Comics
Review: ‘Black Science’ #5
Grant McKay returns to center stage this month as Remender peels back the layers of this complex and pious bastard. As always the root of this month’s issue rests with the characters behind the team. However, the cracks in the entire foundation start to reveal their complexities as Grant is forced to face himself. This is the most exciting and damning chapter of “Black Science” to date.
WRITTEN BY: Rick Remender
ART BY: Matteo Scalera
COLOR BY: Dean White
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: April 2, 2014
I can’t imagine being a dimension-hopping scientist. You’d have to be one brilliant man, and you’d have to a certain type of asshole, at least according to Remender. Luckily he does a fantastic job at communicating these traits in Grant Mckay. It’s never a dull moment as Kadir recounts how he first met the smug young man who turned out to be his own damnation.
In a roundabout way, even the moments with the masked stranger are all about Grant. This is his series after all, and Remender reminds us that he has done this all before, as he will do it again. Yet, his actions puncture holes in the very fabric of reality. His callous actions threaten the destruction of countless lives. Most notably those of his children, who the masked stranger reminds him, are doomed to be killed by their father.
So in a comic filled with infinite possibilities the fleeting idea of fate somehow worms its way in to throw everything to shit. In a beautiful poetic moment, Grant tries to defy his fate by acting before thinking. Yet, something tells me that this issue of Black Science will be a lot more important than we’re lead to believe here. Something happens within these pages that creates and even more infinite set of possibilities for the narrative. Remender loves seeding ideas, and this will surely spell the beginning of the end for the entire team.
Matteo Scalera really has a lot of time to shine in this issue. He revels in a chase scene that sees our heroes cutting across a bustling alien marketplace and bookends everything with two very senseless acts of violence. It all flows tremendously well and comes to reinforce the frantic pace that was previously established in the first issue of the series. The attention to detail in the characters is beautiful and Scalera really has a lot of fun with the design of the masked stranger.
Yet again, Remender and his team do an incredible job at building their world outward to create a memorable and engaging adventure that never stops to catch it’s breath. The characters while despicable almost across the board are engaging and intoxicating. So watching Grant become his own biggest saboteur is nigh impossible to resist. The onion keeps getting peeled back, and with every new layer comes a multitude of questions. I couldn’t be happier with this book. My only complaint is waiting a month between chapters.
Rating: 4.5/5 Skulls.
Comics
‘Curse of the Where Wolf’ Bites Into August Release With Trio of Werewolf Theatrical Screenings [Exclusive Preview]
Larry Chaney‘s hairy misadventures are continuing in the sequel graphic novel Curse of the Where Wolf from creative team Rob Saucedo, Debora Lancianese, and Jack Morelli, and its author is celebrating with a trio of horror’s greatest werewolf films.
The Curse of the Where Wolf hits shelves on August 7 from Encyclopocalypse Publications.
That coincides with the launch of a theatrical screening event in Houston, Texas, featuring a trio of seminal werewolf flicks turning 45 this year: The Howling on August 7, Wolfen on August 14, and An American Werewolf in London on August 21.
Each screening features a “werewolf in film” presentation as well as a book signing from Where Wolf author and River Oaks Theatre artistic director Rob Saucedo.
In the new graphic novel, “Being a werewolf sucks. Reporter Larry Chaney wanted to be a hero. Instead, he became a werewolf. Now, caught between incredible new powers and a desire to eat everything (and everyone) in sight, Larry must find a cure for his curse. Or die trying.”
“With Where Wolf, I wanted to tell a whodunit set in a furry convention, so the story was pretty contained within a very specific setting and genre. With Curse of the Where Wolf, I wanted to celebrate everything I love about the possibility of comic books. Curse of the Where Wolf is a funny book, in every sense of the phrase, but it’s also an earnest look at a person’s struggle to become a better version of themselves, especially when the alternative is to become a literal monster,” Saucedo says of Curse.
The original graphic novel was previously serialized as the first webcomic hosted on Fangoria before being collected by Encyclopocalypse Publications in 2023 and has already been optioned for film, podcast, and television development ahead of launch by producers James Fino (“The Freak Brothers” for Tubi, “Rick and Morty” for Adult Swim) and Charles Horak (First Date for Magnolia Pictures).
Expect Larry to find himself in even weirder situations in the 362-page full color sequel; Saucedo has provided Bloody Disgusting with exclusive art pages from the upcoming graphic novel that showcase lupine humor.
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