Science fiction vs comics. Best Sci-Fi Comics Adventure & Fantasy Comics

LITERARY AND ARTS MAGAZINE Chief Editor Yu. Petukhov Alexander Chernobrovkin. KINSLER DIVES (fantastic adventure story) V. Panfilov. MOTHER (story) Alexey Kudryashov. A TALE ABOUT TEMPTATION (story) N. Yu. Chudakova, S.N. Chudakov. PANOPTICUM. NOOSPHERIC THEATER (article) Andrey Ivanov. WITCH HUNT (story) Cover design by S. Atroshenko

Magazine "Adventures, Science Fiction" 3 " 92 Yuri Petukhov

LITERARY AND ART MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Yu. Petukhov Yuri Petukhov. STAR'S REVENGE (continuation of the novel) Anatoly Fesenko. STEP FROM DARKNESS (horror story) Cover design by S. Atroshenko.

Front title design by S. Atroshenko, illustrations by R. Afonin.

Magazine "Adventures, Science Fiction" 1 " 92 V Andreev

LITERARY AND ART MAGAZINE Editor-in-chief Y. Petukhov I. Voloznev. TREASURES OF SCHEHERAZADE I. Voloznev. HELL ROULETTE A. Chernobrovkin. RAT DEVIL B. Andreev. RESERVATION A. Logunov. A. Logunov STAYED THERE. UNDER THE CONSTELLATION OF OCTAPOD B. Potapov. GADENYSH N. Yu. and S. N. Chudakov. ATLANTIS, ATLANTS, PRAATLANTS

Search - 92. Adventures. Fiction Mikhail Nemchenko

“...The crowd fell silent, as if bewitched by the gloomy sounds of savage words. Sparks from the torches that were burning with all their might burst into the darkness, the heavy side of the altar turned fantastically purple, reflecting the flames blowing in the wind. - Let's praise Satan! Let's praise! - the man in white shouted shrilly and imperiously. - Let's quench his thirst! - Blood! - there was a loud gasp throughout the clearing. “Blood!..” What is this, a scene from time immemorial? Alas, no... The action of the opening story “Search-92” by A. Krasheninnikov “Rite”, from which this excerpt is taken, unfolds essentially in our days, or rather...

Science fiction 2006. Issue 2 Andrey Valentinov

Fans of Russian science fiction!

New stories, novellas and articles by Sergei Lukyanenko and Evgeniy Lukin, Leonid Kaganov and Yulia Ostapenko, Sergei Chekmaev - and the creative duo G. L. Oldie!

Science Fiction 2009: Issue 2. Snakes of Chronos Ivan Kuznetsov

Fans of Russian science fiction!

Here is another collection of the popular almanac “Fantastika”, which has been published with constant success for nine years now!

This collection includes not only new works by Sergei Lukyanenko and Vasily Golovachev, Pavel Amnuel, Viktor Nochkin, Alexey Korepanov, Yulia Ostapenko and other masters of the genre, but also stunning, ironic journalism by Evgeny Lukin and stories of young talented science fiction writers who are just gaining popularity and glory.

FANTASTIC. 1966. Issue 1 Nikolay Amosov

So, reader, here is another collection of “Fantastics”. Using this collection as an example, you can see how diverse science fiction is. Here is a story and a novel, a story and a play, fantastic parodies and humoresques. In the “New Names” section, in addition to the parody cycle by Vladlen Bakhnov, there is a (by no means humorous, but rather traditionally fantastic) story by A. Mirer “The Obsidian Knife”.

05.10.2015, 16:00Adventure, Science Fiction 1993 No. 1 Natalya Makarova 10056 26

Yuri Petukhov. "Riot of the Ghouls." Fantasy adventure novel. Alexander Komkov. "Tester". Fantastic story. Natalya Makarova. "Werewolf". Documentary horror story.

Alexander Bulynko. "Executor." Fantastic story.

