10 Mind-Bending Time Travel Comics to Warp Your Mind, Ranked

The world of science fiction opened the doors to many subgenres, from cyberpunk to dystopian fiction and everything in between. Then there are time travel tales, and when done right, these stories can be such a mind-bending experience. People love time travel, and there have certainly been plenty of movies and shows on the subject (Back to the Future and Doctor Who are two that quickly come to mind). Likewise, there are dozens of time travel comics, and frankly, they deserve more credit. Regardless of whether you want to dive into the past or delve into the future, there’s a read for everyone.

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Obviously, there are far too many time travel comics to list in a single article. Franchises such as Marvel and DC Comics love experimenting with time travel, sometimes for quick events but often for larger universal moments. That alone could warrant its own list. As such, we tried to pick some stories with variety, though there are still one or two superhero stories to be found, for those craving them.

10) Patience

Love, grief, time travel, and psychedelics. What do these four elements have in common? They’re all core concepts of Patience. The story follows Jack, who has been thrown down a well of grief and more following the untimely death (read: murder) of his girlfriend, Patience. Naturally, when he stumbled across a time machine, he felt compelled to make things right. Anybody who has read the classic novel knows how well that attempt would go, but this comic takes a slightly different spin, instead enabling readers to learn more about Patience herself. It’s a trippy and obsessive tale about love and loss.

Patience is written and illustrated by Daniel Clowes. Published by Fantagraphics Books, it was nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Graphic Album-New and Best Lettering (2017).

9) Earthdivers

Beloved horror writer Stephen Graham Jones (My Heart Is a Chainsaw and The Only Good Indians) took a spin at writing for comics. Earthdivers merges time travel and hard-hitting historical moments and makes them feel deeply personal. Consisting of three volumes, Earthdivers has three distinct focuses (and goals). The first volume (Kill Columbus) revolves around the era of Christopher Columbus, with a group of indigenous outcasts determined to kill the explorer and save the future. Ice Age introduces a new complication, as missing children cause one couple to fall through time in the hopes of bringing their family back together again. Finally, 1776 brings the story full circle, raising questions about violence and the ability to change time. Did the first team complete their mission, or is time less flexible than they hoped?

Earthdivers is written by Stephen Graham Jones and illustrated by Davide Gianfelice, Joana LaFuente, and Patricio Delpeche. Published by IDW, there are three volumes to this complete series.

8) Displacement

Displacement is another tale involving a character unwittingly heading backward in time. It begins with a vacation, as Kiku and her family are learning about her grandmother’s time in Japanese internment camps. What should have been a somber learning experience quickly became more immersive, as Kiku found herself hurled back to the 1940s. As such, Kiku ends up surviving the experience alongside her grandmother. It’s a beautiful time travel tale with a real historical lesson to impart to the readers. Displacement has familiar earmarks to social justice time travel stories, as it’s becoming a bit of a niche subject, even within the subgenre of time traveling.

Displacement is written and illustrated by Kiku Hughes and published by First Second.

7) Life Is Strange

If you saw the name Life Is Strange and did a double-take, don’t worry! You’re not seeing double. Life Is Strange is the comic book tie-in to the famous video game. As such, you really want to finish the game before diving into the comics (unless you don’t mind risking spoilers). Life Is Strange continues the story from where the game left off, with Max and Chloe trying to move forward, which is easier said than done for this time-traveling duo. New realities and timelines flow into the mix, adding new adventures and concerns. Meanwhile, things seem to be blending and merging in odd and mysterious ways. If you find yourself wanting more from the game, the comics are a must-read.

Life Is Strange is written by Emma Vieceli and illustrated by Claudia Leonardi, Andrea Izzo, Richard Starkings, and Jimmy Betancourt. It’s published by Titan Comics and has six volumes of content to dive into.

6) A Girl Called Echo

Much like Displacement, A Girl Called Echo has a lesson to teach the main character – and the readers. Echo Desjardins is a Métis teenager struggling to feel motivated at school. It doesn’t help that she’s dealing with a new home and school. However, the lessons she learned in her history class opened the door to the past in more ways than one. What began as a shocking revelation of truth in the classroom ended up being a much deeper and more personal journey for Echo, as she kept getting pulled into the past to see how her predecessors experienced pivotal moments in Métis history. A Girl Called Echo is rich in history and raw emotion, with a time travel style similar to Octavia Butler’s Kindred.

