Time Corps is a time-traveling comic book series concerning the titular Time Corps: a ragtag group of individuals plucked from various moments of time right before they were supposed to die but now are assembled under the unifying cause of keeping history unchanged by other forces. The particular group focused on in Time Corps is the crew stationed in Venice Beach in what appears to be the present period and includes Gaius Equitus Brutus (Roman centurion who adds a neo-peplum element to the story), Smoke Jaguar (a Mayan ball player), Garabaldi Dilvorno (Prohibition-era gigolo), and Paulina Popova (Russian spy during Czarist Russia). Issue twelve of Time Corps focuses on the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy, red tape, and grabs for power occurring at the Celestial Bureaucracy, the overseeing organization of the Time Corps. The Inspector General and Grunfeld are at odds with each other, each running clandestine operations in conflict in the year 2657. Meanwhile, the famous Mata Hari, during a respite in an amorous encounter, is sucked out of a spaceship and into the offices of Celestial Bureaucracy. In the distant future of 3114, a technophile named Mallory takes umbrage to the dealings of the Time Corps and begins assembling her own time machine to stymie them.
The art style of Time Corps could benefit from a bit more polish; however, the cast of characters from various multi-cultural/multi-time backgrounds makes for great exchanges and sets the groundwork for even more interesting storytelling ideas to explore. It is an ambitious concept of a comic; while its premise of recruiting specialized people into their ranks prior to their moment of death is similar to the video game, Darkest of Days, it is still a unique take on the time travel formula. Issue twelve may be a slow burn issue, more concerned with getting the chess pieces set up for the next issue, but interested readers can take a dive into the series by downloading the first issue which is available for free via links at the Wunderman Comics website.
Creative Team: Hannibal Tabu (writer), Neal Yamamoto (pencils, inks), Josephine Roberts (colors, letters), Nate Wunderman (creator, editor)
Publisher: Wunderman Comics
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