Comic Book Review – Back to Back to the Future #2

Bob Gale and Melora Hardin have been sent back to 1984 – and on the set of Back to the Future! Now the pair must work out a way to keep Eric Stoltz in the movie, without causing a time paradox…

Back to Back to the Future #1 was a very well paced comic book with a simple flowing narrative, well-written dialogue and an intriguing premise. While the second issue does share a lot of the positives of its predecessor, it’s poor pacing really knocks it down in terms of quality story telling.

None of the panels are really given a chance to breathe and monumental scenes like the 2013 Bob and Melora meeting their younger selves just feel like insignificant foot notes. There is a massive amount of exposition crammed into a few speech bubbles, which can make it a bit of a slog to get through. It does feel as though Back to Back to the Future #2 should have been spread over two issues rather than crammed into one.

However, there is still a lot to like about the comic and Back to the Future fans will have a lot of laughs. There are a lot of subtle gags about the production, characters and lines of dialogue from the movie being used in real life that will easily raise a smile if nothing else. Having Bob Gale in the Doc Brown role with Melora as his Marty may seem simple, but it works so effectively due to the clever writing. Many of the jokes are dropped in for the sake of being dropped in, but they do get a few laughs.

Furthermore, David Day Levy and Jeffery Spokes have done a great job of capturing the actors in their 80s prime in terms of look and character. It’s really funny to see Thomas F Wilson off camera still acting like Biff. I would still question the characterisation of Melora who has gone from a woman who offers Bob Gale sex in the first issue to a sexual predator who sleeps with Eric Stoltz to get a good acting performance out of him. I’m not sure if Levy really has the right idea with her character or if he is just using her “womanly ways” because that’s the only way he knows how to write the gender.

But the fact remains that Back to Back to the Future #2 is around two issues worth of material squished into 20-odd pages. What could have been some of the most interesting aspects of the story has been pushed to the sidelines just to get Bob and Melora back to 2013. Even the science behind them getting back is rushed over. There is some good here, but with a little more time spent on pacing, it could have been brilliant.

Read the issue for free here.

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.