Ivar, Timewalker #9
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The good
Feeling of coming full circle makes story more intriguing. Start of Neela and Ivar's relationship?
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The bad
So close to the origin of null universe yet so far.
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The ugly
- Total score
Ivar, Timewalker #9 continues with Neela attempting to teach a young Ivar what her time discovery created and what has to be accomplished in order to reverse it. This issue opens up in ancient Mesopotamia before the great cataclysm and Ivar is arguing with Aram about using the Boon to revive Gilad. Ivar was grieving for his brother just like Aram but Ivar had no fear of using the Boon despite the potential complications. So Ivar makes an announcement to the people of Ur about how the 3 of them brought back the Boon but also that eternal life isn’t for the gods alone. Aram makes one final attempt to stop Ivar but he’s too late as Ivar turns the mechanism and activates it. Yet at that moment he’s pulled through time by Neela, who needs his help. He’s upset that she took him on the verge of his greatest discovery, similar to what she experienced, nor does he know exactly where he is. She tells him that’s it gonna take some time for her to get used to him not being the Ivar she knows but she needs him to help make sense of some tachyon compass readings. She’s been using timearcs to travel but has been unable to return to the source of the null universe. Can this young Ivar help Neela reverse the destruction created by her invention and the null universe?
It’s pretty difficult to explain Ivar, Timewalker as a series because it doesn’t fit into a standard mode. It’s a series that can make the destruction of countless universes seem like a humorous read yet not come off as just flat-out silly either. So even without knowing practically anything about these universes the gravitas of the situation is still clear, and you feel it. That’s been due to the wonderful writing by Fred Van Lente. To paraphrase an oft-repeated quote, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel, and that’s appropriate for this series. Even explaining all the details from the first issue to this point wouldn’t capture the feeling from the experience of reading this adventure as it just seems to jump from one point to another much like Ivar’s use of the timearcs. At least until this issue. This issue makes everything feel as if it’s coming full circle or at the very least it gives some satisfying answers as to how this all started.
The start of this issue gave an answer to the crime that Ivar committed resulting in the deaths of so many in ancient Mesopotamia that set in motion a series of events that he alluded to earlier in this series. And the fact that Neela repeated the same thing future Ivar did to her made it all but conclusive that this was indeed the first time the Ivar she met in the future (or her past) met her. Confusing? Well, not with the way this issue unfolded. It was entertaining to watch Ivar in his pre-time traveler stage and Neela the experienced time traveler. It was easy to see how much they were alike and creating a better appreciation of each character.
SUMMARY
Ivar, Timewalker #9 is an exciting issue that delivers with big answers connecting the start of this series with recent developments. The way Ivar’s decision at the start of this issue setting off the chain of events is portrayed wonderfully sets the tone throughout even though there is plenty of humor later. I’ve been enjoying this ride not entirely sure where it was heading but now that it seems like everything is coming full circle I’m more excited than I’ve ever been about the future of Ivar. Or is it his past?
Release Date: 9/16/15
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Pere Perez
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