As 2017 comes to a close, I normally like to reflect back on some of my favorite comics I read throughout the year. IDW Publishing has pretty much been my go-to publisher these past few months, and I have to admit that one of my favorite series of theirs is the ongoing Back to the Future comic books that started just a little over 2 years ago in late 2015. We’ve read about all sorts of interesting “alternate” adventures of Marty and Doc, as well as learned more about secondary characters like Marty’s Uncle “Jailbird” Joey. We even got glimpses into sideline stories that helped to explain certain plot holes from the original trilogy.
But what about what happened after the films? What happened to Doc and Marty…in the future?!
Which brings us to Back to the Future: Tales From the Time Train #1. All Emmett Brown wants to do is to see the world, but, more importantly, he wants his beloved Clara and sons Jules and Verne to experience the future with him—a future they would never get to see otherwise. So, the Doc and his family travel to the year 2038 in hopes that even if something goes wrong, it won’t affect their past and present-day lives. But with technology even now advancing as quickly as we allow it, virtual reality and holograms have taken over the future, not making it easy for the Browns to simply “escape.”
After a visit with a familiar face, Doc tries to think a bit more simply, taking his family to the World’s Fair of 1939. But when Emmett gets mistaken for a different scientist, he may be destined to change the course of history even when he doesn’t want to.
Back at it again, leave it to legendary storywriters like Bob Gale and John Barber to continue giving new life to these characters we have come to know and love. I, for one, believe they have both done a beautiful job interweaving their own timelines with the greatest trilogy of all time, and Tales From the Time Train is certainly no exception. Megan Levens’ artwork brings a new, cartoonish feel to the series, but matched with colors by Charlie Kirchoff, this is a duo that can do (“oh”) no wrong!
Naturally, I’m already looking forward to next month—no—next year’s adventures with Doc and his traveling time train.
Here’s to the future!
#ToBeContinued
