It’s another turn around the timeline in Timeless (2022) #1, the subject of our full SPOILER review for this week’s Marvel Rundown! Then, adjust your clocks, because a timequake has caused the spoiler-lite blurbs in the Rapid Rundown to get bumped all over the timeline (and some may be about issues that were released over the course of the past two weeks – from their perspective, they’re in the future).
What did you think of this week’s fresh Marvel Comics titles? The Beat is waiting to hear from you, either right here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat!
Timeless (2022) #1
Writer: Jed McKay
Artists: Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Patch Zircher & Salvador Larroca
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Main cover by: Kael Ngu
To quote the time travel wisdom of the great sage and eminent junkie Bender B. Rodriguez: “Man, this is confusing… And I bet it’s going to get a lot more confusing!”
The uninitiated may find the naming and numbering of Timeless (2022) #1 to be confounding, but this “one-shot” follows-up on last year’s Timeless (2021) #1 in some conceptually fascinating ways. Furthermore, the question of just where this year-spanning time travel yarn could be heading will you keep your head spinning well into 2023.
Timeless (2021) #1
Almost exactly a year ago, Timeless (2021) #1 was published. This “one-shot” was written by McKay with art by Land, Kev Walker, Jay Leisten, Mark Bagley, and Andrew Hennessy, colors by Marte Gracia, letters by Maher, and a main cover by Ngu. The issue’s narrator is Anatoly Petrov, writer and lecturer on Superhuman Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Or, as Kang puts it, “One of the premier 21st Century scholars on ‘super villainy.’”
Petrov was glove-selected by Kang (Nathaniel Richards edition) to accompany him on a voyage “across all of human history.” Kang’s objective? Petrov had just written a draft of his manuscript concluding the most consequential villain of the age is Doctor Doom. Kang aims to change his mind.
A mid-journey’s timequake leads to an encounter with a Doom variant. Under the mask, this Doom is revealed to be neither Victor Von nor Doombot, but rather a variant of Reed Richards.
He’s the sole survivor of a timeline “cast adrift in null-time” by Immortus (himself a Kang variant). These severed timelines are meant to be eroded by entropy until they dissolve – but the iron will of Doom has ensured an anomalous “Pirate timeline” persisted. This “corpse continuity” is now attempting to reattach itself to the prime narrative.
A climactic battle set in the timeline’s Damocles Base sees Kang and the Doom variant (who has shoved a couple of Infinity Stones in his eye sockets and drank Celestial blood, why not) trade blows. While Kang seems poised to lose, the battle is sealed when Petrov uses a spear to impale Doom from behind. Stating that Petrov was simply a tool he brought along to the battle, Kang declares the victory to be his. He returns Petrov to his timeline and drops the manuscript off in Pompeii.
Timeless (2022) #1
Timeless (2021) #1 kept the reader at arm’s length through the perspective of Petrov. However, Kang himself narrates Timeless (2022) #1. This immediately creates a different relationship between the Conqueror and the reader than the one established in Timeless (2021) #1, in which Petrov served as a buffer.
While this Kang may be (in some ways) more immediately relatable, he’s also much less untouchable than other incarnations of the character like to present themselves to be. His motivation in this issue is to locate the “missing moment,” a single moment in time that remains obscured from the Conqueror’s vision.
This vulnerable status is underscored by the fact that Kang’s flagship is the Prospero of the Tempest fleet. The Tempest was the final play written by William Shakespeare, and its protagonist, Prospero, is an old wizard who – like Shakespeare himself – is preparing for a conclusive spell.
It’s far from uncommon for literary and comic book characters to be saddled with names that are Shakespearian, mythological, or allude to other types of literature. This fact is emphasized when the antagonist introduced by this issue arrives, a wizard calling himself Myrddin. However, Timeless (2022) #1 directly asks a compelling question about this naming trope: can the characters saddled with the albatross of these allusions escape the fate associated with their names?
The Twilight Court
Myrddin isn’t the only Arthurian-alluding character introduced by the issue. The wizard has assembled the Twilight Court, whose very cool design by Daniel Acuña helps circumvent new superhero team fatigue. My favorite of the lot, Mordred the Witch-Knight, has an excellent multi-page conversation with Kang about the role of villains, set admist a dazzling swirl of Tarot cards.
Just as Petrov was the tool of Kang in Timeless (2022) #1, these characters are tools for Myrddin to bludgeon Kang into submission… however, in an interesting re-arrangement of the climactic events of Timeless (2021) #1, this climax sees Myrddin himself impale Kang through the back. This sends Kang retreating to Null-Time, where the Pirate timeline “piloted” by Doom had survived in last year’s issue.
From here, he vows to assemble a team – a pretty fundamental “Marvel Comics setup” for a tie-in miniseries. Meanwhile, Myrddin is revealed to have a secret identity, but as far as I can tell, there are scant few clues towards whom this identity might be.
This leaves Timeless (2022) #1 feeling like a bit less of a “satisfying chunk” than Timeless (2021) #1, which felt wholly self-contained in spite of a conclusion foreshadowing the 2022 return of Miracleman. However, the questions raised by the issue – especially the true identity of Myrddin – are enticing, and already have me wondering which issues I’ll need to read in the coming year to find out.
Just like Timeless (2021) #1, Timeless (2022) #1 sees Kang traveling across the shifting timeline of Marvel Comics continuity, giving the Conqueror and the reader glimpses at future events that may or may not come to pass. Revisiting Timeless (2021) #1 was fun after another year of reviewing Marvel Comics, because many of the images contained in it make more sense to me now (and Petrov’s question about whether or not the timequake could be Judgment Day is especially amusing). Presumably, Timeless (2022) #1 will age in the same way – which is especially exciting if that Pet Avengers assembly comes to pass.
The Timeless Two
The concept of having an annual Timeless issue is an exciting one, and thanks to the self-referential elements in Timeless (2022) #1, this issue delivers on that potential. Can we expect Timeless (2023) #1 a year in our future? And if so, will that speak to the question of whether or not these characters are bound to their literary allusions, or have the agency to break free of them?
The future is unclear… but just asking the questions is a whole lot of fun, even if the answers never do end up arriving.
Verdict: BUY.
Rapid Rundown – Timequake Edition!
Next week, the new year begins with new Marvel Comics titles like Scarlet Witch #1 and Joe Fixit #1! See ya then!
 #1 follows Kang on the journey through time as he battles against the Twlight Court of Myrddin.){kind=link}