The issue begins with our four time travellers storming a Nazi concentration camp and killing all of the guards. They free the prisoners within and arm them with every weapon they can find. The group can’t stay long and quickly move out. They really can’t afford to be discovered nor can they risk altering the future any more than they already have. They reach the closest town and begin mapping out their game plan.
They split up into groups and begin finding out as much information about the project that will one day destroy the planet. While Ken and Peggy infiltrate the town, Christian and Jack head off to find a communication post to monitor the broadcasts. Their biggest problem is what to do with Christian, being that he’s the only black man in Germany and it’s WWII. As he and Jack come across a mechanics station and house, Christian stays back and plays sniper. This quickly comes in handy as Jack runs into not one but two sets of Nazi officers/soldiers and is forced to put them down. It proves beneficial as it gives Jack papers that will allow him access to the Gestapo headquarters.
On the flip side of the story, Ken and Peggy quickly split up after finding a bar to infiltrate. Peggy enters first and is instantly offered a job, as the bar is short staffed with all the workers. Being the perfect opportunity she takes the job and begins slapping out drinks in a traditional German bar-maid outfit. Ken enters later and she fills him in on her target. After creating a disturbance both members slip away with a soldier to interrogate. Ken ends up shooting his in the alleyway but runs into trouble as more drunken soldiers stumble out of the bar. Peggy on the other hand tries seduction to get her answers, unfortunately the results are the same and she’s forced to kill the engineer.
The story in Time Bomb never slows down; it keeps a steady pace of action with just enough time to catch your breath. The story is really picking up as the Omega bomb is explained more and the question of whether the group will even be able to stop the bomb in time.
Palmiotti and Gray continue to show why they are comic’s best collaboration today with a story that shouldn’t make sense, shouldn’t work and yet does. There’s so much going on in the story yet the writer’s string everything together in a way that makes every part makes sense as a whole. More writers should take chances on stories like Palmiotti and Gray have.
If you missed the first issue I highly encourage you to find it and pick it up, but even then this issue weaves enough information into it from the first issue that it could stand on its own. The writing is some of the best in comics today, while the art is top-notch and a perfect fit for the book. For more information on Radical Publishing and the titles they offer head over to their website at RadicalPublishing.com and check out their facebook page here.
Story – 9.0
Plot – 9.5
Art – 10.0
Color – 9.5
Overall – 9.5
