Black Science vol. 8: Later Than You Think

As the penultimate volume in this series, vol. 8 certainly reads like one that’s getting everything set up for the big finale.  It begins some time after the cataclysmic events of vol. 7 with Grant and his (ex)wife Sara having jumped to a dimension that has dedicated itself to looking after people like them.  By that I mean other Grants and other Saras. It turns out that the Grants and Saras like them, who have lost their Nates and Pias to something they term the Neververse, are causing irreparable harm to the Eververse in their quests to get their kids back.  The solution: Multiversal therapy to help the former couple come to peace with who they are and their current lot in life.

There’s a surprising amount of uplift in the first two issues of this volume as we get to see the form the therapy takes and its effect on Grant and Sara.  It’s actually kind of nice when compared against the rest of the series, which has usually been about when things will go wrong and how bad they’ll get. Naturally this doesn’t last as the worst-case scenario of the series — it involves an anti-matter dimension — comes to pass, which leads Grant and Sara to make a last-ditch dive to the center of the Eververse to try and find out what has happened to their kids.

The answers they find there aren’t particularly satisfying for themselves or the reader.  Lots of comparisons are made between the center layer and “Heaven” which feels like a cheap shot at religion rather than something resembling insight.  It isn’t until the bait-and-switch moments of the last couple pages that “Black Science’s” greatest failing comes sharply into focus. It’ll always be a series that teases big changes and developments, but not one that actually has the balls to follow through on them.  It’s a realization which inspires little confidence that Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera will deliver a finale that will be anything resembling worthwhile.