REVIEW: Ivar, Timewalker #4

Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: 04/22/2015

The universe has rules and like noses, rules are meant to be broken. Or at least attempted to be broken.

Issue 4 of this Doctor Who on speed book, kicks off with a segue. After leaving Ivar trapped in prehistoric times, Neela heads back to Feb 9th 2009, in attempt to alter her past. As we all know, time rules state that you can’t do that sort of thing, Marty McFly notwithstanding. After a poignant vista of New York, it’s off to the hospital to prevent the death of the one person she was originally trying to discover time travel for. What follows can only be described as chronological slapstick, as the the universe appears to be unmoved by Neela’s good intentions.

Fred Van Lente continues the previous issues great work. Each setup has a unique ending, with each attempt to alter her past from the sublime to the ridiculous, coming to its inevitable end. The fact that Van Lente manages to keep all the Neela’s in character as each one is in a different stage of her life is a credit to his writing skills. Â I would love to see the expression of someone else entering the bar. The script sparkles and despite the cause and effect of the accident element, which I expected (I have watched way too much Doctor Who), maintains its humour despite the seriousness of Neela’s personal quest.

The art by Clayton Henry allows the humour of the various attempts this shine through. Henry has maybe the harder job. He has to draw various Neela’s after her various experiences whilst also trying to show the reader that it is actually the same person. It also allows Henry to show Neela in different environments, which for the most, is achieved well, with the opening panels being the only ones where our heroine looks slightly un-Neela like.

This books is highly entertaining. It is cleverly written, with clean art making it an easy read. As such, I did seem to get the end rather quickly. However, if you are looking for a fun read rather than potential lame ducks from Marvel who is either treading water until Secret Wars or Â promoting Ultron or the drastically disappointing filler issue quality of the Convergence tie-ins, then this book is for you.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network