Action Lab Entertainment 2018
Written by Marcus Perry
Illustrated & Lettered by Tony Donley
Left for dead in the old west, ALBERT EINSTEIN has to get the train back on the tracks if he wants to stop a thief from destroying our time-stream. And the only way to do that is to hijack a train with legendary Young Gun, BILLY THE KID! But as Einstein closes in on the villain, his secret identity is threatening to be exposed back at Princeton. Saddle up for this epic adventure!
I love this series, I really do it’s one of those fun stories that mixes alternate history along with the thrill-seeking adventure that came with the early Indiana Jones films. The Marcus had to go and introduce us to Joseph “Elwood” Nutt (honestly I liked his original incarnation better) who adds another layer to all this. Plus I cannot wait for the moment Elwood figures out how to get to where ever in time Albert is and their partnership takes on a whole new meaning. Mind you this is speculation on my part and it’s also what I would love to see.
For a Time Mason who travels throughout history past and present Albert has a very limited grasp on the reality of some things. I mean a pistolera really that was one of the dumbest things I think I have ever heard. However how he managed to not be dead well that’s another thing entirely, I have no idea what that fluid is or if it was what made of his we’ll call it a poncho but okay that was kinda cool. The way the book is structured is fantastic and the ebb & flow of what we see is great and lots of fun. So is the introduction of who Albert ends up running into along the way and here we see somewhat how pop culture influences how we perceive the real life folks of the past.
All that said I love the characterisation here and the dialogue does wonders in fleshing out these characters. Albert’s intelligence makes him seem insufferable at times as if he’s dumbing things down for others that he meets and that kind of attention to his character is one of the things that I love about how Marcus approaches him. Also it’s fun to see the peripheral characters he meet throughout his journey’s thus far. That everyone we meet feels like a complete person is something I think everyone should strive for.
I do like the interiors here. Tony does a really nice job here as he brings the characters and animals to life. Then too there is the train, or Albert’s home it doesn’t matter what it is the attention to detail here is exceptionally well done plus the way we see the way backgrounds are utilised really flesh out the scenes and bring us a solid sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a really nice eye for storytelling. The colours too are beautifully done. I love seeing the train or even the swirling yellows representing the desert heat and terrain.
I love the imagination and creativity that we see all around these pages. The way that Albert’s search is tied into these jaunts throughout history is incredibly well conceived and executed. There is still so much left unexplored and that means that the potential for all this is unlimited and that has an excitement all it’s own. Very few franchises can say they’ve got an instantly recognisable name that garners immediate interest and still allows for the creators to really cut loose and do things with him that have never been thought of before.
Action Lab keeps giving us these stellar series that are amazingly all-ages accessible with teaching and/or learning moments that capture the readers mind and imagination along the way.