There’s No Time Like the Present

Rainey follows Why Don’t You Love Me? with another mordantly funny, reality-bending graphic novel featuring malcontents obsessing over the minor frustrations of their humdrum lives. Mousy adult fanboy Cliff (handmade Dalek replica and all) longs for the affections of his roommate Kelly, an anxiety-rattled office drone who self-medicates by binging on yogurt. Rounding out the core cast is Cliff’s friend Barry, a noxious 30-something pop culture collector and porn addict. Rainey plays out their otherwise lowkey interpersonal dramas through an extraordinary development: not only does time travel exist in this world, but visitors and updates regularly beam in from the future. This creates challenges and opportunities ranging from discovering the date and manner of one’s death to opening up new avenues of media consumption (hooking up to “the ultranet” allows advance viewing of Dr. Who; “It’s only from next week so, legally, it’s already been made,” Barry reassures Cliff). Flash-forwards depict the characters in various time continuums, from Barry’s late-in-life regrets in a rest home to Kelly’s adventures, in which people “coast” across time and planets like present-day backpackers. Rainey’s blocky drawing style is simple but admirably attuned to complex concerns about aging, ethics, and such paradoxes as a relationship ending after a lover “started seeing a younger version of his ex-wife.” Fans of existential science fiction should dive in. Agent: Timothy Travaglini, Transatlantic Agency. (Mar.)