The thing about adventure is that you can’t appreciate that you’re in the middle of one until it’s over. It isn’t like in the movies. An adventure in the real world can be terrifying, life-altering, or life-ending. The real world is full of real-life explorers, people willing to push the envelope of risk-taking to experience things that everyday people never will. A recent prime example of this fact are the billionaire adventurers who lost their lives during the Oceangate tragedy in 2023. Adventurers lose their lives climbing Mount Everest, skydiving, or exploring in submarines all the time. It’s why average people stay average and live normal lives. What drives people to have that mindset is the question at the crux of the series Black Science Vol. 1.
What price are you willing to pay for adventure?
First Appearance of Black Science Vol.1
Black Science #1 (November 2013)
- Published by Image
- Writer: Rick Remender
- Artist: Matteo Scalera
- Colorist: Dean White
- Lettering: Rus Wooten
- Editor: Sebastian Girnir
- Cover Price: $8.36 USD at Amazon (Collects Black Science issues #1 – 6)
- Recommend Buy: Black Science Compendium $40 at Amazon now (Collects the entire series)
Black Science is an adventure comic created by fan-favorite writer Rick Remender and artist Matteo Scalera back in 2013. While it was not a high-profile project, it should have been. Black Science Vol. 1 is an exhilarating, frightening, thought-provoking, and somber story of a scientist who only realizes the importance of family and living a stable, boring life after irrevocably losing it all in the pursuit of science and adventure.
If you are interested in collecting comic books as investment products, it would be worth your while to get the variant cover of Black Science #1.
Brief Bio and History: Black Science Vol.1
Black Science Vol. 1 is a dimension-hopping adventure comic book that clearly was inspired by the sci-fi TV show Quantum Leap and the concept of the multiverse.
The story is focused on a pot-smoking “anarchist scientist” named Grant McKay. He is part of a society called the Anarchist Order of Scientists.
McKay creates a dimension-hopping machine called the Pillar that allows him to jump between dimensions. McKay calls his dimension-hopping concept “The Onion.” The more you peel back an onion, the more it stinks. And the deeper you go in, the more you get lost in its layers.
The logo for the AOS is a stylized onion design.
Unfortunately for McKay, he has to choose between going on a life-altering adventure or living a normal life with his family. McKay’s coworkers and family go on the adventure with him, which is a decision that McKay will come to regret.
The Pillar starts to activate autonomously – McKay can’t control it. And with every activation, the Pillar sends McKay, his family, and colleagues further into the Onion. Coming back to their own reality becomes an impossible struggle when McKay can’t ascertain where they are in the Onion layers.
And along the way, McKay and company enjoy epic adventures, endure impossible paradoxes, and lose the original intent of their mission. Instead of pushing the boundaries of science and rewriting all of the rules, McKay and Co. begin to regret their decisions. They start to miss the normalcy of everyday life and wish for anything except adventure.
The Review: Black Science Vol.1
Rick Remender is a fan-favorite comic book writer who is a legend in the industry. Remender has a storied career. He started out as an animator on films like Titan A.E. and The Iron Giant. He has written books. But he is very famous today for his prolific career as a comic book writer.
Remender is well-known for his character development and intricate plot work in his stories. His talent shines in Black Science Vol.1.
In the first issue, McKay battles frog people while his family and crew realize that they are lost in dimensions. The characters, story setup, and narrative are presented in a way that makes it impossible for the reader not to want to know how it ends.
The Positive
Some of the situations Remender presents to the reader are very campy. Still, it is not a deal breaker.
Remender knows how to balance narrative genres in his stories. Characters in Black Science Vol.1 experience jealousy, regret, exhilaration, and insecurity as they traverse the Onion. These adventurers are not depicted as fearless people without flaws.
That is what makes this story so riveting. These are human beings who got in over their heads and who are realizing the high price of seeking adventure. McKay is a maddeningly frustrating character that you want to root for but just can’t. He is no hero; he is a cautionary tale.
McKay has no morals and does not care about anything except his own glory. Black Science is only as important as the fame and self-importance it grants him. He only discovers the cost of what he has to lose to succeed after it is far too late to do anything about it.
And the supporting characters that Remender creates are very memorable – make sure that you look out for Doxta, the reality-warping witch. She is a character you won’t forget any time soon.
Matteo Scalera’s artwork is somewhat cartoony but appropriate for the story, too. When the story gets campy, it works – but when the story takes a turn for horror, drama, or adventure, Scalera’s style works just as well. His art looks deceptively simple but showcases his mastery of proportion, detail, and aesthetic storytelling.
This comic book is awesome! Go get it right now!
The Not So Good
The story drags in some parts, but it is nothing that negates the enjoyment of the story.
Verdict: Buy It or NOPE
Buy it right now.
You can get Black Science Vol.1, a trade paperback that collects the first six issues of the series, at Amazon for $8.36 now.
I highly recommend that you buy the Black Science Compendium. It’s 1,104 pages and collects the entire 43-issue series. Buy it now at Amazon for $40.
But if I were you, I would invest in individual variant issues as a collectible investment.
Current Market Price: Black Science Vol. 1
If you can find a copy of Black Science #1 in any condition, you could potentially make hundreds of dollars selling it right now. And this is for a comic book that came out in 2019.
A copy of issue #1 with a CGC rating of 9.8 is worth $44 on the collectibles market right now. It was once as high as $120. I would buy it. It is not a traditional superhero tale, and someone will happen upon it one day and make it into a film or series.
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