Review – Dark Empty Void #1 (Mad Cave Studios)

September 5, 2024

2–4 minutes

Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Writer: Zack Kaplan
Artwork: Chris Shehan
Colours: Francesco Segala
Letters: Justin Birch
Release Date: 11th September 2024

Deep within a secret underground laboratory complex, scientists have harnessed one of the most destructive forces in the galaxy; a black hole. Meddling with forces beyond their capabilities, the singularity wreaks havoc, but instead of drawing everything in, something comes out…

The promise, or perhaps its more accurate to say heavily implied prospect, of cosmic horror grabbed my attention. Instead of an immediate assault of gribblies and monsters however, we are treated to a much more subtle introductory issue. Whilst a very different book to what I was expecting then, I’m none the less impressed by the groundwork laid and excited about where this may be leading.

The story kicks off with a description of a force that defies reason in its scale, power, and ability to leave nothing behind. This is cast over some wonderful brushwork art of a black hole in all of its strange, unfathomable, and destructive glory. These words are not describing the singularity, but instead the suffering of depression. I found this a clever bait and switch which could have come across heavy handed although in the context here serves as a good balance to the events unfolding at the science base.

It’s through this that we are also introduced to one of our protagonists, Joy, a psychology lecturer. Joy also happens to be the estranged wife of Colson, a scientist on the base where things have taken a turn for the strange. A fortuitous coincidence given the base’s requirement for help in communicating and understanding the woman who has fallen to Earth. “Artemis”, the name given by the base personnel to this enigmatic woman from beyond, is paranoid and violent; traits hardly at odds with someone who has apparently stepped out of a cosmic event.

I can’t do the plot justice by condensing it down to something as simple as ‘they’ve called in a theory driven psychologist in an effort to communicate with the mysterious woman who has walked out of the black hole’, but that’s essentially the gist. Its a good thing that Kaplan does a far better job of weaving the story threads here and instead of feeling contrived, the psychology angle builds a genuine tension to the unfolding events. A fair amount of exposition and back story is condensed into relatively short chunks which is prevented from feeling rushed and holds great pacing throughout. More thriller than horror, I’m hopeful we’ll get the best of both worlds in future issues.

Mentioning already the early artwork of the black hole, Shehan and Sagala’s combined efforts start strong and remain consistent throughout. The bleak landscape shots and stern expressions fit this book well but it is the splashes of the black hole and the choice to display this in different styles that really stands out here. There’s often a lot of either sterile locations of intense background noise that could drown out scenes here but the angles and framing do such a good job of keeping everything moving, or focused, as the story determines.

This is a great first issue in what I hope will be a great series. With strong, engaging characters, and a fairly novel twist on the ‘mysterious visitor from alien worlds’, Dark Empty Void will be one to check out for sci-fi and horror fans alike.

Rating: 4/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]