Artists Roman Afonin, E. Kisel, Alexey Filippov. http://metagalaxy.traumlibrary.net- Vladislav Miktum

The idea for this article originated with me a long time ago, but the scale of the problem raised

Historically, the audiences of comic book and science fiction fans overlap. It’s no wonder, science fiction is an important cultural phenomenon that spans literature, painting, cinema, and continues to haunt us in comics and video games. It is logical that people who are involved in pop culture will give money both for ordinary novels dedicated to space adventures, and for pictures diluted with text in a sweet setting. However, these genres have not only historical parallels in their development, but also diametrically opposed features. The moment is not the most obvious, so let's try to sort it out together.

The idea to show how different science fiction in its classical sense is from what we see in comics came to me after studying materials related to new wave in science fiction. Representatives of this movement (Zelazny, Moorcock, Aldiss) sought to break the connection between the literary genre of fantasy and the comic book format, which discredits the artistic value of this very genre. The popularity of pulp fiction and picture books had a significant impact on the status of fantastic literature, creating a stereotype for it as second-rate teenage literature. And nothing could be done here, because in ninety-five cases out of a hundred this stereotype was confirmed in latest magazine with a kitschy cover.

Science fiction at that time (and even today) largely consisted of low-quality books about flat, merciful protagonists saving the world that happened to be at hand. Even after the genre was significantly shaken up by such lumps of the Golden Age as Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clarke, the amount of bad science fiction did not decrease. On the contrary, on the wave of popularity fantasy magazines and a couple of good writers, hundreds of various mediocrities surfaced, continuing to feed the public with feeble-minded literary miscarriages.

The new wave influenced not only the development literary genre Sci-Fi, but also on the approach to its critical analysis. To this day, the academic study of science fiction virtually ignores the existence of the comic book. The most that picture books receive is mention of their immediate existence.

Contemporary writer and literary scholar Lance Oulsen admitted that he did not read science fiction as a child, except for “terrible comics.” He is not the only one who holds this assessment of the contents of colorful magazines. Voicing negative judgments out loud is bad manners today; you will also make yourself look like a prude in the society of the victorious post-post-modernity. But chuckles and condescending intonation inevitably slip through if in the literary community the conversation somehow turns to comic books.

The reason for this attitude goes back centuries. Which sci-fi comic will be named first? If I knew the answer... But the English-speaking population of the planet will probably mention Flash Gordon. The comic book about a brave blond, abandoned by a whim of fate to the crazy planet of the autocrat Ming, began publishing in 1934 and gave rise to a real cult. This wonderful comic (let's just pretend that the Dynamite publishing house does not exist), like its older brother Buck Rogers, determined many visual solutions in the space opera genre, and set the canons that haunt us in all sorts of Star Wars. Alex Raymond not only invented an American pop cult icon, but also inspired many future generations of artists with his drawing.

Having absorbed all the best that science fiction from the heyday of the pulp era could provide, “Flash Gordon” could not get rid of its shortcomings - flat characters and clichéd dialogues. They became the reason for the eviction of comics from the framework in which there is a place for serious cultural discourse.

Reading Flash Gordon, we are captivated by the confrontation between a valiant hero and a sinister dictator. We watch how the strength and courage of our hero helps him climb to the top of the world in spite of everything that inhabits this world. But a psychological portrait cannot consist of only positive characteristics. As the most striking example for comparison, I would like to cite the novel “1984” by George Orwell, which became a cult work being, in fact, science fiction. Orwell showed both the functioning of the authoritarian mechanism and human behavior in the depths of this machine for erasing personality. In the same way, Clark, Lem, Dick placed the human world in completely unusual conditions, and modeled behavior in it completely real people(like me or you), rather than describing the mythical Übermensch. And this myth-making was the problem with almost all old comics.

Alex Raymond borrowed many elements from ancient Roman culture

But we got ahead of ourselves a little. Science fiction also did not immediately prove its right to be called literature. Just as Howard didn't think much about the psychological depth of his Conan, the creators of pulp comics didn't pay any attention to such trifles as authenticity. The genre of hand-drawn stories did not die out in those distant 30s, but continued its existence and development. Still ignored by serious institutions, he opened up new opportunities and approaches. Will Eisner has shown that by using consistent images, you can touch on topics that are important and personal. Jack Kirby showed How sequential images can be used.

