Review - Stormquest Timestone #1


"Mom! Dad! What's happening?"

The family that fights crime together and travels through time together stays together. Stormquest Timestone #1 from Skystorm Studio offers up a fast-paced look at a time traveling family of superheroes.

The issue is written by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, illustrated by Greg Land, inked by Jerry Foley, lettered by Skystorm Studio and colored by Leann Buckley.

Stormquest features a smattering of family members, including Time Stepper (Rebecca May LeBeck), Temblor (Warren LeBeck), Shrike (Andrew LeBeck), Soulfire (Jenn LeBeck), Barricade (Kurt Emminger), Brightblade (Edmond Da Orkney) and Shalimar. The extended family travels through time and deal with whatever evil wants to take over the planet on any given day, working together as a family unit. And "whatever evil" usually refers to a wide variety of bad guys, some of whom have ties to the family for one reason or another.

The Bierbaums collaborated on the writing and it's clear they've infused it with familial times. The book reads like an X-Men comic from the 90s, with the characters gallavanting all over the place. The fact that there are so many family members really make it difficult to keep up with everything going on. By the end of the issue, it feels as if the family of superheroes really just had a typical day in the life and vanquished evil. It's incredibly fast-paced, almost to the detriment of actually offering a story that's relatively easy to follow.

Land's art is clearly X-Men inspired as well, as the book looks like Marvel books from the late 80s/early 90s. The superheroes look like X-Force members or even some of Marvel's lesser known heroes of the time. It's definitely solid and features a good mix of characters in action and characters posing for emphasis. There are some really great panels depicting the action that really gets the effects of the fighting across to the reader. There's also some rather unique panel layouts the break up the standard grid formats, offering a glimpse into some of insanity of the combat.

Stormquest Timestone #1 is as much an homage to comics of yesteryear as it is almost an exact copy. The story feels like another version of "Days of Future Past," without Bishop and the Sentinels. Saying that it's a copy isn't quite fair to Stormquest Timestone #1 because it isn't, but it's very apparent where the creators drew their primary influence. Hopefully, the next issue (and subsequent issues) settle down a bit and give the reader a bit more of a chance to get more immersed in the story.


Stormquest Timestone #1 is available now via comixology.

Comments