TIME BOMB 1

TIME BOMB 1 of 3
Created & Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Grey
Illustrated by Paul Gulacy & Charles Yoakum
Colored by Rain Beredo
Lettered by John J. Hill
Edited by Rob Levin
Published by Radical
http://www.radicalpublishing.com

the three cents:
Holy hell what a fun read. An old Nazi fortress is found underground in Berlin, and as a research team is sent in, they unwittingly release something called the Omega bomb- a splurge of bio-chemical warfare that consists of the fastest moving and most lethal virus the world has ever seen. With only days left before the end of all life on the planet, a team of specialists are brought together to make use of the Time Bomb experiment, an abandoned project of our own dealing with time travel. Hoping to send the four aces back only a few days so as to warn the world's powers that be of this Nazi threat, humanity's last chance instead lands in something they were not all all expecting.
Palmiotti and Grey have a winner here, with a politically topical framework diving head over heels into an adventure story hipdeep in science fiction and the ugliest sides of war. Their premise is unbelievably grim, but maintained in presentation with a realistic, albeit glib, style. The characters are all with well-formed personalities, but the atmosphere compels the reader to acknowledge the feeling that this is the kind of action-packed no holds barred plot that may not be at all kind to its stars. Great banter, intelligent exposition, and a sweet cliffhanger ending for this first issue.
Gulacy is a master at what he does. He's been steadily working for more than thirty years and his style is so good it hasn't seen much reason for change. Although in the past few years, some genius editors have realized how much more solid even his work can be when paired with craftsmen inkers and colorists, and that is exactly what he has here with Yoakum (whose work has grown immensely since his early days long ago at Defiant) and Beredo (who worked over Gulacy on the Penance mini-series not too long back). This is as cool a team as art teams can possibly be, and the total package here has already proven that this will be one drunken rollercoaster of a series.
Lots of shooting and some naughty words, this is by no means for the kids, but for longtime fans of Gulacy's work, and for those who enjoy seeing Palmiotti and Grey cut loose from the Big Two, this is the way to fly. A rock-solid setup to what will undoubtedly be an eventful thriller, Time Bomb is worth the money. (It's actually double the page count of a standard monthly, for almost the same price. So yea- very worthwhile). I cannot wait to see where this goes.