While the comic was growing its narrative power, the British Invasion was approaching. The screenwriters who came to the new world were finally able to valiantly use the tools accumulated by their predecessors. But professional critics did not rush to lick the pages of new issues of comics. And it cannot be said that the blame lies on the shoulders of some kind of universal injustice. Most of the British people have a preference for fantasy, and most fantasy is ignored as stubbornly as our dear Comic Books. The purpose of Fantasy is to describe something that cannot exist because it cannot exist in principle. Good fantasy does not reduce flights of fancy to mechanistic elements like manna or, Ilivatar forbid, fireballs. And with this task, with balancing on the crest of a surreal wave, such masters as Moore and Gaiman did an excellent job... Moreover, Winsor McCay showed us such a flight, such turns of human thought that contemporaries simply get sick while reading.

Looking for a fantastic way out

Different authors, different eras, different approaches. But it seems to me that the reason for the absence of a comic book star on science fiction Olympus lies in us, the readers. In film studies there is a concept “exploitation film", it is usually used to describe low-budget films whose creators are trying to make money by speculating on the popular theme of zombies, sex, fascists or zombie-fascists having sex. Like this niche cinema, most comics are exploitation of superheroes, violence, monsters and etc. The paradox is that readers and authors like this approach, and therefore there is no need to change it.

Not only the genre is exploited, even the style of “those very comics” that everyone read in childhood becomes effective means to attract attention. We are faced with a vicious circle of bad graphic stories. Previously, they were made because they wanted to eat, and good authors could not be driven into the industry with a stick. Now they are made to please the public, who enjoyed still those bad comics. Phew, you can just go crazy.

After the release of the acclaimed Watchmen and Maus, it became harder to ignore comics. And in order to understand whether novels in pictures can claim the title of serious science fiction, let’s finally give this very science fiction a definition.

The term "fantasy" was introduced in early XIX century by Charles Nodier, the basis for this was his work “On the Fantastic in Literature.” Looking into an old and dusty encyclopedia in search of a definition of the genre, we will find the following lines: “A specific method of artistic representation of life, using an artistic form-image (object, situation, world), in which elements of reality are combined in a way that is, in principle, unusual for it - incredible, “wonderful,” supernatural.” Such a vague framework could give us a great free hand if we weren’t so uninterested in fantasy and fairy tales. We are serious guys who came here for science fiction, what is it? his peculiarity?

One of the main differences between science fiction, emphasized by researchers, is the function it performs of scientific foresight. There are many examples of how scientific intuition and interest in the subject being studied helped to predict and bring closer real discoveries. It is enough for us that fantastic fiction must have a clear theoretical basis. And if nothing confuses us in the world created by the author, everything seems sufficiently reliable, then this is a sign of good science fiction.

There is no reason to believe that the comic book space is an obstacle to the creation of quality science fiction. The cocoon of capitalism prevents us from turning from a chrysalis into a butterfly more quickly. In order for the series to continue its publication, someone must not only read, but also buy new issues. Comics with bright characters and original storytelling sell well, but this recipe does not include a competent picture of the world. The result is a good story, but bad Sci-Fi. If you are one of those perverts who burdened yourself with reading Lemov’s Science Fiction and Futurology, you can easily imagine how elegantly he would not leave a wet spot on the popular “Saga”, “East of West”, “Prophet”.

It would be worth mentioning exceptions that an author who strives for high-quality Sci-Fi can look up to, but nothing comes to mind other than the Planetes manga. It talks about space debris cleaners, and the prospects for human space exploration are shown in fairly meticulous detail. Masters like Bilal and Mobius created wonderful visual feasts. Geniuses, of course, but today we are talking about completely different things.

