Matt Kindt throws a curve ball in the final issue of Past Aways, and, instead of focusing the brunt force of the story behind the action and characters, he wriggles free of what we expect as a reader and makes the comic about an idea. In the end, this reads as the kind of story that was far more personal than originally anticipated.

A group of science-minded types leap back in time, and we eventually find out that the machine wasn’t quite ready. Stuck there, the psychology of the characters is put to the test. As they deal with time travel sorts of things, relationships untether in a way that only Philip K. Dick would be proud of.

Phil, a robot and one of the crew, plays a revenge-motivated chess game with malevolent ends in mind. Characters die, and with this final issue we are left with what I thought would be an underwhelming finale focused on characters that we knew less about. But, as the dynamic shifts to the ideas behind the story as a whole, all of the events sink in, and I was left with an emotional punch to the stomach in the same way Seven Samurai might have done. I draw that parallel for a specific reason which I won’t reveal here, because it would give it all away.

Scott Kolins’ art is exceptional. Everything about this book is top notch, and I consider it one that, if you haven’t read, you should keep your eye out for the issues or the inevitable trade paperback and give it a whirl. Sci-fi has never been better.