There’s No Time Like The Present by Paul B. Rainey. Drawn & Quarterly, 2025. 336pp.
Rainey’s follow-up to one of my favorite graphic novels of 2023, Why Don’t You Love Me?, also features screwed-up characters, alternate realities, and a lot of deadpan humor. Plus science fiction fandom and its endless collectibles are at the heart of this story. I feel like this book was written for me.
The opening scene takes place on a bus and includes an issue of Previews magazine, references to the A-team and Dr. Who, and a dude with a horn in the middle of his head (he’s from the future and maybe an alternate reality). Cliff is taking the bus to meet his friend Barry, who still lives with his parents, and is waiting for a Star Wars DVD from the future, which he ordered via the Ultranet. Cliff disapproves of stuff from the future, but Barry is totally into it, including future porn. Wilbur, the owner of the local sci-fi shop who we meet a bit later, is distressed because he knows, via the Ultranet, that a chain sci-fi megastore will soon be opening in the local mall; this will be the end of Barry’s business. Kelly, Cliff’s housemate and possible love interest, misinterprets a gift Cliff buys her and then gets a terrible performance review at work that she didn’t deserve.
All of the above has implications for the sad lives of these characters in the future. The whole narrative reminded me a bit of a Philip K. Dick novel — there’s this amazing Ultranet technology, and the present has a clear relationship with the future but nothing great is coming of it at all.
Rainey had me laughing out loud as the story progressed in ways I could not predict. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but do not flip ahead in the book, you should arrive at the end of the book naturally. (This doesn’t mean I’d be against the Ultranet — I’d totally use it to watch future Star Trek episodes.)