Good Sci-Fi must ride the edge of the possible mode. It should not only surprise you with magical pictures, but also give you the opportunity to reflect on the new prospects that have opened up. Comics need time for this. Today, psychologism and realism are becoming a mandatory element of any story, even a superhero one. This will likely be followed by experiments with scientific authenticity, the search for precise syntax when describing the world of a work, and clear thinking through the sociological side of tomorrow. In any case, I really want to believe in it. Until that moment, we will continue reading “bad” science fiction comics, because they do not become less interesting and exciting.

While comic book movies are breaking all possible box office records, comic books themselves remain an unknown culture for many that is difficult to approach. Endless series about superheroes, where there is neither a beginning nor an end, only strengthen this reputation. We've rounded up the ten best comic book series that are intended for an adult audience, don't involve people in tights, have the structure of a complete work, and can at least vaguely be considered science fiction.

Best Sci-Fi Comics

I tried to omit the very obvious recommendations to read “The Watchmen” and V for Vendetta - you’ve probably already encountered Alan Moore’s imperishable book. However, you can’t do without the classics, so let’s start with old and time-tested recommendations, and then gradually move on to newer and more experimental ones.

Transmetropolitan

Surely somewhere on the Internet you have already come across an image of a bald man in strange red-green glasses and with a spider tattoo on his head. Usually he clenches a cigarette in his teeth and looks at us with a devilish squint. So, this guy’s name is Spider Jerusalem, and he works as a journalist in the city of the future, which in the comic book is simply called the City.

Despite the fact that Transmetropolitan is far from new (the first issue dates back to 1997, the last - 2002), it has not lost its relevance at all - neither in terms of the problems discussed, nor even in terms of technology.

For example, on the very first pages we come across an intelligent 3D printer, which from somewhere downloaded digital drugs for itself and, after glitching a little, printed the famous glasses for Spider. By the way, he himself is no stranger to substances - otherwise what kind of a follower of Hunter Thompson is he?

And don’t let the bright colors confuse you: the City is a real dystopia. Three-eyed mutant cats roam the trash heaps, neon shop windows advertise sexual pleasures featuring dolls from The Muppet Show, street children gnaw on human limbs grown in vitro, and so on and so forth.

Perched on the roof of a strip club, Spider fights for the last crumbs of truth, justice and human dignity: he writes a column where, without mincing words, he exposes corrupt politicians. All in all, what's not to like?

The Invisibles

It’s even a little strange to recommend The Invisibles - this is a famous work that left a mark on the history of comics comparable to Watchmen. Retelling the plot is also pointless: acid visions and references to pop culture, as well as the adventures of a team of extremely extraordinary individuals who are waging a war for the freedom of human consciousness with the mysterious Outer Church - all this is much better studied in the original source.

You may be asking what makes mystery a part of our list of the best sci-fi comics. The Invisibles are here more because of the themes of rebellion and counterculture. However, this comic may well be considered fantasy - just in in a broad sense and without direct connections to technology.

I confess: having started more than once, I have never finished reading “The Invisible Men” to the end. It is typical that every time you read, you manage to find something new, but the process is not quick or easy. In general, be patient - Invisibles are definitely worth it.

Y: The Last Man

Once again a modern classic. Y: The Last Man began publication in 2002 and ended in 2008. On the pages of this comic you will find a story about how a virus destroyed all men and male animals on earth, except for the main character Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand.

Yorick, instead of becoming the main source of genetic material, carefully disguises himself and crosses America to get to the bottom of the causes of the infection, find his beloved and (where would we be without this) save humanity.

Dialogues now and then unobtrusively turn to discussions of gender inequality and gender stereotypes, but Y: The Last Man is unlikely to bore you with morals. Adventures with shooting, fights and frivolous dressing up, a post-apocalypse as a picturesque backdrop, unobtrusive humor, bright characters and, in general, an extremely life-affirming attitude help you absorb all 60 issues in a few days. So set aside a weekend or part of your vacation for this in advance, otherwise you may accidentally fall out of your life.

