While you could say the book started with a forward by James Robinson, and you would be right, the actual story started off like an episode of Lost in Space that had just ingested a dozen energy drinks.  Right out of the gate we are treated to a chase sequence that really sets up the pace for the first issue, and most of the book too.  As you make your way through the first chapter, that pace does not let down for an instant for it is a race against time and it is a race that our protagonist must win.  Not only is our little group a lot like the Space Family Robinson, but also much like the Fantastic Four, albeit a dysfunctional one at best.  They are trapped not in time, but stuck hurtling through dimensions and their goal is to get home, if at all possible.

Our hero and leader is Grant McKay, who is quite similar to Reed Richards or Dr. Robinson, but not so perfect and more real world.  He has the wife and the kids, is a genius and likes to buck authority, but he is also a damaged man who cheats on his wife with Rebecca, another member of the Anarchist League of Scientists.  And while he would not win father or husband of the year, he is a leading man that you can get behind because of his flaws that make him truly human.  He could be you, whereas nobody could be Reed Richards in any reality.  These flaws become known during the adventures our team go on, mainly to cause strife and discord but Remender gives our hero enough gumption to not let it bother him as he strives to do what is best for all.

Every Reed Richards needs a Doom and for every Dr. Robinson there is a Dr. Smith and in this book, it is Grant’s boss Kadir.  He is a man who likes to think he knows best and who thinks he is the leader of the group simply because he is their employer.  He is a jealous man who also thinks himself a top scientist with an ego that knows no bounds; yet he is also a small man and a coward that the rest of the group will soon come to learn about him.  Whether you love him or hate him, he adds a unique dynamic to the team as they must be not only on the lookout for dangers from without, but from within as well.

So it is that we follow Grant and the team throughout the book as they try and get home using an invention he created known as the Pillar that has been sabotaged by someone on the team.  It will not be an easy task as every time they breach dimensions, there is no way of knowing where they are going to end up or for how long each jump will be.  They need tech to fix it, but there is no guarantee that where they end up will have the parts they need, all they can do is simply go along for the ride.  Remender heaps on the suspense and the thrills and the six issues that comprise this first volume pass by so fast, you want to go back and re-read them all again.

Matteo Scalera, recently of Secret Avengers fame, joins Remender on the journey and together they paint incredible portraits of science-fiction wonder for our dimensionauts to traverse.  From a breathtakingly beautiful planet populated with sentient bipedal frogs and fish people to a world that is ensnared in a World War type scenario between Germans and the natives of an unexplored continent who are armed with superior weaponry and magic, everything just leaps off the page at you under Scalera’s pencils.  The action is fast, furious and frenetic and Scalera gives it an energy that many artists are unable to do.  His character work is fantastic, giving them all distinct looks from the children to future Grant to the various women that accompany them.  It also helps to have a good colourist and Dean White who provides the painted art adds an extra layer of awesome to those pencils.

The ending of Black Science comes not so much as a surprise as it involves a death and Remender seems to have no problem killing off any number of members of the cast, but it was a shock and only because of the twist he gives it.  Readers should also remember that Remender has been leaving fans with surprise endings and cliff-hangers for years now.  The fact of the matter is it came out of left-field and changes the dynamic of the book greatly for the next volume.  That too is a good thing as it also shows that our creative team is not going to play it safe and we can expect more action, excitement and surprises in the future.  The one thing you can say about Black Science is that while it might echo Lost in Space or Fantastic Four in the minutiae, it is bigger and bolder and grander and a whole lot of fun, and it is definitely a brilliant new science-fiction epic that you should be picking up if you are not.

5 out of 5