When I spoke to them last fall, creators Evan Schultz and Lydia Roberts had big plans for their Bad Ink Studios. Namely, they were hard at work on Interdimensional #3, their flagship anthology title that defines the duo’s unique, highly textured take on genre fiction. Interdimensional #1 and #2 were genuinely great, and they showcased Bad Ink’s profound synthesis of inspirations (everything from Heavy Metal to The Twilight Zone) to tell thoughtful, deeply relevant stories with ample weirdness and joy.
So, how does Interdimensional #3 actually stack up? Is it the step up creatively/artistically the duo had hoped, or are we better left hoping for something more in Interdimensional #4? As it turns out, Interdimensional #3 is everything I want in truly inventive, heartfelt, and totally confrontational comics.
Courtesy of Bad Ink Studios.
“Tezuka’s Hotel of Dreams” (writer Evan Schultz and artist Lydia Roberts)
The bulk of Interdimensional #3 is made up of what has to be Schultz-Roberts’ crowning achievement in comics thus far. Thematically and visually, it defines the pair’s work in exploring genre fiction in an increasingly novel and gut-wrenchingly honest light.
The story begins like some episode of Black Mirror, as a young writer sets about working on a story about a hotel that allows you to control your dreams. It’s a pretty standard bit of Twilight Zone-ian storytelling, but Schultz and Roberts quickly show how skilled they are in pushing this “brand” of fiction to impactful new heights.
For his part, Schultz continues to be an expert in hitting the parts of storytelling and narrative-building that matter most. From the way he layers and lays out the story, the emotionality and life of the writer is revealed in a manner that pulls us in and never tries to be cheap or half-cocked in its execution. Rather, the story happens in a way that each new revelation or bit of understanding is allowed to unfold as it needs, and that leads to an experience where we’re allowed to enjoy the development and our immersion in this place.
Similarly, all of these big messages at the story’s heart (the overreach of technology, the commercialization of everyday life, our increasing disconnect and desire for quick fixes, etc.) is married to the sheer humanity of it all. It’s genre storytelling that means a damn because it’s about centering a very human experience (this lonely, isolated person trying to make sense of it all) amid all this thematic dissection. It’s the thing that makes all the big points of this story — the slow build into the increasingly chaotic and paranoid pacing that practically overtakes us — feel as real and compelling in the first place.
Schultz’s presence as a writer is the best kinds of hands-off (even as his dialogue is sharp and really great at balancing different end goals and personalities). He allows the story and events to unfold in a way that feels more earnest and organic, letting the tension and emotion build slowly by guiding it over deliberately controlling the flow. It’s a way in line with his coloring — he’s always about empowering what’s best for a scene and page/panel. Even when he achieves these kaleidoscope of colors (like a psychedelic pipe bomb explored across the page), it’s always in service of everything else and to let things shine as they were intended.
And that inevitably includes Roberts, who continues to be this profound and maddeningly skilled crafts-person of comics. Schutlz’s colors may be the thing that defines a lot of the look and feel of Interdimensional, but that is just another demonstration where he’s working to extend what’s already great. And Roberts’ lines here are exceptional in almost every conceivable way as she turns in this genre-bounding tour de force.
Courtesy of Bad Ink Studios.
Color be damned — Roberts’ attention to detail and overall commitment have just as much heft and force as the brightest pinks and reds. The world of “Tezuka’s…” is layered with so many textures and ideas across every nook and cranny, and it’s what makes this whole story hum with an organic life and rich tapestry of energies and sentiments. Whether we’re in some vaguely cyberpunk “reality,” or journeying across this lush fantasy world in the dreamscape, there’s a mix of beauty and tension that plays out to let us really and truly explore these places as they were intended. To fill them with our own ideas and expectations and let all of that slowly unfurl — that is the true mark of an exceptional artist who is dedicated to storytelling aligned with proper worldbuilding.
Roberts is able to manipulate size and scale, alongside that immaculate detail work, to play the audience like a fiddle (but in a way that still welcomes our earnest engagement). There are heaps of instances across this story where I spent 10-15 minutes on a single page just taking it all in, and letting the story bits and other inferences really marinate. Marry that, then, with some extra sharp character work — Roberts’ take on emotions ranging from deep anguish to manic joy lands with massive force — and Roberts has the power to keep us engaged like few others. Once we’re locked into this “sustained consumption,” we get a chance to further fill this world with our own biases, understanding, humor, etc. in the ways that only truly great stories can.
And that’s where the story takes on fresh life, allowing us to reconnect it with every new reading and to find things we may have missed or ignored the first go-through. There is this dichotomy across the art — the familiar and novel, the quaint and the unnerving, the detailed and the merely suggestive — that gives it so much strength and makes it so easy to feel this connection with, as if we’re visiting some oddly familiar city. Yet there’s this personality and certainty in everything Roberts does, and that presence is what we really connect and engage with as we move through the story. This pillar that makes the strange so warm and inviting, and the “mundane” somehow oddly sharp and bitter.
