Re-reading .... Black Science: Vol. 6 - Forbidden Realms and Hidden Truths

So, as I move into the latter half of re-reading (and, in the case of the final five issues, first time reading) the entire series of Black Science, I'm now finding myself more pumped than ever to head round that final turn as I see the end of this rollercoaster ride heading my way.

The cover to Black Science
#26

Now, if you've just found this post and wanna start at the beginning of my inane waffle, you can find the prior instalments here:

Volume 1 - How to Fall Forever
Volume 2 - Welcome, Nowhere
Volume 3 - Vanishing Point
Volume 4 - Godworld
Volume 5 - True Atonement

But, for the here and now I'm going delve back in where I left off and talk about Volume 6 - Forbidden Realms and Hidden Truths.

(As usual, fair warning about spoilers!!!)

Issues 26 - 30, the contents of Black
Science Volume 6 - Forbidden Realms
Hidden Truths

Volume 6 picks up where volume 5 left off, with Grant and Pia McKay back home but in a spot of trouble as Grant has been thrown into a insane asylum after being (falsely) accused of kidnapping his kids by (the still alive) Kadir, who himself is now married to Grant's ex-wife, Sara, and living with her and Pia, who has been threatened into silence by the Kingpin-esque Mr Block, who wants Grant to build more Pillars for the magnate's own gain.

"And deep breath."

However, when the dimensionaut suit tracker Grant gave her goes off, Pia sets about investigating this new signal, confident in her belief that brother Nate has gotten home. However, this is not to be when Pia uncovers a cavern of ghost snakes created by 'Chandra' under Hong Kong, as they begin an invasion of the prime world. From this point though it's reintroductions a plenty as the world is besieged by every major player encountered so far as friends, enemies and some equally powerful new faces appear in a fight to change the Eververse for good!

Yet another suit for Grant to be a
superhero in!!!

Now, as I wrote this, two things have just occurred to me; 1. I should really get a job writing the sales pitch for comics (if Previews are hiring, I'm available for the job) and 2. This is, without a doubt, the most frenetic, fast paced and action packed arc since saving the Roman world in volume 3.

I absolutely loved this volume, which made up for the True Atonement arc and, in fact, probably gave me a greater appreciation of it as both now felt like parts of one big story. As with the last volume, this one lines up split leads in Pia and Grant (with a little bit of Kadir), although here it is more pronounced and obvious as the story jumps back and forth within the issues instead of from one issue to the next. I thought that was a great change of the story as not only did it become less about Grant and more about the world in general, but it also showed how similar the younger and elder McKay are after their resolution previously.

The Anrachist League of
Scientists are together again!

Here, I felt that we got to see in very different but also quite similar ways how McKay's are actually a heroic bunch. Grant, despite his newly bestowed impairment thanks to Doxta last time around, still manages to play the superhero incredibly well here, once again taking to the skies (where does he keep getting these jetpacks) to save Brian. Meanwhile, Pia shows so much bravery as she not only leads the charge against the ghosts (called Zirates, apparently), but taking on Grant's curse when there is no other choice in order to thwart another enemy (also, I loved their shared internal introspection, and how Pia mused 'is it hereditary').

Once again, Kadir's plans
haven't gone to plan.

Of course, there is also Kadir, who despite the limited focus compared to the other two, continued to be equally important in my eyes. I really like Kadir, he's incredibly complex in a lot of ways and makes me think of 'Dr Smith' from Lost in Space (the new series) in how his mind works. He could be, if this was a different story, the hero of the piece because all he wants to is to stop the use of the Pillar (and get the girl, like every good hero). Unfortunately for him, not only is the girl not his (well, he did marry her, but he also lied to get there), but when it comes to being the hero, he screws it up pretty badly here as that's all he seems to do.

And it's because of this, that I think the volume's title 'Forbidden Realms and Hidden Truths is based on. In the letters column of issue 30, Rick Remender states that this is where McKay's 'Chickens come home to roost' and no other words in the entire issue could be more apt a description. This is because, throughout this arc everyone who was ever a threat makes their presences known as the world goes to hell; Har'Logh (who Kadir unwittingly let escape), the Zarites, the Millipedes, Doxta (who surprised me with her quick return) all return to cause chaos and effectively help this entire arc be the confirmation that Kadir and the Shaman were right; this 'Black Science' cannot be controlled!

