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Parents' Guide to

Time Jumper

By Will Wade, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

College kid jumps through time in fun comic/Web combo.

TV Online Science Fiction 2009
Time Jumper Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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What's the Story?

Sam Dixon has a great job, jumping back into the past to help scholars fill in the blanks in their understanding of history. But when Sam disappears on a mission to the Ming Dynasty, his younger brother, Terry, is recruited to track him down. The novice time jumper soon realizes that he's not the only person exploring the time continuum -- and mysterious Charity Vyle (voiced by Natasha Henstridge) seems to be involved in more than just research. As Terry tries to track down his missing sibling, he discovers that Vyle and her evil organization, CULT, are at the center of a plot to change history.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

TIME JUMPER is an interesting experiment. Created by comic-book legend Stan Lee (who also lends his voice to Lee Excelsior, the Dixons' boss), the online adventure blends elements of graphic novels and animation, with a dash of cliffhanger serials. The episodes are presented mainly as static images, much like the panels of a comic book. Actors read the dialog (no, there aren't any speech bubbles), and there's some limited motion as the perspective zooms in to focus on a specific element or pans back to show the larger scene. Some sequences feature basic animation, showing key items moving across the frame. The overall effect is like a crude stop-motion film, created by kids --- but it's cool.

Each episode is short, just 5-10 minutes, but they all manage to pack in plenty of story. In fact, the plot-driven adventure is more than enough reason to tune in. Will Sam find his brother? Will he find a way to defeat CULT? It only takes a few episodes to get hooked. It's not totally clear that this format is the perfect blend of the Internet and the page -- online stories are still evolving, after all -- but it's a worthy effort.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about new forms of entertainment. What do you think about the way Time Jumper is presented? Is it a cartoon? A comic book? Something altogether new? Do you think the format is fun and entertaining, or does it seem like a strange hybrid?

  • Do you think comic books and graphic novels are an art form? Should some of them be classified as quality literature? Why has this creative genre been perceived for so long as just cheap, simple entertainment for kids?

TV Details

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