by Mike Favila, Senior Editor

Official Synopsis:
Nadia and Kevin race against time to save Arcola from destruction in the explosive conclusion to Time Before Time‘s latest arc.

Previously on Time Before Time:
Billions of years in the past, Nadia Wells has been imprisoned by the technophobic society of Arcola after they discovered she had smuggled her robot companion, Kevin, into the city. In Arcola, robots are public enemy number one and when Nadia refuses to betray Kevin, Nadia’s other–Arcola’s mayor–is forced to turn her over to an interrogator to get the answers the city needs. Meanwhile, in the wilderness outside the city, Stan has absorbed Kevin into his cyborg body and now prepares to unleash his plan to destroy Arcola once and for all, and save the future…

Elsewhere, after a daring escape in 2843, Tatsuo was recaptured by Sebastian, the dangerous bounty hunter hired by Tatsuo’s former employer, The Syndicate.

Creative Team:
Writer: Rory Mcconville / Declan Shalvey
Artist: Jorge Coelho
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Lettering: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

I’d been meaning to check out Time Before Time for a while now, so its a joy to finally catch up.  That being said, I find it super helpful that the date is laid out on the first panel of each section to kind of ground you between all the time jumping. Jorge Coelho’s art here is crisp and and filled with concise line work that recall Walter Simonson’s best work. The world of past/future world of Arcola is beautiful and packed with corners filled with detail.

There’s a few threads to wrap up in this arc, so you really have to pay attention and not race through the book.  With all the action going on between the robot, Stan, and the humans attempt to stop him, Declan Shalvey and cowriter Rory Mcconville still manage to take quiet moments and develop the relationship with Nadia and her mom. As the issue closes, all our heroes are in a terrible place, physically and emotionally. This issue is a great way to close out story arc and just gets you begging for more on the next run.

Overall:
Even with time travel and sentient robots, Shalvey’s noir sensibilities cannot be suppressed. If you’re a fan of his work with Warren Ellis on Moon Knight or Injection, pick this book up. Time Before Time #23 is a satisfying wrap to this chapter of the story.

Rating: Rating:

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