Writer: Zack Kaplan
Artist: Chris Shehan
Colorist: Francesco Segala
Letterer: Justin Birch
Designer: AndWorld Design
Thanks to Zack Kaplan and Mad Cave Studios for the review copy!
A new sci-fi cosmic horror story from the dynamite and creative minds of writer Zack Kaplan (Kill All Immortals, Beyond Real), Artist Chris Shehan (The Autumnal, House Of Slaughter), Colorist Francesco Segala (Nights, House Of Slaughter), and letterer Justin Birch (Road Of Bones, House Of Slaughter). When a bunch of scientists create a microscopic black hole in the lab of an underground compound they unleash an unfortunate set of events that could destroy mankind and the Earth.
“I’m still a burning flame” she says. So then, we must ask ourselves. Will we all become just another moth drawn to the flame? To answer that we’ll have to follow one of my favorite current writers, Zack Kaplan, into the darkness. What a great start! Zack always manages to find new ways to pull the reader into a larger than life but semi-personal event that makes you go “what if?” Then he pulls down the curtain revealing a nightmare of epic proportions. You can’t help but be hooked right from the beginning.
The issue opens as our scientists and one of our main character’s witness the black-hole they have created become unstable and threaten to explode. Meanwhile, in a psychology class, we hear another main character, a fellow wife and teacher, speak of mental health and how it fuels a person to sometimes unfortunate things using the analogy about oxygen and its effect on an open flame. As these stories and some of their personal history quickly collide we are brought back to the current present where they must find a way to figure out what’s happening and stop it! It’s clear their personal lives and feelings will play a role as they deal with something else that has crossed into our time from the very center of the strengthening black hole. Then just as we’ve started to forget the lesson in the psychology class that seemed so important earlier in the issue, the analogy used in class comes roaring back like thunder! The final page brings us full circle leaving our jaws wide open thinking…Oh…Shit. I think we have an assortment of really big problems here…..
Everything about this book kicks ass. The art, colors, and lettering only add to the anxiety and chaos about to unfold. It’s detailed, colorful, and briskly paced but there is a lot to unpack here in a way only Zack Kaplan can masterfully pull off. I can’t wait for the next issue to be released. If you are into sci-fi horror in the vein of The Stranger or Event Horizon, I feel like this might be exactly what you are looking for!
My rating 9/10 Amazing!
Dark Empty Void #1 is now available.
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