In his debut creator-owned work, writer Ryan Cady wanted to explore the concept of rebuilding after the world ends.  With that concepet, we get Infinite Dark, a new science fiction/horror series from Image Comics and Top Cow Productions. Exploring how the human race moves on and rebuilds after the entire universe goes dark, this series is equal parts unsettling and overwhelming. The entire concept of the heat death of the universe is something deeply unnerving, and seeing what happens to those who are still alive is, somehow, even more horrific.

Aboard the space station Orpheus lives the last cadre of people left in the world, the last survivors of the end of the universe. This group waits for the time and place where they can rebuild the universe, and while they’re waiting, even more loss is sustained as the first post-apocalypse murder occurs on the station. Now, we follow Security Director Deva Karrell as she finds out what happened and why.

Cady does a great job of introducing a far-too-big and far-too-scary concept into the world and building off of it. Just setting this series when he has makes everything about this book slightly stomach-turning. Knowing that these are the last humans anywhere leaves a sinking feeling in your stomach, and as those numbers begin their slow decline, everything begins to weigh even heavier.

Cady is joined by Andrea Mutti, an extremely gifted artist who has really captured the expansive darkness and inescapable mass that are at the core of this book. The futuristic vibe ties everything together, and along with K. Michael Russell and Troy Peteri, this book is as well done as it is unsettling. The vibe feels like classic comics, with large splashes of single-color panels in deep reds, blues, and blacks. This really brings the unease to the forefront, adding another layer of suspense.

This book might wind up being a hard read, at least for me. The concept of a dead universe is unfathomable and terrifying, but this book is an incredible exploration of that, as well as of the crushing loneliness of life in general. Not exactly a happy book, but one that is incredibly interesting.

Creative Team: Ryan Cady (writer), Andrea Mutti (artist), K. Michael Russell (colors), Troy Peteri (letters)
Publisher: Image Comics/Top Cow Productions
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