A Girl Called Echo is written by Katherena Vermette and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and Donovan Yaciuk. It’s a complete series, with an omnibus available by HighWater Press.

5) Trillium

Love and time travel go hand-in-hand, though sometimes with heartbreaking results. Enter Trillium, a love story about two characters from different points in time. William Pike is an explorer and a WWI vet. His mission is to find the lost temples of the Incas, and it’s safe to say he was not expecting what he found. Nika Temsith hails from 3797, a far-flung future. As a botanist, she’s dedicated to researching flowers, yet somehow that places her on a path with William. Their love grows against all odds, but that doesn’t mean it comes without cost, as these two were never meant to meet, let alone fall in love. Readers who have enjoyed Jeff Lemire’s other works (Sweet Tooth, All-New Hawkeye, Gideon Falls, etc.) should consider checking out Trillium. Likewise, fans of Saga will feel right at home, as Lemire hasn’t been shy about its influence on his work.

Trillium is written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire and colored by José Villarrubia. Published by Vertigo, there are eight issues to binge.

4) Chrononauts

If love and time travel are a destined combination, so are scientists and time travel. It’s almost like they can’t resist the temptation, right? Chrononauts follows two physicists, Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly. They’ve finally unlocked the code to time travel, and their first major mission is going to prove that. Of course, nothing goes quite to plan, as they find themselves bouncing around time and space. Making it back home is going to be a challenge, and even if they succeed, they’ll then have to face the corporate repercussions for the snafus they’ve faced. Readers should check out the first volume for historical shenanigans, while the second volume throws the two headfirst into the future.

Chrononauts was written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Sean Gordon Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth, Eric Canete, Giovanna Niro, Peter Doherty, and Chris Eliopoulos. Published by Image Comics, there are two complete volumes.

3) X-Men: Days of Future Past

It’s probably safe to say that X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the more famous events in X-Men history, and that’s saying something. Tucked into the run of Uncanny X-Men, the story has been adapted a few times since then, including the 2014 movie of the same name. The event ties the present with a dangerous future, one that sees mutants placed into internment camps. Kitty Pryde is at the forefront of the tale, with her future self popping into the mind of her present self as a means of warning the team of what is to come.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a six-issue event that ran in the Uncanny X-Men (1981) run, issues 138-143. It’s written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and illustrated by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

2) Paper Girls

Realistically, Paper Girls is probably the second most famous time travel series on this list, but it can’t be overlooked. Paper Girls is pure ’80s nostalgia wrapped up in a mind-bending time travel adventure, complete with a generational war, future selves, and the lot. The story follows four teenage newspaper delivery girls, Camryn Jones, Tiff, Mac, Erin, and KJ. What started as an ordinary day, with a side of training the new girl, became something out of this world, as the four are thrown into a time travel war, flinging them to far extremes of time, from the past to the future, and back again. Meanwhile, each character has her own bit of personal drama to work through. Paper Girls was adapted by Amazon Prime Video, but only lasted one season, failing to capture the charm the comic series is known for.

Paper Girls is written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared K. Fletcher. Published by Image Comics, there are six complete volumes of the series.

1) Daytripper

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Daytripper. Daytripper is the story of Brás de Oliva Domingos, a writer by day and a dreamer by night. He’s the son of a famous writer, and of course, he has dreams of becoming a famous writer in his own right. Unfortunately, his days are mostly spent writing obituaries for others, but that hasn’t stopped him from dreaming big. Brás has always felt like he’s waiting for his real life to begin, and thus the story starts. Daytripper is a time travel tale, but it is also shockingly human and deep, asking profound questions about the importance of daily moments and how they merge to create a complete human being. Daytripper is a must-read for introspective bookworms.

Daytripper is written and illustrated by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, with colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Sean Konot. Published by Vertigo Comics, there are ten issues to the series.