📖 Overview
Grant McKay's invention of the Pillar technology allows dimensional travel through the Eververse - an infinite network of alternate realities. When the device malfunctions during its first major test, McKay and his research team become stranded, jumping uncontrollably between worlds.
The group encounters versions of Earth warped by different choices and circumstances, from primordial landscapes to mechanized dystopias. McKay searches for a way home while protecting his children and colleagues from the dangers of each new reality, all while dealing with sabotage from within the team.
The series combines elements of hard science fiction with pulp adventure tropes, presenting both technological concepts and visceral action. The narrative explores the consequences of scientific ambition and the price of pursuing knowledge at any cost.
Questions of fate, free will, and personal responsibility run through the story as characters confront alternate versions of themselves and witness how different choices lead to radically different outcomes. The comic examines how people's decisions ripple outward to affect countless others across the multiverse.
👀 Reviews
Readers praise the surreal, psychedelic art style and creative sci-fi concepts. Many note that Matteo Scalera's distinct visuals match the chaotic multiverse-hopping narrative. Multiple reviews mention the strong emotional core beneath the complex plotting.
Common criticisms focus on the pacing and density of the story, with some readers finding it hard to follow the multiple timeline jumps. Several reviews note that the large cast of characters can become difficult to track.
"The art is phenomenal but I had to re-read sections multiple times to understand what was happening" - Goodreads reviewer
"Beautiful chaos that sometimes loses its way but always finds an emotional anchor" - Amazon review
Average Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.0/5 (12,000+ ratings)
Amazon: 4.4/5 (500+ ratings)
ComicBookRoundUp: 8.4/10 (critics)
Most critical reviews still acknowledge the ambitious scope and unique visual style, even when the storytelling doesn't connect.
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Fear Agent by Rick Remender A space western chronicles a Texas exterminator-turned-alien-hunter who travels through dimensions while confronting threats to humanity and his own past mistakes.
Low by Rick Remender In an underwater civilization forced beneath the surface by solar radiation, a family searches through space for a new habitable world while battling pirates and rival societies.
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan Four newspaper delivery girls become entangled in a war between time travelers, encountering future versions of themselves and uncovering reality-bending conspiracies.
Prophets by Brandon Graham A human supersoldier awakens in Earth's distant future and navigates a transformed galaxy filled with alien civilizations, clone armies, and bio-mechanical entities.
🤔 Interesting facts
🔬 "Black Science" was partly inspired by the 1960s sci-fi TV series "Lost in Space" and classic pulp adventure stories, but Remender wanted to create a darker, more mature version of dimension-hopping storytelling.
🎨 The series' distinctive art style by Matteo Scalera features a unique blend of psychedelic imagery and gritty sci-fi elements, with each alternate dimension having its own visual identity.
📖 Rick Remender wrote much of the series while dealing with personal loss and family issues, which influenced the story's themes of regret, redemption, and the cost of scientific ambition.
🌟 The comic series ran for 43 issues from 2013 to 2019, earning multiple nominations for the Eisner Awards, comic industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards.
🔮 The term "Black Science" refers to forbidden knowledge and dangerous scientific pursuits that cross ethical boundaries, a concept that dates back to medieval alchemy and occult practices.