Tokyo Ghost

If you're looking through this list looking for some truly dark and melancholic cyberpunk, this is it. Tokyo Ghost depicts a world in the distant future that looks suspiciously like a grotesque version of the present: most people live a vegetable lifestyle, hooked on a constant supply of digital entertainment.

The heroine, armed with a katana and a powerful hatred of what is happening, fights with an artificial intelligence that has gone crazy in order to save her boyfriend. True, all this can only be called science fiction with a big stretch, which sometimes stretches very thinly - especially when the ancient spirit of the earth brought by the heroes from Japan comes into play.

The main advantage of Tokyo Ghost is how beautiful everything is: both drawn and invented. In addition, you won’t have to wade through dozens of issues and follow the branching story arcs: we’re talking about only ten thin books that were published from 2015 to 2016. There is more than enough to enjoy the unique style and look at another dark and hopeless world.

Black Science

If there is dark magic, then why not dark science? Grant McKay, the protagonist of this as yet unfinished saga, invented, on the one hand, a wonderful, on the other hand, a frightening device. It allows him and his team to travel through an infinite number of parallel universes. And of course, everything does not go according to plan from the very first pages.

The plot of Black Science is so twisted, and the worlds through which the heroes jump are so vivid that your head can spin - especially if you read non-stop (and the temptation to do just that is great). Add here the deep psychologism of endless reflections of the same story of love, betrayal and broken family relationships. But science here is again minimal - contrary to the name.

If you successfully consume Tokyo Ghost and become hooked on Black Science, don't forget to check out the other comics by their author Rick Remender. First of all, I recommend Deadly Class - a story about the complexities of life for students at a school of murderers. This is something like Harry Potter, but with a strict age rating and an emphasis on the study of youth subcultures of the eighties and nineties.

The Private Eye

One day, all the information that people had stored in the “clouds” was taken and poured out in heavy rain: the protections collapsed and everything became available to everyone overnight. Since then, humanity no longer trusted computers and became much more concerned about privacy - so much so that on the street you will not meet a person without a mask on his face.

The Private Eye is the story of a private detective who finds himself in the center of a complicated story and deftly unravels it. But in in this case What is important is not so much the plot as the author’s attempt to imagine what a hangover would be like after mass intoxication, in which we throw a lot of personal data onto the Internet.

Surely the world of Private Eye will seem somewhat caricatured to you, but for comics this is quite normal. It’s especially funny, of course, to see your own crooked reflection: the protagonist’s father is an aged gamer and gadget lover, a child of the early 2000s. He, suffering from senile insanity, pokes at the phone screen and cannot understand where the Internet has gone.

These figments of Brian Vaughn’s imagination may be viewed with skepticism, but they are still worth checking out, especially since the comic is distributed on a “pay what you want, you don’t have to pay at all” model and is available in PDF form.

Saga

If you're looking for something light and enjoyable to read in the evenings, but still captivating enough to keep you coming back for more, it's hard to give best recommendation than Saga. It's a space fantasy of Star Wars proportions, centered around the classic story of forbidden love between two warring factions.

I will not retell the plot of the “Saga”, because it is not at all valuable. What attracts here is rather the riot of imagination, the incredible scale and diversity of colorful worlds and the races inhabiting them. It’s especially pleasant to admire all this, since “Saga” is drawn to match. The steepness of another turn is simply breathtaking.

The Manhattan Projects

Perhaps the picture of Albert Einstein sawing an alien with a chainsaw is enough to characterize this comic. If such an image disgusts you, calmly pass by and practice your snobbery somewhere else.

But if the picture seems interesting, then many hours of entertaining reading await you. Book after book, an alternative world will unfold in front of you, in which scientists who had a hand in creating the American nuclear bomb are doing completely indescribable things.

Illuminati, alien invasions, secret deals with the USSR - the wildest conspiracy theories were digested in the cauldron of imagination of the creators of Manhattan Projects. The resulting mess is neatly laid out on panels and seasoned with black humor. This may not be the healthiest of intellectual dishes, but it was surprisingly digestible.

