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I put Time Before Time aside for a while as I got a bit busy and engaged with other comics. But this has been a comic book that I haven't forgotten about. Mostly reading it online throughout the recent months, though I did manage to find a physical copy of a volume I haven't quite caught up to yet. I purchased it out of interest, knowing that it would be a fun thing to own and read once I got to that point. But yeah, I can't deny the consumerist mentality that appeared that led to that purchase, where in Georgia it's next to impossible to find comics of any sort. I was excited, and still happen to be, to read that volume at some point, but that would require jumping back into the comic. I figured, since I didn't do it before, it would be good to create that same review structure I do with other comics to keep track of the reading. I'll know which volume I'm at, but also summarise my thoughts on the story as I read each volume. It really helps to stay immersed through this, and a big reason as to why I review comics one volume at a time. And that's highly important for a comic like Time Before Time where its story is so rich, and the number of volumes is incredibly high. This is a comic book that will take a lot of time to get through, and you will want to read other things between volumes as to avoid burning out with it. And that's what I have ultimately chosen to do.

Time Before Time's volumes aren't really that long, but they are quite extensive in dialogue with a large variety of characters and different aspects of world building. As is expected with a story that surrounds itself with the concept of time travel! Over the span of the last few volumes the story took us through a universe in which time travel is a shady business operated by elites that take advantage of the desperate. People escaping the poor times of the present and going into the past where things are better, where nostalgia and simpler times offer more opportunity. Though this isn't necessarily true and many witness that each time has its own problems, albeit the reality of how each generation does in fact worsen. The future being a hellish environment nobody enjoys at all. The corporation responsible is hunting down a worker that was pulled through time and had the intentions of escaping into the past himself, freeing himself from the poor quality lifestyle he had, this led to a series of new developments regarding himself, the reality of time, and the realisation of things that are more important to him. It's an emotional comic that shows how important things like family are, and how distracted we become when our lives prioritise things like money and allow nostalgia to take control.

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One of the strengths of this comic is certainly the various stories taking place throughout different time periods for a wide range of characters, and this volume continues that by giving very little attention actually to the main characters. We've seen the stories of distant relatives in time returning, the search for family in other time periods as the main characters attempt to find a hiding place. There was more of a focus on the actions of the syndicate in this volume, which is the mega corporation responsible for taking people through time and running a mafia environment in which those who are sent back in time are continuously charged for various services. I really liked the style of the syndicate 'villains' so to speak, with a mixture of heavy 80s, 90s and cyberpunk styled fashion. It really reminded me of that era of 90s cyberpunk where the 'punk' aspect was very much evident. And it does make these characters stand out a bit more compared to the rest which won't have such an exaggerated appearance. It even holds some aspect of a western influence, a whole lot of fun in terms of the designs!

I enjoyed the sudden elements of humour that arrived with a robot that had been placed into another generation. In previous volumes it had little appearance, but in this one it's like his general demeanor has completely shifted with more exposure to the time and people, now walking around in a tracksuit and being cocky. Saying how sick of the era he is and how he was hoping he'd have a way out by now. But it was with this robot that the story took a deeper turn as our protagonist sits around coughing up after their time machine is stolen, the robot scanning him over only to reveal that things aren't good: our protagonist is dying. This was an unexpected turnout, I really didn't think the story would take such a turn, and especially at this point. It really came out of nowhere and gave the volume some closure, though it definitely pulled me back into the story and ready to read on. It felt like a volume where the tensions weren't just raised a little, but that the story suddenly had a direction appear, that things were tightening up and getting a bit more serious again after a few volumes of character development and world building. I enjoyed both sides of this though, it's a great world to see more of, and even the perspective of the syndicate still feels fresh.

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I had forgotten how good this comic actually is. I'm also glad I did take a bit of a break from it to think more of the story and characters, also letting it remain a mystery over the release of newer volumes. This one was just as strong as the previous ones, and it's definitely a gem in the world of modern indie comics.