"Back to the Future" comics: "Citizen Brown"
Since October 21, 2015 -- the date Marty and Doc visited in the future of Back to the Future II -- IDW has been publishing comics extending the Back to the Future saga. They're even co-authored by Bob Gale, the writer of the original trilogy, so you can consider them canon if you want.
In addition to original stories, the comics have concerned themselves with fleshing out and deepening the stories we already know -- showing what led to some of the plot points, or what other characters might have been doing while we watched the main cast. Thankfully, they've steered clear of trying to explain the mechanics of time travel. That's a relief, really, because the original story was entertaining thanks to its characters. (Honestly, its approach to the mechanics or consequences of time travel weren't all that consistent in the original trilogy anyway. I still love the story, though.)
So I'd like to try to write up a review of the different "volumes" coming out -- bound collections of about half a dozen issues considered to be a unit. Hopefully, they will help to draw the attention of other people who enjoy discussing time travel adventures.
I've been waiting for a particular collection detailing what happened to Biff when he stole the DeLorean in Back to the Future II to start, but there seem to be interminable publishing delays; I think I might as well just get started with Citizen Brown. Spoilers ahoy!
Telltale Games has made a name for themselves by publishing adventure games in the universe of beloved movies, television series, and video games. They're generally very faithful to the things that made the material so beloved in the first place, and have issued games based on Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, Minecraft, Sam and Max, and -- as it turns out -- Back to the Future. Even though it had some parts that were clearly puzzles contrived to retain the veneer of an adventure game(*), it was pretty enjoyable, and even featured voice talents by the original cast.
The Citizen Brown published volume covers the plot of this game, while thankfully eschewing the awkward parts. And thankfully, as in most of the comics so far, the chief villain of the story isn't a Tannen.
Quick synopsis: With Doc Brown in the late 19th century, and the time machine destroyed, Marty starts to resume his life in the 1980s. But in May of 1986, the DeLorean appears in his driveway -- with no passengers(**). In the driver's seat is a microcassette recorder, which Marty plays to reveal that (1) the DeLorean now has an "auto-retrieval" feature, meant to return the time machine to the 1980s if something happens to its pilot -- which means that (2) something has happened to Doc.
Marty sees that the time circuits indicate that the time machine has just come from 1931. He hits up Edna Strickland, Vice Principal Strickland's older sister (who happens to hold an archive of the newspaper, the Hill Valley Register, going back decades). Edna's the sort of person who yells at "hooligans" outside her home. With a bullhorn.
An old paper reveals Doc's fate -- he was killed in prison while serving a sentence for setting fire to a speakeasy. So Marty sets off to 36 hours before that in an effort to prevent the murder. When he arrives, he suggests to Doc Brown that they use the time machine to prevent his arrest in the first place, but the scientist refuses.
DOC: Without my unjust incarceration, the events that sent you into the past might never happen, resulting in a paradox of continuum-shattering proportions!
MARTY: You know, I've missed these conversations.
Doc suggests looking up his other self to set up a jailbreak instead, using one of the younger self's more ingenious inventions.
When Marty meets the younger Emmett Brown, he finds a young man being pressured by his father to pursue a career in the legal profession. Unfortunately, he also manages to introduce Emmett to a young Edna Strickland, in the middle of her campaign to rid the town of alcohol -- and the two of them immediately hit it off. The young Edna Strickland ends up turning Emmett onto the ideas surrounding her notion of a perfect society, which -- combined with the scientist's genius -- ends up having disastrous consequences. And naturally, the life of an indigenous McFly hangs in the balance.
Along the way, of course, there are some twists and turns, but I don't want to re-tell the entire story here.
MARTY: Holy cow, Doc, you have perfect timing!
DOC: Well, I have a time machine, Marty. I can cheat.
It was kind of fun to learn that Doc's interest in science took off when he saw Frankenstein as a young man. We also get to see what happens when history is altered to the point that the friendship between Marty and Doc Brown never forms, and any "reunion" is threatened by one of them changing to the point that even their ideas of what is good become very, very different. And George (Marty's dad) becomes the tool of an oppressive government. (With George's interest in science fiction, you might expect that he'd have seen it coming. Ah, well.) And Marty having to teach Doc some of the rules of time travel, and Doc not wanting to play along, made for some fun tension.
Even if it's kind of a one-off, and not really tied into the main storyline, it's very entertaining. And since I'd argue that the story works in the first place partly because we get to see the characters in all kinds of settings, this gives us another chance to see that, and there's enough of a plot here for two movies. If time travel stories are your idea of relaxing fun, I'd certainly give it a try.
---
(*) For example, there was a point where the player had to try to find some things out about the voyage Edna Strickland had taken, even though her trip through time had clearly caused her to lose her already-tenuous grip on reality. This meant trying to convince her that she was back in the DeLorean she had stolen, and listening to her ramble as she relived the memory. Convincing her involved dangling shiny things in front of her to cause her to think she was jumping through time. A puzzle that absurd broke my mimesis completely. Thankfully, that scene isn't in Citizen Brown at all.
