Originally published April 15, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
Zeb Larson reviews Chrononauts #2…
Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly have become the world’s first time travelers—but not all goes according to plan when the two go rogue in their own era-hopping adventure! With the world watching, the buddies get mixed up in an eon’s worth of sticky situations while some of history’s scariest villains—and their bosses back in the present day—are determined to track them down!
In Mark Millar fashion, Chrononauts went overboard with its premise in glorious fashion. This will probably be the dividing point for readers of this series. For some, the logical inconsistencies in the story may overwhelm a reader’s faith in the narrative, but others will revel in how over-the-top the action is. I will be discussing spoilers ahead, so read on at your own discretion.
Danny is abruptly saved by the residents of Samarkand, who all appear to be equipped with twenty-first century equipment. They bring him to their new ruler, who (not surprisingly) is Corbin. His suit threw him back four years earlier, and in that time he used the battery in his suit to travel to numerous different time periods. He’s amassed wealth in dozens of different places (along with dozens of different girlfriends). Despite the U.S. government’s best attempts, Corbin convinces Danny to jump into the fun, and they begin carousing through human history. Yet they’ve just made enemies of their colleagues back in the present, who are now determined to find them.
Don’t try to pause and analyze the logic of the time-travel here, or you might end up causing a rift in the space-time continuum. How is it that the two can give William Wallace modern battle tanks and not completely destroy the present that they came from? It’s impossible, but this might be because Millar just doesn’t care. In some ways, it’s refreshing to read a story about time-travel where the author isn’t desperately trying to make it all make sense. At the end of the day, there will always be some kind of inconsistency, so you might as well just jump overboard and see how far you can go with it.
Overall, this makes for a fun read. Corbin and Danny come across as shallow jackasses who are willing to jeopardize history for the sake of a good time, but their descent into this selfish behavior also makes sense. Honestly, there are plenty of people who would engage in consequence-free fun (for them) if they could, damn the consequences. They come across as pretty unrepentantly sexist, but again, it fits their M.O. If you want to read this book, don’t try to analyze it too much and just have fun with it.
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=pnc360pUDRI&feature=player_embedded
