CRASHDOWN, VOL. 1 / Scripts by “COMIC TOM” GARCIA & RYAN SARGEANT / Art and Letters by BEN TEMPLESMITH / Published by MASSIVE PUBLISHING & WHATNOT PUBLISHING

The sun is dying. The Earth is doomed. The last hope of humanity lies on the distant planet dubbed Empyrean. A vast ark will carry what people survive there through space, advanced cryogenics and automated systems preserving them for centuries until they orbit their new home.

The challenges are many and varied. For Empyrean holds many secrets that the advanced scouts of Earth did not detect. Secrets that will prove deadly to the colonists, even before equipment failure and the sins of the old world threaten to destroy them before the planet Empyrean can.

The base plot of Crashdown will be familiar to science-fiction fans. It’s DNA is a gestalt of popular science fiction films, both recent and classic. However, the way these elements are intermingled by “Comic Tom” Garcia and Ryan Sargeant is unique, setting up a solid base for future volumes to build upon.

There are a lot of subplots running through this series. There’s Aliens-style survival horror, as the first landing party encounter a variety of hostile wildlife on the surface of Empyrean. There’s weird Lovecraftian horror, as something begins to talking to botanist Allison Taylor through her wounds. There’s hard science fiction, as the engineering team investigate the mysterious failure of one scientist’s pod. And there’s simple political drama, as it becomes clear that the mission commander has gone mad with power and will kill them all before allowing anyone to question him.

What truly marks Crashdown as a unique comic experience is the artwork. Ben Templesmith, best known for his work on 30 Days of Night, is in fine form throughout the four chapters making up this first volume. The imagery is evocative and memorable, presenting a world that looks truly alien.

Crashdown Vol. 1 has a lot to offer fans of the science-fiction and horror genres. General audiences may not see the appeal, but there is a lot to like in this book. I will be curious to see where this story goes when Crashdown, Vol. 2 comes out.

CRASHDOWN VOL. 1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on January 28, 2025.