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12 Years Ago, This Incredibly Weird Sci-Fi Series Became An Instant Comic Masterpiece
Image Comics has created some of the best comics of the last thirty-three years by trusting creators. This has paid off well for the publisher, especially in recent years, when an entirely new generation of creators decided that they wanted the freedom to do whatever kind of stories they wanted. Nearly every big comic writer of the ’10s was also working on creator-owned work at Image back then, including Rick Remender. Remender’s work at Image Comics is some of the best of the 21st century, and it includes a series that has become a masterpiece for its audience — Black Science, with artist Matteo Scalera.
Black Science is a cool idea for a sci-fi series. It followed scientist Grant McKay on a trip across the multiverse, as he had to deal with everything that traveling across the multiverse entails, as well as his own issues with life and family. The book grounds its often wild storytelling with the kind of emotionally resonant character work that hooked readers to Image again in the early ’10s. Black Science doesn’t have the name recognition of the most well-known Image Comics of all time, but it’s one of the best multiverse stories that ever graced the stands.
Black Science Is the Most Unique Multiverse Story of the 21st Century
Black Science is a multiverse story that uses the concept to its greatest extent. Grant McKay, formerly of the Anarchist Order of Scientists, ends up creating “the Pillar” for wealthy benefactor Kadir, a machine that would allow them to travel through the multiverse. McKay’s personal life is in shambles; he has a wife and kids, and is cheating with a member of his team and Kadir hates him. The Pillar’s first mission is sabotaged, and the group is trapped in another universe, caught in the middle of a war they don’t understand, joined by a Native American Shaman as they try to fix the Pillar and survive. This is only the beginning of the wild universes that readers will discover in the book.
Marvel has made the word “multiverse” a dirty word, with the MCU using the concept in the simplest way. Black Science went in entirely different directions. Some universes are completely different because of changes in history; in other universes where magic is real, some of them have technology at a higher level; and there’s a superhero universe. Readers meet different versions of each character, but it never actually feels like they’re the same character in anything but name. It gave the book a feel you don’t often get from mainstream multiverse comics.
Black Science Is an Enthralling Trip Across Reality
On top of all that, Black Science has the kind of art that grabs your imagination and never lets go. Matteo Scalera’s unique art style fits the worlds of Black Science like a glove, giving readers the kind of dynamic, powerful visuals that a story like this demands. There are some brilliant set pieces throughout this 43-issue series, with the art also bringing the book’s emotional storytelling to life.
Black Science was a hard book to read monthly — only a few issues a year came out towards the end, and you were honestly better off trade-waiting — but it is perfect to read now that the book is over. The first story arc pulls you in, and then the book never lets go until the end. Black Science #43 is one of the single best comics I’ve ever read in my life, a perfect ending to a sci-fi epic of a different kind. Give Black Science a chance, and you will go on a journey through reality unlike any you’ve ever been on.
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