Timeless #1 Review: Flash Forward to a Story No One Needed

The newest iteration of Timeless proves that the potential charms of this annual Marvel Comics one-shot were already thin when it first appeared in 2021. The formula is apparent as a time travel-infused story of limited significance is used to introduce some minor plot element and deliver a collage of teaser images for the rest of the Marvel Comics line. It’s presented with the journeyman-like craft of capable writers, artists, and other creators, but is bound by its very nature to never qualify as more than an advertisement for comics that might tell a story. 

The 2023 edition of Timeless portrays an alternate future centered around three Marvel characters readers know will never remain central to the story for any longer than a single event: Power Man, Iron Fist, and Moon Knight. Rather than tying itself to any current stories, Timeless opts to briefly remind readers of a nostalgic Silver Age status quo between Luke Cage and Danny Rand before leaping to an apocalyptic future in which the remaining dregs of humanity are threatened by Khonshu. It’s trope-laden superhero storytelling from origin to finale and is unlikely to thrill even the newest reader, although it offers enough questions to spark some curiosity for the largely-uninitiated about what strange things may occur in Spider-Man and X-Men comics in the year ahead.

It’s the presentation of this obviously doomed future that will spark cynicism amongst most readers, though, as there’s nothing novel to appreciate. Luke Cage receives an arbitrary collection of new powers in the future as does his semi-mysterious antagonist, which allows them to battle across a collection of similarly arbitrary spreads. All of this ultimately serves to present costumes and iterative characters, which just might collect a miniseries (and maybe even some cult significance) but most likely won’t. There’s nothing present in this issue besides the climax for characters and stories that were never told. So the bland settings and familiar feedback loops of “final” combat are bound to be uninspiring before they are even presented.

Juann Cabal’s portrayal of this anti-climatic scenario is ever-capable, but a severed limb or triumphant uppercut are meaningless in such circumstances. And besides one ineffective application of onomatopoeia, they lack any spark of originality. It is standard superhero fare presented as such, but lacking the melodrama and continuity that can make such common brawls ring with meaning.

The collage sequences inserted at moments tied to the time travel tropes provide some hints at crossovers and events for a few key franchises in the year ahead. Some of these are familiar cover-coded imagery while others suggest more broadly at events involving recently-introduced characters, zombies (or other Darkhold-related fare), the return of familiar villains, and other items too vague to excite all but the more Reddit-oriented readers. It’s a reminder that more Marvel Comics will certainly be published in 2024; hopefully most of them will be provide more engaging reading than this year’s Timeless.

Published by Marvel Comics

On December 27, 2023

Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly

Art by Juann Cabal

Colors by Edgar Delgado

Letters by Travis Lantham

Cover by Kael Ngu