In The Local Pocket #7 - 5 Seconds

5 Seconds


5 Seconds is written by Sydney local Stephen Kok, illustrated by P.R. Dedelis, colours by Peyton Freeman and self published through Kickstarter. As a child I always wanted time travel powers, more than any other super power, but I wasn't greedy about it. I only wanted to be able to rewind or see into the future by about 10 seconds so I could change my answer to a question or change the outcome of an awkward situations. So when I read the concept for 5 seconds I was pretty interested, being able to see five seconds into the future could be an incredibly useful super power.

5 Seconds begins with our two main characters, Ellie and Jake, on the phone as Jake reveals his newly discovered talent, he can see five seconds into the future. Jake, rather adorkably, asks Ellie on a date so he can demonstrate his new found powers to her. During their coffee date Ellie tests Jake's new talent with a deck of cards discovering that he can see exactly five seconds into the future. Jake decides that the local casino may be the perfect place to test exactly how well his powers work despite Ellie's concerns of running into a "Joe Pesci" type character and possible repercussions from the casino. Unfortunately for Ellie and Jake they should have been more concerned about the criminal in a tough spot who overheard their conversation and thinks that perhaps he may also be able to cash in on Jake's new ability and follows them to the casino to see the proof for himself.

The three main characters are Ellie, Jake and Lucas the criminal. Ellie and Jake interact really well together as they explore Jake's newly discovered precognitive powers. Often character's in comics (and most stories in general) immediately accept unbelievable claims that are placed before them and its refreshing to see a character actually test their friend's power as Ellie does in 5 Seconds. After Jake proves his power Ellie plays the part of a great supportive friend. Lucas is in no way a good guy but he does actually have some motivation as to why he decides to go after Ellie and Jake as he is in a desperate situation and in trouble with even worse people. It's refreshing to see a bad guy written with more motivation than "is a bad guy" and makes the reader feel at least a little sorry for them or gives some explanation as to why they are doing the things they do.

5 Seconds incorporates a very interesting art style to show past, present and future explained in a foreword by Ellie and Jake. Sepia is used for past, regular colours for present and a whitewash kind of style for the future, this is a creative and practical way to easily tell the time periods apart including clearly showing a vision of the future that happens in the past that sounds like it would be complicated but with this system is easily understandable. The art of 5 Seconds is bright, colourful and seems to have a bit of an anime influence with clear facial expressions that are emotive and easy to read.

A lot of comics waste time with an origin story of the protagonist's powers but 5 Seconds has none of that and decides to just skip any reason for the powers and just cut straight to the story. Skipping a power origin actually works in this case but 5 Seconds is still an origin story as Jake learns to control and use his powers and I'm already excited for the sequel that has been confirmed and you can keep track of here.

I give 5 Seconds 3.5 Decks of cards

Find out more about 5 Seconds here.