Before I get started with this post, let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room. The author of this 2-issue comic series published back in 1988 got into trouble in 2016 and ended up being sentenced to six years in prison for a horrible crime. This post is not about the author, and it's not about my thoughts of the crime he committed. This post is about the two-book comic series that was published by Eternity Comics (a division of Malibu Comics) back in 1988, and how much I enjoyed the story. I'm not looking to discuss the writer; rather, I'm looking at discussing the work itself, and quite frankly, it was worth the read.
The Big Prize (The Timedrifter's Odyssey) was intended to be a six-issue mini-series, the first of several mini-series that would tie together to tell the story of Willis Austerlitz. Unfortunately, "best laid plans" and all that ... Eternity, for whatever reasons, decided to not move forward with the planned series, and the comic ended after its second issue. Which is a shame, as the premise was fun, and the set-up in these first two issues definitely provided some wonderful fodder for future stories to come. It is kind of a mix between Quantum Leap and Back to the Future, and it features some fun characters. Although the author indicates in that second issue his hope to find a way to bring the series back under another title or a different publisher, sadly, that never happened. Thus, we are left with only these two issues to tease us with the time-traveling odyssey of Willis Austerlitz.
The first issue introduces readers to our main character, a data entry clerk who daydreams about his favorite era - the 1930s. Unfortunately, that daydreaming causes problems at his job. He is an insecure, glasses-wearing nerd who has trouble with girls. Walking home from work one day, his destiny literally falls right on top of him in the form of a plastic credit card with a full color hologram of a grinning man. Approached by a man desperate for change, Willis stuffs the card in his pocket and rushes home. He sits down to watch an old film, but falls asleep. He awakes to discover he missed recording a show, and to make matters worse, he finds that card in his pocket. And that is where things start getting weird. While talking to his mother on the phone, the man whose face is on the card suddenly materializes right before his eyes, congratulating him as the "lucky winner!" Willis learns this is his chance of a lifetime, as this three-dimensional hologram says his "Big Prize" is one 24-hour journey to any point in space and time. He could actually go back in time to the 1930s and experience his favorite era live and in person! Only, the trip back is not what he expects. As soon as he and Glint Sparkle (roving emcee for The Planetary Lottery) reappear in his apartment, albeit in 1934, things go from bad to worse. A woman is being threatened in the next room, but when Willis goes to her aid, he finds himself at the mercy of men with guns! Glint disappears, Willis takes off running, and the adventure in time begins! Matters become even more complicated when, on the last page of this issue, Willis finds out Glint has been killed - and he is now stuck in the past with no way home!
The excitement does not let up with the second issue. Willis is driven by these fanatics up to where the Hollywoodland sign looks down on Los Angeles, where they are preparing to dump Glint's body and silence Willis permanently. Willis manages to come to his senses and convince the men he is from the FBI, and that he is looking for bigger fish then them. Once they take off, Willis ponders his predicament - only to have Glint come back to life (after all, he is only a hologram, and as such, he cannot really die). Willis convinces his benefactor to allow him to stay in 1934 for the full 24 hours before returning to his own time, so he can experience more of life in the '30s. He hopes to aid a certain damsel in distress, meet an actress who was involved in a huge scandal back then, and unintentionally gets involved with some very mob-like men who have plans for him. Willis gets more than the experience he was hoping for, and once he has had enough, he heads for the place Glint told him holds the jump point for them to return home - Union Station. There's only one problem - in 1934, Union Station is still under construction and will not be completed until the next year! And Glint Sparkle is nowhere to be seen! "It finally begins to sink in," Willis thinks, "I was going to be here for a long time..."
The art for the two issues is provided by Bryon Carson and Mike Roberts, who do a great job of creating a sense of that 1930s film style for the book. The black and white pages, the shading, the action sequences, the looks of the various characters. I think I actually prefer the interior art to the full-color covers by Tim Hamilton and Scott Bieser (issue 1 colors) / Brooks Hagan (issue 2 colors).
This comic turned about to be a surprising little gem, as I had never heard of it prior to stumbling across both issues at a local toy store that had a few boxes of comics in the back. It is a shame the story was never allowed to continue, even with another publisher. I, for one, would like to have seen where Willis Austerlitz would have gone from here. (Plus, loved his excitement at being able to pick up first printings of some now-valuable pulps and magazines when they were first hot-off the presses!) But, I suppose like Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap, he will be forever left without an ending.
RATING: 9 time-drifting, 1930s-loving nerds out of 10 for a different kind of time-travel tale with some great art and fun geek-loving antics!
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