Welcome back Shawn! I've
missed your rather daft jokes.

Fortunately, there was good to offset all this bad as Shawn, Nate and Krolar (the little alien guy who stuck with Nate) all return to the fray in a very superheroic fashion, joined by new allies of the Legion of Ethical Champions, which just happens to include a variant of the Shaman. I remember when I first read these issues what a sense of relief to have these three reappear so we know what happened to them. This time, however, with the gift of foresight, that relief still remained, as it felt to me that their re-emergence came at the right time in order to impart some hope on a situation that was looking rather hopeless.

Of course, they are not the only returnees as Brian is also back and I loved his back and forth with Grant during a high paced chase scene as both were escaping the Asylum and, with it, some Zirates intent on utilizing Grant's (missing) intelligence for themselves. All throughout that chase it really felt like brothers actually bickering, while still supporting each other and it made me sad that we never got Brian from the beginning of the series. And then, there was the brief comeback of 'Hal', who I find as another enjoyable character and also, like Brian, a great foil for McKay. Unfortunately, unlike Brian, 'Hal' didn't get much of a return, but I loved the sass he gave to Block as the latter was looking to escape (obviously, he spent far too much time with McKay on Godworld), and his own form of resistance to Block's orders gave him his own nice hero moment as it assisted in the bad guy's demise.

Ouch! What a way to go
(even for Block).

Speaking of Block, I found myself to be rather disappointed over his sudden and rather anti-climatic seeming exit both during my initial read and on this occasion. That said, as I write this, I've realised that his demise is very much part and parcel of what the arc as a whole is trying to say. This is because, almost from the very beginning, Block has been depicted as something of a monster. From the way he is spoken about to the actions of his doppelgangers, We've always been shown a man who prides his own greed above all other things. This was confirmed when we finally met the 'real deal' who, rather than question whether or not he should, simply took the Pillar for his own selfish ends. In the end, I feel he had to die because his greed, almost intrinsically tied to the pillar itself, was doomed to fail along with his misguided belief that he could control it. However, one thing that I never noticed on the first read through is the reference Block made during his escape that this world was not 'his' world. This made me wonder 'where is his Pillar?' Shame we'll never find out now.

Surrounding on all sides. This is pretty
much the scene which sums up the arc.

Just quickly, there is a question I wanted to air about 'Chandra' who, toward the end of the arc, displayed some rather empathic concerns about her species 'actions' and it's impact on the people of this world. I thought this was strange that this entity would feel this way after possibly countless similar actions and it got me wondering if Chandra's humanity was having an impact on the Zirate inhabiting her even if she was not in control.

Now, this totally doesn't deserve to be right at the bottom, but I had no way to segue into the topic. Also, I'm not really very good at analysing art compared to story (if you can even say I'm good at that). However, I'm just going to come right out and say again; Matteo Scalera's work on this seriously freaking unreal!!!! Of course, I've said that on every single arc thus far but I think it is here, in this arc, where Scalera really shows how phenomenal his work is. I could try and talk about what I love about his work, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words and so, I'm simply putting up a load of panels which I absolutely adore:

Every single one of these panels is (in my opinion) out of this world. They are mad, over the top, exploding (some of them literally) with colour (again thanks to Moreno Dinisio) and, above all,are unlike anything I have ever seen in my life.

I mean we get two panels of characters being crushed/sliced in half and their eyeball rolls away. I mean WTF?!?!?!?!?!

What's more, he did most (if not all) of this with a Broken arm. WOW!!!

"Regains composure."

Well, this doesn't look good.

Once again, I've rambled on way too much but, because I don't know what else I can say about this volume of Black Science, I'm just going to sum up by saying that Forbidden Realms and Hidden Truths is a typical Rick Remender story I.e. It is one brutal arc where death and destruction await on every panel of every page.

However, that doesn't change the fact that I was absolutely in love with these five issues and how as they were a rollercoaster ride which nicely built off of the set up from Volume 5 and sets us up further still for a seriously action packed end to what is probably the second act (With Issues 1-16 being act one, 22-34 being act two and the Godworld arc and upcoming eighth volume being almost small intermission in order to regroup.)

So with that, bring on the end of the second act, bring on Volume 7 -Extinction is the Rule!