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Into The Unbeing blends science fiction, horror, and climate change into a fascinating setting for a huge story to unfold. Scientists research the terrain, animals, and wildlife in an Australian desert and discover a land form unlike anything the world has ever seen. They decide to explore and document their findings, but the closer they get to their objective, the weirder things get.
- Written by Zac Thompson
- Art by Hayden Sherman
- Letters by Jim Campbell
- Published by Dark Horse Comics
Climate Science Meets Horror in Into The Unbeing
Into The Unbeing is gripping right from from the cover. The imagery made it hard not to want to review this book. Zac Thompson is really on to something with a not too distant future story that revolves around the changes that Earth is going through currently, specifically, climate-change. Of course the further into the issue we get, the more apparent it is that something bigger is going on here.
The Cast of Scientists for S.I.N.E.W.
There are four characters so far in this story and each of them bring a unique talent and field of study to the team. It’s also apparent that they bring certain emotional baggage along with them. The story centers on Hildur, a botanist that joined a group called the S.I.N.E.W. or Scientific Institute for Nascent Ecology and Worlds. (For right now I gonna ignore that “sinew” is also a term for cartilage and ligaments in relation to their future discovery.) Hildur shares her traumatic background in which her family died in a brush fire caused by global warming, leading her to be more active in the climate science field.
The other members are Hildur’s friend Surveyor named Abby, an Entomologist named Selva, and a Geologist Zara, who seems to be a rival as second in command. Along with each of them being an expert in their field, each of them take on a different personality. There are non verbal hints as to who they are personally, such as Abby packing a bible and Selva dressing more fashionably than the others.
A Journey Into The Unbeing Begins
Once they get a notification of a land form appearing out of know where in the middle of the Australian desert, Hildur forces them to pack and head out to explore against Selva and Zara’s best judgement. The closer they get to the anomaly, weirder things start to appear. Plants that only grow in South America, huge flocks of birds fleeing, and a very strange creature watching them. Hildur chases it to a cliff where we get a fantastic 2 page wide shot of the landscape and the new landmass, which is in the shape of a decomposed skull.
It’s a great image, but it’s the reverse view of them climbing down the rock face that grabbed my attention. Gigantic fingers running a long the cliff, signifying and massive hand protruding from the ground. At this point I was laser focused on what was developing. When the get to the bottom, there are some great panels of them getting closer and closer from their POV. The cave they speak of looks more and more like a mouth, complete with rock shaped teeth and a huge tongue sprawled outwards.
In true horror form, Hildur is determined to enter and satiate her curiosity. The camp for the night, and Hildur is sure she’s being watched. When she looks outside her tent there is a human silhouette in the back of the throat waving at her. When the rest of the crew awakes, Hildur is no where to be found, her dog left behind. With the hot sun rising, and a sandstorm approaching, there’s nowhere for them to go but inside.
Crafting a Story Thats Into The Unbeing
Zac Johnson is crafting an engaging science fiction horror tale here that by the end of issue one had me egging for more! The character development in such a small time frame has already been rather deep. It’s little hints and clues that tell us who this scientists are in a natural way. There’s no over explanations or heavy handed dialogue.
Hayden Sherman’s Art Raises The Bar
Zac Johnson builds a rocket in terms of storytelling, and Hayden Sherman takes it to another galaxy. The artwork in this issue is beautiful, jarring, and wildly imaginative. After enjoying his work on Dark Spaces: Dungeon, I wouldn’t have expected anything less. Landscapes and backgrounds are minimalist, but still set the scene in a way that draws your eye to the page. In that way I believe he lets the colors do the work.
Speaking of colors, Hayden Sherman uses them in out of the box ways. In Into The Unbeing, Sherman uses them in unique lighting situations with skin color. Grey, red, blue, pink, even flat black are used as shades of skin color to accent the environments characters are in.
My favorite artists are magicians with lines, and Sherman brings the skills in that arena. details in wood, rocks, even skin make each so immersive. It’s the line work that makes the mouth of the foreign land mass so detailed and real. It creates feeling of Megalophobia and Vorarephobia that can make your skin crawl, even if you don’t suffer from those fears.
Everything Points to 9/10
Overall, Into The Unbeing has me locked in and starving for more. The use of real science with physical anomalies and unnatural environments make everything feel grounded and familiar while also alien and almost supernatural. The characters also feel real, tangible, and relatable. There is something so much bigger brewing underneath all of this and it’s going to be a pleasure to watch the layers being peeled back to reveal it all.
