The Man Who Effed Up Time #3 Review

by Nick Devonald on June 17, 2020

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Karl Mostert
Colours: Dee Cuniffe
Letters: John Layman

So far, The Man Who Effed Up Time has been a pretty bonkers, fun story. It hasn’t made a lot of sense. Why would travelling back in time a week and make a few minor changes mess up the timeline like it has? But this issue starts providing some explanations to what is going on. Yes it’s still a pretty absurd story but there is at least some logic behind what’s going on now. The last issue left the reader with a massive cliffhanger, with Sean about to get his head chopped off. However readers expect this to turn out John Layman takes great lengths to ensure the resolution will take readers by surprise.

That’s been one of the strengths of this series as well, each time that things appear to be making sense something completely new and unexpected appears to make the story even crazier. It makes for a great read and lots of fun. This issue also introduces us to the villain of the piece, and again it’ll take the reader by surprise and rather than answering any questions instead it raises a dozen more. But that’s kind of the point and half the fun of the series. And the series is fun. There are plenty of moments which are sure to put a smile on the readers face.

John Layman does a great job of making an insane story also follow a strange kind of logic which makes it strangely compelling. We care for Sean Bennett, who despite his best efforts keeps making the timelines even worse. Some of the mysteries which have only been implied in previous issues come to the fore and get explained.

Karl Mostert appears to be having a whale of a time, how often in a comic book artists career do they get to draw Neanderthals on Mastodons, robotic future police, cowboys riding dodo’s? It’s such a brilliant mashup of different times and constantly good fun. It must also be quite a challenging job, pulling all these different timelines together and creating the craziest images, yet also making it follow a certain kind of logic and making it as believable as possible, yet Mostert does a great job with it.

And where would an artist be without a colourist? Dee Cuniffe’s colours do a great job with all the madness he’s presented with.

Carrying on the high standards the first two issues set this third issue continues to surprise readers with numerous twist in an insane time-travelling storyline. It carries on being a fun read and is sure to appeal to readers who love bonkers stories with different timelines being intertwined.

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside