Initially, I was a little concerned that I might find Days Missing a little too far fetched. The story concerns an eternal being who possesses the ability to edit the time stream. He can remove days.
As Warren Ellis suggests in the forward, a handful of people protested the theft of their days when the British moved from the Julian calendar in 1582 in favor of the Gregorian model. Actually, only the numbering had changed the perception of time. The days lumbered on as if nothing had happened.
Being a Doctor Who fan, I've always been extra sensitive to time travel twaddle. After all, Doctor Who does it so much better than anything else, and most of what the series proposed and proposes appears later in modern time travel speculation by physicists. In 1996, the Doctor appeared to break the rules by changing time so that the Earth might live again.
Now, I'm proud to say I came up with a perfectly good solution to explain how the Doctor saves the earth after it appears to have been sucked into the Eye of Harmony, a black hole that powers the Doctor's planet Gallifrey. However, the explanation that the talent behind Days Missing came up with, perhaps unwittingly, is even better. Its elegance depends on Einstein.
Einstein described gravity as a distortion in the space-time continuum caused by the mass of celestial objects. When the Steward, the hero of Days Missing, "removes" days, he actually folds space-time in on itself. He alters the substance of the universe, not just the perception of time, or of time separate from space.
I now see that action is exactly what the Doctor did in the 1996 episode. Using the TARDIS, he bent the minutes in which the Earth existed around the moment it was threatened and folded it into the future, which existed because the Doctor's plan worked. If a book makes me abandon my own hypothesis--about a Doctor Who episode, no less--while still relating interesting stories featuring a richly characterized cast, then you know it must be good.
Although the writers may have been partially moved by Doctor Who, Days Missing, created by Trevor Roth, gets its theme from the work of Gene Roddenberry. The Steward, for example, bears the echoes of the peace-loving Organians from Star Trek and the cool-preventer-of-historical-paradox Mr. Seven from "Assignment Earth."
Additionally, the Telesonarium, a time viewer, could be a reflection of The Guardian of Forever, created by Harlan Ellison for Star Trek, and the Steward's want for companionship is a mirror to that of the Companion in "Metamorphosis" the Star Trek episode introducing Zefram Cochrane the father of warp drive.
While the stories in this collection vary, they all function through Roddenberry's favorite themes. The human race is in its infancy and deserves to grow up. Sometimes it needs help from infinitely more advanced or more celestial beings. Often, humanity needs to be saved from itself. Independent of Roddenberry, each of the volume's writers entertain through imaginative and extremely well-researched doomsday scenarios throughout history that require the days to be kneaded out of existence.
In the first story, written by Phil Hester, a powerful virus wipes out Swaziland and threatens the entire planet. It's up to the Steward to find the means to defeat an unthinking naturally selective enemy. This story is illustrated by Klarion the Witch Boy's Frazer Irving, and it introduces the Steward's method of combat. He cannot simply patch a hole with a bad cosmic sewing job. He must deduce a means to stop the menace and imbue the solution to ordinary people in his encounters. Otherwise, the events will repeat even after space-time hiccups. When the day starts anew, the echo of the day that has been removed haunts the cast (as does the imagery), but not the recollection of the Steward.
In the second tale, writer David Hine and artist Chris Burnham find an unusual doom in a familiar face. This tale takes place in the 1800s and, in a way, it serves as the evolutionary promise of a classic work of science fiction. The cast in this story consist of real figures. The dialogue and their actions ring true. Within this chapter, the Steward proves that he is neither infallible nor omniscient--aspects I feared would be part of the Steward's characterization. After all, this being can fold space-time; that's a god-like ability. However, the writers instill limitations that generate thrills and suspense.
The third story by Ian Edginton and Painkiller Jane's Lee Moder intriguingly suggests that doom can be philosophical in origin as well as physical. The Steward must convince a brilliant female scientist working on the CERN Large Hadon Collider to forget her research because humankind isn't ready for it.
A more personal drama cleverly erupts in a believable coincidence, and the Steward's appearance to prevent one catastrophe is actually fortuitous in more ways than one. While reading the story, I kept smiling at the similarities between Dr. Kate Prosper and Dr. Grace Holloway from Doctor Who 1996. It's absolutely wonderful to see women presented as smart and gutsy--as much as it is to see men treat them as equals. The Big Two writers could learn a lot from Days Missing.
The fourth story by Matz and Hugo Petrus examines how heroes and villains are made in history. It's even more of a stunner when you see how the story was handled by the less-than-English-savvy creators in the special features. The Steward meets Cortez, and he relates what he hopes to be an object lesson to the great explorer. Instead, he must use his power and then hope for the best. History plays out, and the reader is left to decide whether the Steward's interference was necessary. In my opinion, it was vital.
The fifth and final chapter in the first volume of Days Missing is by Hester and Irving, and it reveals the Steward's mortality. Although he does not age, the Steward can become fatigued--and even killed--albeit after being exposed to massive amounts of stress. This story posits a science fiction nightmare that may indeed be coming to a reality near you.
The fascinating speculative horror tale ends with the Steward's humane realization leading to an uplifting note. However, and this was an especially engaging twist, the first volume of Days Missing finishes on a cliffhanger that introduces an enemy that just may be as powerful as the Steward. You're also left wondering how the Steward will defeat this creature.
Archaia has done a spectacular job in putting this book together. The interior dust jacket is designed to reflect Frazer Irving's images of the Steward, with each one representing the stories within. The outside is just as striking and imprinted on the hard cover. The book has been sewn together, and its spine appears to be quite sturdy. The asking price of twenty dollars is more than fair for the quality of construction as well as the quality of the stories and the art inside. In addition, sketches, interviews, and a cover gallery complete the package. Days Missing earns my highest recommendation.
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