That last bit, I think, is worth further mention — Roberts is as much a storyteller as Schultz. Like, yeah, that’s sort of the point in comics, but oftentimes it feels like the artist is just taking cues from the storyline/writer. Here, Roberts is given the support and freedom from Schultz to do things in a way that feels like she’s given far more power and agency. It’s opting for a wide shot on a really terse convo in a hospital; layering detail upon detail and literally playing with gravity on a two-page spread to practically obliterate readers when the mood demands it; and even playing with characters’ size and angle in parts to push and poke back at readers.
Courtesy of Bad Ink Studios.
Those decisions and more demonstrate that Roberts is thinking about story like few other artists, and engaging with her co-creator just as much as she’s on a different level entirely. That could only happen to an extent thanks to Schultz’s approach, but Roberts is very much this restless explorer who makes decisions to push this massive, multifaceted experience into increasingly strange and brilliant directions.
And that’s really the best encapsulation I can offer up for Interdimensional #3. It grows and unfolds into this massively effective thing, a story as much about what we’re evolving into (for better and worse) as it is about this spark of chaotic joy at the heart of us all. It’s visually spellbinding, narratively tight and inventive, and just an experience that respects your abilities even as it pretty much tosses you in a corner and pummels you with its big ideas and oversized boldness. Interdimensional #3 will change your core temperature and maybe your understanding of comics, and you’ll thank it through this teary-eyed joy.
Final Thought: You are genuinely not ready and likely never will be for this comics extravaganza.
Score: 9/10
“BARDOSS” (writer/artist James Johnson)
I don’t want to take away too much from Johnson’s work, but it did have the poor misfortune of following up the brain-shattering “Tezuka’s…” I can appreciate that Johnson tried to align with Schultz and Roberts in terms of the vivid use of color, the exploration of genre (specifically, a kind of cyberpunk-leaning commentary on mass media), and perhaps some shared inspirations. Yet the story very much felt like it ran counter to what Interdimensional is really about. The writing and dialogue felt like a weaker take on William Gibson, and it’s emphasis on poetics over substance came in sharp contrast to “Tezuka’s…” Similarly, the less detailed approach isn’t just an artistic decision, but made the story feel less interested in vital world-building and instead catered a very specific experience that, at times, was still a little hard to track. Even the thematic stuff only felt close enough, and while the story ended with the same kind of Black Mirror-esque moral exploration, it just didn’t ring quite as thoughtful or novel. If you can somehow come to this story separate from “Tezuka’s…,” then it may very well be something that works. And I can certainly appreciate Schultz and Roberts expanding their studio with interesting new voices. But there’s just other upsides to this issue, and this story’s only ever a solid enough intermediary.
Final Thought: An OK enough story that falls flat in the sheer weight/context of this issue.
Score: 5.5/10
“Wax Dolls” (writer Mary McDevitt, artist Roberts, and letterer Schultz)
Roberts certainly killed it with “Tezuka’s…,” but how would she fare working with another writer in Mary McDevitt? As it turns out, also pretty dang swimmingly. The more horror adjacent theme — about a “rivalry” between two supernatural sisters that reaches its harrowing finale — is a good place/speed for Roberts. It’s a little more subtle in parts, with lots of reds and more “muted” hues/tones, but then it gets to explode in a massive direction that suits Roberts’ core strengths. Sure, McDevitt’s another decidedly more dramatic writer than Schultz, but unlike with “BARDOSS,” the over-the-top tendencies are perfect for this story. It’s a short, delightfully tasty tale also ripped from the “Twilight Zone-verse,” and something that’s meant to highlight the skills and abilities of both creators even as it only whispers at the edges of a well-rounded narrative. Perhaps that brevity and dramatic textures would have made a better follow-up for “Tezuka’s…” given how much this story joyously embraces its “one-and-done” nature in every aspect. But let’s just call this a tasty but smaller second or third course and leave it at that.
Final Thought: Short, sweet, and full of big-time family drama.
Score: 7/10
“Snack Quest” (McDevitt and Roberts)
Do I know what actually happened here? Not really. Do I think that matters? No, because McDevitt and Roberts nonetheless entertained with this most peculiar, multicolored chicken nugget of comics absurdity. If anything, that clear lack of understanding/awareness reminds of when I read 2000 AD comics as a kid/young teen, and I knew nothing about the context or politics other than I knew this was important and meaningful for how much it was clearly its own thing. Do I think that’s what the creators intended with this? I don’t know, but it sure makes me think these two have a gift for the many functions of comics storytelling. Lastly, am I overthinking all of this? Probably — I just know I love supernatural puppies and kitties.
Final Thought: The three Cs: cute, creepy, and cosmic.
Score: 6.5/10
“Classifieds” (Schultz and Roberts)
Another chance for Schultz and Roberts to add to their lore with a series of dark, unnerving ads ripped from the best season of Red Dwarf. But, like, if Millennials remade it somehow.
Final Thought: My kind of commercialism.
Score: 7.5/10
And In Closing…
Whether you’re an indie comics devotee or not, Interdimensional (and Bad Ink as a whole) should be on your radar. Schultz and Roberts have the skills, passion, intellectual prowess, and general commitment that we need more of across the board, and the pair are doing some truly important work across their releases. It may take a little more time and involve some patient waiting, and maybe not every story is as much a gem as others. But as “Tezuka’s…” readily demonstrated, Bad Ink are comics mavericks, indeed.
To get your hands on Interdimensional #3, head here.
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