67 Second

by James Robinson, Steve Yeowell (Illustrator)

War torn Europe. Reporters. Unrequited love. Action. 67 seconds.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

67 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

James Dale Robinson is a British writer of American comic books and screenplays.

Reviews

[eva! · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm not entirely sure how i feel about this, but i did enjoy it and wish there was more - a very confusing, but relatable relationship

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is in a world of the future where the geopolitical structure has shifted. Prussia has once again risen to be a powerful force in Eastern Europe and Asia and it is expanding eastward to Afghanistan. A Prussian Empire with an Emperor now extends from the French border across Asia to China. At the start of the timeline the armed forces of Prussia have carried the war into the heart of Afghanistan and a team of a female reporter and male photographer are in the heart of the action.
The male photographer (Brian Fellowes) was sick of covering war and about to retire from journalism when he encounters reporter Emily Bougue. He falls immediately and totally in love and the two of them travel the globe covering the shifting alliances as war moves from place to place around the world.
Intertwined with this story is the singular plot of Emily spotting a known war criminal teaching in an elementary school. The female teacher is informed that she has been recognized so she takes her class hostage and loads them onto a dirigible airship. Emily manages to get aboard the airship, offload the children and partially disable the engines. The count of 67 seconds is a timeline of Brian’s efforts to run across roofs in an attempt to grab one of the tether ropes of the airship before they are out of reach. As the count continues he slips, falls and fails in his attempts to grab the rope. The story ends when he makes one last and desperate effort to grab the rope.
The authors do an excellent job moving back and forth between the two separate but connected plots. There is no definitive ending, a story device that many enjoy and some detest, so the opinion of many will be based on that one characteristic. I personally enjoy ambiguous endings, so that was not an issue with me. The artwork captures the cold professionalism of Emily as well as the unstated devotion of Brian. It is a great short story of love, adventure, devotion and danger.

This review also appears on Amazon

[Nate Marcel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added this graphic novel to the Good Reads data base, thought it deserved a spot.