Bingo Square: Five Short Stories (HM)
Another one from u/beary_neutral’s 25 Comic Recommendations for 2026 Bingo. This trade collects issues 1-5 and there are two stand outs “Crisis on Hearth 2” and “Strange Loop” with “Time Flies” coming in right behind.
The premise is that time is breaking down and it’s the end of the world! Only, life goes on. People go to work, fall in love, are born, die, etc. Outside the time crisis, there is one other unifying element - a hobo in a jetpack.
The first story is “Assorted Crisis Events” where Ashley is trying to keep it together as the world ends, and the clock that’s a last touchstone to her parents is broken. She also has to deal with movies being made outside her apartment taking advantage of the cheap effects. Then she has to audition to the clock repair people to get her clock repaired… Funny, amusing, about like an episode of the Twilight Zone.
“Slaughterhouse” is a time looped tragedy. Jesus is simultaneously five years old crossing the Rio Grande, at his father’s funeral, looking for work, working at a slaughterhouse and dealing with the time crisis. This one spares no punches - the slaughter house scenes remind me of when I had to go to the floor of a chicken processing plant. Which is probably why I didn’t like it as much. Still, it is a well done story.
Then there’s “Crisis on Hearth 2.” Where the surviving residents of Hearth migrate to Hearth in a parallel dimension. This one is very much a story about us and like “Slaughterhouse” it pulls no punches. We get to look at ourselves and the mirror is not flattering. But, there is hope, hope in the form of the children.
“Time Flies” can be summed up as the old saw inside every 50 year old there’s a 10 year old going, “what the hell happened?” Here Mike is dealing with 60 years passing in days and the life that’s all around him and his lack of control. As a 50+ I identify and hope I’m at least trying more than Mike does.
“Strange Loops” is another time loop story where a young girl gets stuck in a sixty second time loop for millions of iterations. And it’s pretty traumatic - her folks are arguing and there’s violence. Everything spirals out from there - therapy, medications, drugs, attempts to run away - but it all comes back to that time loop. Eventually, she takes control of her own life, 60 seconds at a time, and does something and even does something kind. I hope we can all be like that at some point.
Overall, well worth the time and recommended. 8 stars. ★★★★★★★★