Assorted Crisis Events #6
Chad Burdette
Recap
In Assorted Crisis Events, time doesn’t play by the rules. Ordinary people face broken timelines, looping days, space portals, wayward travelers from different eras, and alternate versions of themselves — all while walking down the street.
Time is having a crisis. Mingling in the red-light district, you can find actual cavemen, medieval knights, and cyborg soldiers on leave from World War IV. Victorian debutantes amble their way into cell phone stores, confused and bewildered (what is a data plan?). On their way to work, bleary-eyed commuters get trapped in time-loops, assaulted by alternate-reality versions of themselves, and try to avoid post-apocalyptic wastelands. And LOOK: the 3:15 bus just took a wrong turn... into the neolithic era.
- Assorted Crisis Events #1: When Things Go Timey Wimey Wibbly Wobbly
- Assorted Crisis Events #2 – Washed In The Blood
- Assorted Crisis Events #3 – A Tale Of Two Hearths
Assorted Crisis Events #6 kicks off a new arc that throws readers straight into the chaos: are you or someone you love experiencing Retro Anterograde Temporal Diminishment — suddenly shifting between childhood and old age, forgetting names, dates, and even loved ones...
Review
Assorted Crisis Events #6 continues the series with a story that tugs at the heartstrings with the story of a women whose whose husband suffers from Retro Anterograde Temporal Diminishment, condition thats causes him to suddenly shift between childhood and old age, without an rhyme or reason. Of all the issues so far, this is perhaps the most liner storytelling that this series has been, showing that the elements of time being unstable doesn’t mean that events themselves don’t have to jump around to be a good story.
Camp tells the story in such a way that it is almost allegorical for what family and caregivers of those in the decline suffer from Alzhiemers and dementia experience as the disease takes their loved one. Though the story focuses mainly on the struggles the wife goes through, at the same time Camp also gives the husband struggle a chance to share the spotlight. No punches are pulled as the wife cheats on her husband with another member of the Retro Anterograde Temporal Diminishment support group whose wife is stuck as a child, only to come home to find him have a “good day” and his correct age.
While the overall story is depressing and full of emotional moments, Camp ends the issue on an upbeat note and a strong take away lesson, rather than taking the easy way out with a bleak outlook for the future of the story’s protagonist. The issue supposedly sets off a new story arc, but what exactly this is remains unclear although the Time Traveler once again makes his cameo, involving himself in the story, but remains a mystery.
Zawadzki continues to push the artistic envelope with his art and layouts, making the story like a pamphlet on the condition, the man’s memories as a jigsaw puzzle, a full spread maze depicting the aged husband trying to navigate his house, and CLUE-like board game to depict the husband as his age fluctuations.
Final Thoughts
Assorted Crisis Events #6 continues to push the storytelling boundaries, in word and picture, to tell a heartfelt story that easily translates to real world experiences of those who have loved ones suffering Alzhiemers or dementia.
Assorted Crisis Events #6
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
