HUCK 'N' HAIRBALL AND THE LITTERBOX TIME MACHINE

An orange cat and his best friend, the purple hairball he coughed up, save the universe.

The universe is broken, and it’s all the fault of chaotic feline Huck and scientific genius Hairball. After all, it was Huck’s irresponsible use of Hairball’s invention, the titular litterbox time machine, which created an alternate present in which neither of them should exist. The friends—or, as logical and emotionless Hairball calls them, co-workers—must effect a seemingly insignificant positive change in the past to benefit the present and undo the paradox that threatens to end the world. Our heroes, with the random addition of a Black-presenting Timber-Scout named Azrael, who meets them while selling cookies door to door, are pursued through the past and present by elderly, brown-skinned Father Time and blond, blue-eyed Baby New Year, celestial beings tasked with eliminating the time anomaly. Fans of Moyer’s Ham Helsing series will enjoy the book’s irreverent humor, though many of the references feel targeted towards older audiences; it’s unclear whether young readers will understand the ’80s slang and jokes, for example. The humor is also the book’s main focus, to the point that the time-travel ramifications don’t hold up to close scrutiny, making the worldbuilding feel like an afterthought. Still, with its humor and lively, cartoonish illustrations, this graphic novel will likely find its audience.

Absurdly funny.