After a long two month wait, Mad Cave Studios finally releases issue two of the sci-fi horror mini-series Dark Empty Void this week. Created by writer Zack Kaplan and artist Chris Shehan, colors are provided by Francesco Segala, flats by Agnese Pozza and letters by Andworld’s Justin Birch. There’s also some nice design work – with the logo by Tim Daniel and book designer Diana Bermúdez both using the black hole theme well. It’s all brought together by editor James B. Emmett.
In the first issue, scientists had created and contained a microscopic black hole on Earth. But when they lose control, a strange teenage girl emerges out of the singularity. The scientists call in psychology professor, main character Joy Frank, to try and understand the girl they call Artemis. Her conclusion: to stop the black hole from devouring Earth, they must take Artemis back in.
Although I loved the first issue for its great character work, intriguing premise and wonderful art, I realized it might be too slow for some people. Well, Dark Empty Void #2 is even slower. The slow burn doesn’t bother me so much, because the rest provides plenty of upside and I’m interested enough in the mystery to stick around until the end. But even I couldn’t ignore just how slowly this issue moved along.
Courtesy of Mad Cave Studios
I know the slow pacing isn’t without reason. The horror element of this series arises from an overall atmosphere of uncanny unease – knowing you’re facing something hostile, unable to stop its slow, inevitable approach. Chris Shehan creates this feeling through his excellent illustrations – the real highlight of the book. He has an excellent sense of cinematography – some panels look like stills from a blockbuster movie.
Shehan creates the desired atmosphere by often filling a page with a large splash image and placing smaller, plot-driven panels on top of that image. On the one hand, the large, beautiful images create a sense of wonder. On the other hand, the page layout also creates a sense of unease. The people and even the story are small compared to this large, cosmic, unknown and unfathomable threat. What are we in the face of something so overwhelming?
As the team of characters approaches the black hole, Shehan uses this technique for four straight pages, at first placing the inherently hostile area just off-page, but ever approaching, until it washes out nearly everything else in its brightness. And then, once within, a similar layout enhances the twilight atmosphere of the strange and alien environment.
From there, Shehan’s cinematic style coupled with Segala’s great sense of lighting work together perfectly to maintain the feeling of uncanny unease as the team encounters weird alien creatures within this strange environment.
Courtesy of Mad Cave Studios
The character work in this issue is, once again, excellent, but definitely focused on Joy and her estranged husband, Colson. The side characters are better developed than in most comics, but not much better. That includes two ex-military security personnel, who fit squarely into the “shoot first, never ask questions” stereotype. Still, they have their own, unique voices and distinctive character designs. The third security guard is a friendly, poetry-quoting Asian man. He’s a nice contrast to the stereotype, but all three might just be red-shirts in the end.
The main black hole scientist, Nassim Ruia, is also on the team, but doesn’t really do much anything in this issue. And, unfortunately, the creative team underutilizes the strange Artemis. The mystery surrounding her doesn’t progress enough. When she says anything, it always mysteriously pushes the focus back on Joy. Writer, Zack Kaplan, obvious does this on purpose, but it sadly confines Artemis to the background.
The real character development in Dark Empty Void #2 centers on Joy’s relationship with Colson. Joy once again displays a broad range of emotions and complexity. Colson mostly comes off as a kind man, at times uncertain about his feelings for Joy and at other times simply filled with childlike awe at the new discoveries made within the black hole.
Kaplan and Shehan do a very good job showing the chemistry Joy and Colson have with each other, even while bitterness – at least on Joy’s part – keeps them apart. Maybe the only good thing about the issue’s pacing is how each new situation works to bring Joy and Colson slowly closer and closer to each other.
Courtesy of Mad Cave Studios
Finally, this miniseries is still about a black hole symbolizing depression. What Zack Kaplan wants to say about that is done almost entirely metaphorically in this issue. Fortunately, he does this much more subtly compared to the first issue, but also clearly enough to get the message across. If the black hole symbolizes depression – specifically Joy’s depression – then Dark Empty Void #2 tells us not to fight against depression with aggressive methods or try to avoid it in fear. Instead, Kaplan suggests the real solution can only be found in going deeper into the darkness and facing it with patience and hope.
In conclusion, as you can see, I enjoyed a lot that Dark Empty Void #2 has to offer – the complex relationship between the main characters, the subtle symbolism and most especially the wonderful, atmospheric artwork. But at the same time, I just couldn’t help thinking about how slow the issue was while reading it. There’s not enough excitement. I’m hopeful the creative team is now done with the buildup and more exciting things will happen in the next issue. But we’ll have to wait another two months for that.
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