in shops in the US this April!
After its first year on newsagent shelves in the UK, Quantum is only gathering steam with no end in sight. The fine folks at Time Bomb graciously sent us review copies of the first five issues ahead of the release of issue #6 on February 15. With a smorgasbord of tasty comics from across the pond in my mailbox, I set to devouring Quantum’s inaugural year.
Compliance with the Minutiae of Militaries
Major Rakhana
“Pax Galaxticus” Chapters 1-5
Writer- Steve Tanner
Line Artist- Pete Woods (Chapter 1), Roland Bird (2-5)
Colour Artist- Dan Harris
Letterer- Rob Jones
Major Rakhana “Pax Galacticus”, writer Steve Tanner and line artists Pete Woods (Chapter 1) and Roland Bird (2-5), take us on a weird and wild journey across space and the Galactic Brittanic Empire in 1896.
Major Rakhana, The Steampunk Space Ace, is a bad ass update to pulp heroes of a bygone era. Rakhana is always the smartest and most capable character on the page, but she’s also dry and funny. Her chutzpah and combat prowess paired with her bravado and proclivity for traveling with her male concubine on a leash befuddle the rest of Her Majesty’s soldiers. It’s really the humor that makes this story fun. Rakhana’s space helmet is the source of a litany of gags (like watching her drink tea or the way her ponytail sticks out) and her hilarious concubine, Sanjay, is equal parts endearing and wacky.
I loved Dan Harris’ color palette laden with saturated tones. Pete Woods’ original design for the series showcases thick outlines and hyper-emotive faces, and Roland Bird continues to lean in to the weird as the story progresses. I found myself always wanting a little more from the story; more humor or more sci-fi pulp. The often dry, militaristic minutiae kept me at arms length. Tanner’s got a strong hold on the main character’s voices but I’d love to see the ensemble fleshed out more.
Woebegone, Wonderstruck, Wayward
Westernoir
“Moon Cursed” Parts 1-4
Written by Dave West & Jemma West
Artwork by Joseph Parangue
Colour Art by Matt Soffe
Wild western werewolf whopper where West and West write what weird workings wage war with woe-begotten wagoners when wayfaring westward…whew. Westernoir is gritty and spooky and often very very dark. Sometimes the colors are too dark honestly, which is a shame because other than lighting, the colors and the artwork are brilliant. With fluid and kinetic lines from Joseph Parangue, this first story is a great setup for the gruff Jones, a rough around the edges gal with three giant scars on her chin.
Westernoir is real comics. It plays with genre, blurring lines between horror and western and action with expressive and scary artwork. It’s a story that isn’t afraid to take time setting up tone and mood with silent panels. This is the story I felt was best paced across five issues.
Westernoir
“Dead End” Part 1
Written by Jemma West
Artwork by
Gareth Sleightholme
In issue #5 of Quantum, Jemma West and Gareth Sleightholme start a new story for Jones as she is watched while entering a new town of local yokels hiding bloody weapons behind their backs and speaking in hushed tones. But who is watching Jones? Sleightholme’s page design is gorgeous and plays with perspective and scale in innovative ways. This new storyline is already off to an exhilarating start, so it’ll be awesome to see where Westenoir goes from here.
Walk Like an Aegyptian
Memphis
David Morris- Writer/ Artist
Patrick O’Connor- Inking Assist
Andrew Richmond- Colour Assist
David Morris’ futuristic political intrigue story, Memphis, imagines a cultural, technological, and supernatural societal center at the decline of the Aegyptian Empire. Strange things are afoot at court and each character in the sprawling ensemble has their own motivations, all of which are interwoven into a compelling and thrilling tale. There’s rich history and large scale world building at play in Memphis and Dave Morris packs a lot of story into only a couple pages per issue. It’s a story that requires a recap before jumping in each week though. Luckily Morris provides a succinct recap along with a dramatis personae at the beginning of each installment.
It’s often hard to distinguish characters from one another unless they have some distinct uniform or trait and there are just so many characters it’s hard to keep them straight anyway. When Morris digs deep and fleshes out the backgrounds in Memphis, his use of scale is astounding, but the majority of the smaller panels have blank, flat colored backgrounds. I’m not sure if it’s a stylistic or aesthetic choice for Memphis, but I didn’t vibe with the coloring. In the dark and spooky moments in the tomb, there are brilliant flashes of green and excellent use of shadow, but scene to scene some characters appear to have muted skin tones like grey or lifeless beige. I found myself longing for Dan Harris’ coloring in Major Rakhana. All in all, Memphis is a compelling supernatural/ sci-fi political intrigue tale with a lot of big ideas and a beautifully giant world.
He’s Not Slow — No, No, No
Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man?
By Dave West & Marleen Starksfield Lowe
Dave West & Marleen Starksfield Lowe have crafted a unique and suspenseful story where a terrorist has set a bomb to explode in one hour, planning for maximum casualties in a crowded city center. With the ability to stop time and age at a relative rate, Bobby Doyle takes it upon himself to one-by-one remove civilians from the blast zone, by unfreezing time for split seconds to lift someone or bust a lock on a door. As the story progresses we see him age several decades over the course of the hour until the bomb explodes. It’s a tragically quiet story not afraid to show isolation and loneliness. It is the only black and white comic in Quantum, a spot on tonal choice for a story that is visually stark but stirs deep emotions as you watch Bobby labor to save everyone.
I connected most with this story because it played with the typical superhero story. Bobby is just a normal guy that leads a normal life. He’s someone that makes an impossible choice to give up his whole life saving the city but his powers aren’t flashy. The creative team truly lets it sink in how laborious and difficult his task is. What does he do about people that are in surgery? Or folks that he isn’t able to pick up or move easily? When you read the title for this story, you expect to see a lot of motion and speed lines, but subverting the idea that speed means movement was a genius choice and makes this series stay with you long after you finish. Highly expressive artwork akin to I Kill Giants, and a gut wrenching, yet weirdly optimistic philosophical waxing like Traveling to Mara, Whatever Happened…is well worth the price of admission for picking up Quantum bi-monthly. And now that it’s over, I can’t wait to see what these creators bring next!
All-New, All-St£rling
D£ath & Tax£S
Writer: Katie Cunningham
Line Artist: Tom Newell
Colour Artist: John Charles
Letterer: Rob Jones
As someone who wakes up dreading the 9-5 work week every Monday morning, D£ath & Tax£S is a terrifying story. Only the rich are allowed to die and the rest of us are forced to stay alive to pay off our debts. Katie Cunningham crafts a suspenseful murder mystery for Blodd Bowen to solve. Every piece of this story works so well. Cunningham’s noir tone is chilling. Tom Newell’s art is impressionistic and carefully composed. John Charles’ color palette is cool and eerie. And Rob Jones’ lettering is percussive, precise , and perfectly angular, similar to the art.
D£ath & Tax£S reminded me of a BPRD tale and I loved it. In issue #5 of Quantum, the first story arc apparently comes to a close, but let’s hope D£ath & Tax£S finds new life in a future issue.
Congratulations to Time Bomb Comics and all the folks working on Quantum for your first year of stories. Thanks so much for sharing your worlds and characters with us that we can spread the good word. If you’re in the UK, go out and pick up Quantum and other Time Bomb titles at your local newsagent. And if you’re in the US, order issue 1 of Quantum available in local comic shops in April 2024.