Before last book(The Sun Beyond the Stars), dedicated to the space adventures of Yuri Gagarin and Laika, I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I’m looking forward to this moment.

Doctor Sleepless

“Where is my damn rocket pack?”, “Where are our flying cars?” - the heroes of the comic book Doktor Sleepless ask themselves. What they mean is that the future they (and we) were promised in the old science fiction, it never came. Instead, they (like us!) now have completely different technologies.

The action of Doktor Sleepless takes place as if in a dead end of history, from which its characters are trying to break out. Chief among them is a self-proclaimed mad scientist. His madness manifests itself mainly in the form of rants, which he broadcasts using a pirate radio station. His audience is representatives of radical subcultures such as grinders (who like to implant electronic implants into themselves) and shrike girls who remotely synchronize their sensations.

Unfortunately, Doktor Sleepless, which began with a bang in 2007, will never be finished or even continued. The grenade thrown in the last (sixteenth) issue with a sticker in the shape of a smiling face will remain hanging in the air, and the wiki that came with the comic will no longer even open.

However, if you like the work of Warren Ellis, then completed series like Planetary and FreakAngels will provide you with many hours of enjoyment. I also recommend Ignition City - a little story about a half-abandoned space town and the Injection series, which is just starting and borrowed some ideas from Doktor Sleepless.

Paper Girls

The second season of Stranger Things is over, and do you want something more in the same vein? Read Paper Girls - it's even cooler in many ways. The four heroines of this comic, having started traveling through time, cannot stop and return home to the eighties. Instead, they have to face more and more new riddles, clues and amazing adventures.

Along the way, the author manages to interestingly reflect on the changes that have occurred in our lives and in society over the past couple of decades. Add to this an unforgettable visual style (the covers alone are worth it!), and you will understand why this comic has become rapidly gaining popularity.

There are currently 23 issues available - a great time to read them all in a couple of sittings and wait for the next ones.

A little parting word

The attentive reader will probably notice that I cheated a little and half the list is the same three authors: Warren Ellis, Brian Vaughn and Rick Remender. But I can’t help myself - it was with them that I began to get acquainted with modern comics, I was not disappointed and I’m looking forward to new creations. I hope you have an equally pleasant experience.

As additional guidelines, I can recommend looking at the publishing house and the imprint under which the books are published. There's a lot of good stuff coming out of Image Comics now, but DC's Vertigo and Wildstorm imprints used to cater to the same audience.

3 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)

The magazine “Adventures, Fantasy” is a kind of sign of the times and a shameful page in the history of Russian science fiction, a literary trash heap of the early 90s. When the old Soviet science fiction died, and the new Russian one (no matter what is meant by it) had not yet appeared, Yuri Petukhov tried to occupy the resulting literary vacuum in the niche of Russian science fiction literature with his magazine. On its pages there was a place for all kinds of literary garbage, thickly seasoned with black stuff, porn and dismemberment. And as the crown of all the magazine’s activities - Petukhov’s five-book cycle “Star Revenge”, which has long become a terrible legend of Russian literature, with which old readers scare newcomers.

Now, when I hear about the crisis in Russian science fiction, about the decline in the level of writing, about the dominance of mediocre MTAs, I remember this magazine and understand that now everything is not so bad. History has once again proven that no matter what diseases literature suffers from, healthy forces will prevail in it, and very clinical cases, like Rooster’s brainchild, will die out and be forgotten like a bad dream.

Bottom line: sometimes I regret that as a child I was too indiscriminate in my book preferences, since partly because of this magazine I developed a negative opinion about science fiction, which I had to overcome for several years. For those who have not encountered this periodical, frankly lucky. Those who have read it will most likely agree with me that “Adventures, Fantasy” is one of the worst (and perhaps the worst) literary magazine that has ever been published in our country.

Rating: 2

It was from this magazine that my acquaintance with the wonderful world of science fiction began! It was later Efremov, Strugatsky and others, and then... Shock, surprise, shock, delight... and many other completely different emotions that I will probably never experience again... :pray: Desire, literally, to the point of shaking in your hands, to profuse salivation and headache - to find out what happened next, how this work ended. The second time I experienced something similar was only when I picked up Lukyanenko’s book, but this, again, was much later.