---
(**) It should be noted that the events in this 1986 will contradict events that happen in 1986 in the proper storyline of the main comic volumes. Conveniently, just about anything can be canon in a time travel saga where history is malleable.
In addition to original stories, the comics have concerned themselves with fleshing out and deepening the stories we already know -- showing what led to some of the plot points, or what other characters might have been doing while we watched the main cast. Thankfully, they've steered clear of trying to explain the mechanics of time travel. That's a relief, really, because the original story was entertaining thanks to its characters. (Honestly, its approach to the mechanics or consequences of time travel weren't all that consistent in the original trilogy anyway. I still love the story, though.)
So I'd like to try to write up a review of the different "volumes" coming out -- bound collections of about half a dozen issues considered to be a unit. Hopefully, they will help to draw the attention of other people who enjoy discussing time travel adventures.
I've been waiting for a particular collection detailing what happened to Biff when he stole the DeLorean in Back to the Future II to start, but there seem to be interminable publishing delays; I think I might as well just get started with Citizen Brown. Spoilers ahoy!
Telltale Games has made a name for themselves by publishing adventure games in the universe of beloved movies, television series, and video games. They're generally very faithful to the things that made the material so beloved in the first place, and have issued games based on Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, Minecraft, Sam and Max, and -- as it turns out -- Back to the Future. Even though it had some parts that were clearly puzzles contrived to retain the veneer of an adventure game(*), it was pretty enjoyable, and even featured voice talents by the original cast.
The Citizen Brown published volume covers the plot of this game, while thankfully eschewing the awkward parts. And thankfully, as in most of the comics so far, the chief villain of the story isn't a Tannen.
Quick synopsis: With Doc Brown in the late 19th century, and the time machine destroyed, Marty starts to resume his life in the 1980s. But in May of 1986, the DeLorean appears in his driveway -- with no passengers(**). In the driver's seat is a microcassette recorder, which Marty plays to reveal that (1) the DeLorean now has an "auto-retrieval" feature, meant to return the time machine to the 1980s if something happens to its pilot -- which means that (2) something has happened to Doc.
Marty sees that the time circuits indicate that the time machine has just come from 1931. He hits up Edna Strickland, Vice Principal Strickland's older sister (who happens to hold an archive of the newspaper, the Hill Valley Register, going back decades). Edna's the sort of person who yells at "hooligans" outside her home. With a bullhorn.
An old paper reveals Doc's fate -- he was killed in prison while serving a sentence for setting fire to a speakeasy. So Marty sets off to 36 hours before that in an effort to prevent the murder. When he arrives, he suggests to Doc Brown that they use the time machine to prevent his arrest in the first place, but the scientist refuses.
DOC: Without my unjust incarceration, the events that sent you into the past might never happen, resulting in a paradox of continuum-shattering proportions!
MARTY: You know, I've missed these conversations.
Doc suggests looking up his other self to set up a jailbreak instead, using one of the younger self's more ingenious inventions.
When Marty meets the younger Emmett Brown, he finds a young man being pressured by his father to pursue a career in the legal profession. Unfortunately, he also manages to introduce Emmett to a young Edna Strickland, in the middle of her campaign to rid the town of alcohol -- and the two of them immediately hit it off. The young Edna Strickland ends up turning Emmett onto the ideas surrounding her notion of a perfect society, which -- combined with the scientist's genius -- ends up having disastrous consequences. And naturally, the life of an indigenous McFly hangs in the balance.
Along the way, of course, there are some twists and turns, but I don't want to re-tell the entire story here.
MARTY: Holy cow, Doc, you have perfect timing!
DOC: Well, I have a time machine, Marty. I can cheat.
It was kind of fun to learn that Doc's interest in science took off when he saw Frankenstein as a young man. We also get to see what happens when history is altered to the point that the friendship between Marty and Doc Brown never forms, and any "reunion" is threatened by one of them changing to the point that even their ideas of what is good become very, very different. And George (Marty's dad) becomes the tool of an oppressive government. (With George's interest in science fiction, you might expect that he'd have seen it coming. Ah, well.) And Marty having to teach Doc some of the rules of time travel, and Doc not wanting to play along, made for some fun tension.
Even if it's kind of a one-off, and not really tied into the main storyline, it's very entertaining. And since I'd argue that the story works in the first place partly because we get to see the characters in all kinds of settings, this gives us another chance to see that, and there's enough of a plot here for two movies. If time travel stories are your idea of relaxing fun, I'd certainly give it a try.
---
(*) For example, there was a point where the player had to try to find some things out about the voyage Edna Strickland had taken, even though her trip through time had clearly caused her to lose her already-tenuous grip on reality. This meant trying to convince her that she was back in the DeLorean she had stolen, and listening to her ramble as she relived the memory. Convincing her involved dangling shiny things in front of her to cause her to think she was jumping through time. A puzzle that absurd broke my mimesis completely. Thankfully, that scene isn't in Citizen Brown at all.
---
(**) It should be noted that the events in this 1986 will contradict events that happen in 1986 in the proper storyline of the main comic volumes. Conveniently, just about anything can be canon in a time travel saga where history is malleable.
Comments
Post a Comment