Timeless #1: If You’re Lost You Can Look & You Will Find Me…

It’s that time of year again. Jed MacKay and Greg Land are back in the drivers seats, and they bring along Patch Zircher and Salvador Larroca with the Timeless one-shot,  as we’re treated to a story that involves Kang, and he has an adventure across time and space against some new, or perceived new, mastermind that has Kang’s number. Kang’s in search of something called the Missing Moment. What is this missing moment? Why is it something that’s denied from Kang? Well, that’s what this issue is all about. So let’s get down to the meat and potatoes of this book, shall we? 

Jed MacKay has become one of Marvel’s leading voices when it comes to their writing talent pool, with some memorable and comedic takes on the Black Cat, and the world he crafted for her in the greater Marvel Universe, to his take on Moon Knight, and his role as the guardian of the wayward souls of New York, and the kids who were transformed into vampires, but with this we’re treated to a Jed who’s a tad more on the serious side, which is always a welcome change, but there’s still that little glint in these characters eyes. MacKay, and his signature humor is there, just waiting to pounce on the reader. He also introduces a new band of characters, whose names are patterned after Merlin, King Arthur, and his knights of the round table. It’s a fun concept, with these knights, who are patterned after a historical group going up against a Conqueror of Time. MacKay could go in a more humorous direction, making him a joke, but he didn’t, and that goes a long way with me. 

Greg Land is back, and I know he’s a very divisive artist, but I’m not going to get into all that. Nothing I say would be something that hasn’t been said before. What we get here is a Land who’s on point, as Kang looks every bit as imposing and majestic as he should be. Kang is one of the oldest villains of the Marvel Universe, and carries a certain amount of regality that only a few others can match. Doctor Doom and Magneto spring to mind. Land’s Kang has an air of greatness about him, and I could literally go on for days gushing over Kang. The dude is in my top ten of greatest comic villains of all time. While Land’s Kang looks great, the other characters, these Knights, some are just nondescript, and unremarkable. 

With Land is Patch Zircher and Salvador Larroca, and the gentleman also does not disappoint. Oftentimes when you have multiple artists on one issue, a lot of the characters in the story you get a sort of disconnect. Almost as if something gets lost in translation, but not here. The two really complement Land here, and the universe that we’re seeing these two forces of nature clashing up against each other through both time and space, which is always something that speaks to me with a Kang storyline. I wonder if they’ll have any hand in the future of the Marvel universe.