But the most important feeling is love, no, I have had a love for books since childhood, from the moment I learned this truly amazing activity on earth - reading, but a love for fantasy, specifically fantasy in general, for everything that can fall under this definition, and not just fantasy literature. And if at first I read everything in a row, enjoying simply the process of reading itself, and rejoicing at any new information gleaned from the book, then after reading this magazine, I was forever sick with one genre. After all, it is in fantasy that the author is limited only by his imagination, and on the basis of this, it is fantasy that can be considered the highest expression of the writer’s creativity, although, of course, this is only my personal opinion. And if the flight of the author’s imagination is compared to a stream, then the imagination of the authors collected in this magazine can be compared to a raging mountain river, sweeping you into its current, sometimes even against your will, plunging you headlong, and you emerge only for a moment to breathe, type take more air into your chest and dive again into this amazing, beautiful, enchanting and exciting world of fantasy!

IN Lately There aren't many sci-fi comics coming out. Not just exploiting the appropriate surroundings, but seriously thinking about scientific and technological progress and the place of man in it with all his weaknesses, shortcomings and strengths. Fortunately, not everything is so sad and several science fiction comics have appeared, on the one hand, so different in design, plot and approach, but, on the other hand, common in one thing - travel to alternative universes. Read about them in our review.

Black Science

Running through the poisonous jungle. Chase. Precipice, despair, and now one of the heroes dies! And we didn’t even know the name.

“Black Science” throws you into the thick of things and immediately punches you in the gut. Events are developing rapidly. What was it? We'll have to figure it out throughout the entire comic, but many mysteries will remain in limbo - for now the publishing house " Fiction Book Club» has released only the first volume, and Image has already published 5 volumes of books in the original, and at least three more are expected.

This is another story about traveling to alternate worlds where everything goes wrong. Disgraced scientist Grant McKay, commissioned by a corporation, creates a machine to open a portal to the Multiverse. One day, she accidentally transports not only the scientist and his team, but also his children, as well as the embittered supervisor Kadir, who is also the scientist’s former classmate, to another world. Immediately upon arrival in another world, the machine breaks down: it can no longer be controlled by itself, but every few hours it restarts and sends everyone nearby further into the next world, but no one knows what it will turn out to be and when they will return home.

What "Black Science" really does well is Rick Remender's ability to build a plot and play with time and space. The past is revealed in small doses in flashbacks (where would we be without them) on behalf of different characters, and the mosaic, fueling interest, gradually begins to take shape, although with each new history it becomes clear to the reader: there are no indispensable villains or heroes here. Everyone has their own skeleton in their closet, genius does not mean good character (or at least loyalty to a spouse), malice can be justified, and anyone could commit sabotage.

In the present, the heroes are faced with trials, it is almost always action, and the tension grows spasmodically from one tragedy through a small exhalation to another. Starting from a world inhabited by intelligent frog magicians, through an alternative history of the First World War, in which Europe was attacked by techno-advanced Indians, the heroes find themselves in a kind of interdimensional hub for a short respite and then on to the planet of monkeys, which are inhabited by greenish glowing souls. Each world is unique and unusual, something you rarely see in comics or on screen, but, on the other hand, throughout there are clear references to the historical eras of mankind: Aztec ziggurats of frogs, ancient Roman surroundings of monkeys, typical Cherokees (albeit with a blaster).

And here Matteo Scalera tried his best - a brilliant stylization of retrofuturism in the modern sense! He not only showed creativity in creating new worlds and filling them with recognizable elements, but also drew truly alive and truly different characters. His style - angular, sharp, dynamic - is perfect for action or combat scenes, but also creates the right tension in calm shots. Dean White gave the comic an appropriate atmosphere with his color palette - purple, blue and red shades predominate here. Overall, at first glance the drawing feels European (Scalera is Italian) and inspired by a classic sci-fi film.

