My Time Machine. Carol Lay. Fantagraphics. 168pp. $24.99.
I be time travelin’. Carol Lay‘s debut graphic novel makes the case for jumpin’ on board that time travel machine if you should get the chance. While seemingly downright casual about the whole thing, Lay’s adventure comes fully loaded with serious considerations on theory, sober insights and plenty of What If? scenarios. This is time travelin’ after all! And who better to suit up with than such a stellar cartoonist as Carol Lay? Best known for her comic strips (find current work at GoComics), this book lets Lay shine in the full-fledged graphic novel format.
Yep, you need someone who is really into the whole concept of time travel in order to have a truly awesome time travel story. Lay delivers right from the opening pages that depict her in the far, far distant future, just her inside her time machine on some desolate landscape. What now? When now? Instantly, we get a sly nod to the familiar: whatever she’s doing, it’s running on an app from her phone. Moving right along, she runs commands from her iPad. Lay has her alter ego kept at bay with enough comforting high tech to keep her in a chill and relatively matter-of-fact mindset. Time traveling can be seen as just one big, albeit massive, status check.
It turns out sly humor can do wonders and it definitely fuels much of what goes on here as you might expect. But it’s not jokey humor. It’s more of a point of view, like the world-weary wisecracks from a co-worker you’ve grown to love. When you think about the best time travel stories, they’re often far more understated than the genre would seem to suggest. As much as Lay’s alter ego is excited about the possibility of killing Hitler, once the time travel option is in play, she’s really more preoccupied with her own lot in life. It seems rather short-sighted, right? But it proves rather impossible to avoid, all the same. Rob, her ex-husband and closest friend, would agree.
The story’s time machine is a result of Rob’s handiwork. He, fairly nonchalantly, rigs it up in his spare time. Not a big deal, really, when you know what you’re doing. And that very wry and dry humor, I must say, is the most fantastical aspect to this graphic novel and gives it a special charm. You could say this is science fiction with the mature adult in mind who has seen it all, needs to skip over all the dancing around, and is ready to get right to it. This is truly sci-fi for grown-ups! The two main characters are of a certain age, spry enough to still think of themselves as middle-aged yet humbled to know better. For them, time has become more precious. Sure, time can’t help but get wasted but, at least, they’re wise enough to know better, which is a big part of this time travel tale. I welcome more of these kind of stories from writers and cartoonists, especially those of a certain vintage and viewpoint.
Pingback: Carol Lay and MY TIME MACHINE interview - Comics Grinder