The famous Rolling Stones lyric declares that “time is on my side”. For some students at the Strange Academy a lesson in the mastery of temporal displacement leads to unsettling revelations. Issue # 14 of Strange Academy sets the stage for the next arc and next villain. One who knows the most certain way to control the future is through tomorrow’s hope. The children.
Strange Academy # 14
Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Color Artist: Edgar Delgado
Letter: VC’s Clayton Cowles
The issue begins with Doctor Voodoo providing the student body with a lesson on the nature, necessity and nuances of time travel. Most important the lesson is meant to emphasize the fact of how to ethically utilize this ability. As a point of reference writer Skottie Young wisely uses one of the most famous alternate realities.
Hard to believe that it’s been around two decades since Legion took that fateful trip. In viewing the Age of Apocalypse the students get a chance to see how a change in the past doesn’t necessarily make for a better today or tomorrow. Actually it proves the adage that the more things change, etc. Pointing out the obvious, it is Emily who notes how time travel seems to only be considered bad if the heroes don’t get their way. A bit of foreshadowing given the fact that bad decisions seem to be the focus of the rest of the issue.
In the Age of Apocalypse the students get a chance to see how a change in the past doesn’t necessarily make for a better today or tomorrow.
Humberto Ramos gets the opportunity to present the grown up student body to the audience. It was a great addition to the book to see future interpretations of the children. Amazingly Ramos and colorist Edgard Delgado managed to age the students and still maintain their recognizable traits and features. Given how many times in the Marvel U that kids don’t make it to graduation this may be our only view of them as adults.
This issue does a great job of presenting a new conflict for two of the students. Unfortunately with both Calvin and Doyle we witness their inability to grasp the lesson is less about the past or future. For these two it is about making good choices in the here and now. Both of these characters are faced with choices that essentially could seal their fates.
I enjoyed reading this issue for so many reasons. It’s always great to see the AoA again. Worth noting is how it is Sabertooth who got the focus on how dramatically different that reality was since Exodus would have been an option as well. This Creed fan hopes this is more than a convenient example. Gaslamp and his talents make him an interesting villain. I am looking forward to seeing his plan set into motion. Having one student already in his debt, it appears he is now working to gather more. Is it inevitable?
Strange Academy #14 sets the stage for the next generation of magick users in the Marvel Universe to learn how difficult it is to master time. Especially since she is such a cruel mistress.
Score: 9.0