But what’s annoying about “Black Science” is the abundance of internal monologues of the characters, who regularly sigh about something and suffer mentally. These inserts hover like annoying flies on almost every panel. It seems that we could try to find a different way of conveying the states and motives of the characters.

Ei8ht (8axis)

At the end of last year, the publishing house White Unicorn” released the comic book “Eight” with a very unusual story about time travel. The fact is that the authors of the series, Rafael Albuquerque and Mike Johnson, in addition to the standard dimensions of time (past - present - future), added a fourth one - Meld. Everything that happens in this very Meld (even though it looks like Tatooine - everything is in the snow) exists outside of time, and therefore a kind of cocktail is formed there from everything that we love so much in science fiction: dinosaurs, Nazi cultist villains, technologies of the future and the past , and all this is filled with riddles and secrets, including those due to memory loss.

To make it easier for the reader to navigate the events, each timeline has its own color scheme, pre-determined at the beginning of the comic. Colors not only make it easier to navigate the comic, but also serve to create the appropriate atmosphere. Thus, Meldovsky yellow conveys the madness of this strange place and creates a feeling of constant tension, which contrasts with the blue of the future - a cold and indifferent place. On the other hand, the past is colored green colors- there is a riot of prehistoric vegetation, and the frenzy of relatively young life, and the present is purple, a sign of an unstable, ever-changing state.

Yes, some people won’t necessarily like such simple colors (there really aren’t many of them here) and rough designs, and that’s understandable. The fact is that Rafael Albuquerque (by the way, the artist of the famous “American Vampire”) initially created “Eight” as a web comic and only then decided to remake it and publish it on paper. This explains the artistic limitations. But one cannot deny the wonderful and quite successful stylization - we are again looking at an attempt to play retrofuturism. With this and all the “wobbly-wobbly time-time stuff”, the comic “Eight” is similar to “Black Science”. They are worth reading together.

The story is actually short, the comic is read quickly, and the ending comes somehow simply and suddenly. It seems that somehow everything used to happen in these strange science fiction films of the last century, after a while you even get the feeling that you have watched one of them.

It is surprising that despite 4 parallel lines, the story in the comic is complete and does not require continuation. All riddles and secrets have a logical explanation and receive it by the last issue. It’s a little strange that the publication “ White Unicorn” is worth one on the spine, although there is no news about a sequel. Not that this series needed it, but a new standalone story in this universe would be a fun read.

Paper Girls

Paper Girls is a comic by Brian Vaughn and Cliff Chan about newspaper delivery girls in small town, in which very strange things begin to happen in the midst of Halloween. It's surprising that this comic came out in the same year as the Stranger Things series, because they are similar in many ways. The action takes place in the eighties, with children, in a small town and no one understands what is happening around.

If the first two comics are a friendly wink to the “hard” science fiction of the 60s and 70s, then Paper Girls is undeniably “Spielberg”. They have heroes-chrononauts invading other worlds, and here our ordinary world is experiencing an invasion from the outside, and all the action takes place against the backdrop of traditional American life with all these Hershey's chocolate bars, the socio-political situation and stupid fashion in clothes.

The art by Cliff Chan is excellent, the colors by Matt Wilson create a fantastic and even phantasmagoric atmosphere, and, most likely, it is thanks to them that the series is still very well received. Things are completely different with Brian Vaughn's script. Vaughn is known for the comic Saga, which has collected a huge number of various awards since 2013, largely thanks to the script. Unfortunately, Paper Girls can't boast of this. The overall plot is interesting, but for some reason Vaughn spends very little time developing the characters and instead throws us one twist after another without having time to explain them. Only in the first volume will we be shown dinosaurs, time travelers, nanorobots and, judging by the pace of their appearance, this is just the beginning.

The series deservedly won awards for “Best New Series” and “Best Artist (Sketches)” in 2016 and could become a new “”, but for this Vaughn will need to change his approach to the plot a little.

The comic continues to come out. However, it was not published in Russian.