What's the Street Date for the Next Issue of Black Science? Any Possibility of a Second Series in the Same Continuity?

I'm all caught up and subscribed to Black Science as of a few days or at most a couple weeks ago (Much like characters in comic books, my sense of time is often somewhat vague. ;) ). Right now, Comixology is listing the next issue and price as "TBD". I think they may have mentioned at the end of the most recent comic that they were taking a few months off. I get the feeling that's something they do once in a while (Just from reading what appeared to be references to it in the past on the letters page and such as I was catching up), because the author is so busy juggling multiple titles, but then they go back to once every 30 days for a while, right?

Have they given any kind of ETA for the next issue? Will it start them off on a once a month pace again for a while until they get to the end of the arc or whatever?

I think the concept of a parallel universes and people traveling between them on a timer without being able to find their way home is a great one, and Black Science puts their own extremely interesting spins on it. I was a big fan of the television show Sliders back in the day.

One nice element of the concept is that it almost literally allows for infinite possibilities. Is there any chance that Image Comics might simultaneously do a second book where a different writer and illustrator put a different of characters in the same general situation of exploring the Onion in the same general continuity, but with different individual and overall story lines? I'd definitely give a book like that a chance! It'd be a nice way to give Black Science readers something else to sink their teeth into that they'd probably like, maybe giving a less experienced author and illustrator team a chance to get their foot in the door, coat-tailing a little on Black Science's much better known author.

And I don't think it would need be too derivative as spin-offs go, just because you've got an infinity of worlds, and the artistic style of the illustrations of Black Science really have their own style that another artist on a new would probably wind up doing very differently. Maybe with a spin-off, it could be more a team of adventurers or thrill seekers, kind of the Sliders route of something invented by a grad student in his basement type deal, or even something somebody stumbles upon after a long night at the bar, and hits the wrong button on, and off he and his friends go to explore the multi-verse. It could have a very different tone just not being a situation where a scientist is overwhelmed with guilt and children are at risk and they are risking destroying universes and stuff, but instead, for example, being a team of drinking buddies and a woman or two having fun, and, you know occasionally screwing up a universe or two. ;) It'd be neat to see that premise flip where maybe people are actually happy to be doing what they're doing, because for them it's an adventure, and, sure, they'd still be lost and trying to get home, but maybe not too eager to find their way home too quickly.

Plenty of other potential routes to go, too.

And it wouldn't hurt Black Science at all, because the two teams need not ever even land on the same world or get involved in the same story, and Black Science could still run on it's own schedule without watering it down by having a second author write the current book to fill in months when Rick isn't available, while maximizing the amount of dimension hopping material Image can sell to fans of the genre.

It'd also make the wait easier when Black Science skips a few months. :) Some months we'd get double the fun, and other times there might only be one series or the other when one or both books take a break.

Any chance it happens?

I feel like this parallel worlds stuff could definitely support multiple books without it getting boring- the same way there are a lot "Superhero defends the world" or "People explore outer space" type comics books, novels, and movies. It really seems like it's own underexplored sub-genre of science fiction to me.

Next issue is scheduled for July 6th.

A spinoff is highly unlikely as Remender is already writing 4 other titles with another on the way later in the year. He seems to have an endless supply of new ideas and doesn't seem very interested in something like a spinoff.

[QUOTE=sven;1945785]Next issue is scheduled for July 6th.[/quote]

Thanks. Should be good summer reading!

[quote]A spinoff is highly unlikely as Remender is already writing 4 other titles with another on the way later in the year. He seems to have an endless supply of new ideas and doesn't seem very interested in something like a spinoff.[/QUOTE]

The concept was that the hypothetical spinoff or other book about travelers through parallel universes would be written by someone else. It might be tied into Black Science in the sense of existing in the same "Onion", but it would be otherwise separate. Sort of the way Superman and Batman are both about Superheroes in the same DC Comics universe, but have different authors and illustrators, and are mostly independent from each other.

So, what I'm talking about wouldn't give Remender anything else to do. It'd be a mostly or entirely unrelated book by a different author with just the similar premise of people lost in a multiverse going from world to world.

I fully realize he's too busy to do a second book personally, but it seems like this genre needn't be limited to just one series or one author anymore than there can only be one book qne one author writing about exploring space and meeting aliens in a starship, or one book and one author writing about time travel, or one book or one author writing about superheroes. :)

Don't get me wrong, Remender is awesome, and doing a great job. I'm just saying like there's plenty of room for other books by other authors as well! :) They could run simultaneously. I'd almost certainly subscribe to both.

[QUOTE=SuperCrab;1945891]Thanks. Should be good summer reading!



The concept was that the hypothetical spinoff or other book about travelers through parallel universes would be written by someone else. It might be tied into Black Science in the sense of existing in the same "Onion", but it would be otherwise separate. Sort of the way Superman and Batman are both about Superheroes in the same DC Comics universe, but have different authors and illustrators, and are mostly independent from each other.

So, what I'm talking about wouldn't give Remender anything else to do. It'd be a mostly or entirely unrelated book by a different author with just the similar premise of people lost in a multiverse going from world to world.

I fully realize he's too busy to do a second book personally, but it seems like this genre needn't be limited to just one series or one author anymore than there can only be one book qne one author writing about exploring space and meeting aliens in a starship, or one book and one author writing about time travel, or one book or one author writing about superheroes. :)

Don't get me wrong, Remender is awesome, and doing a great job. I'm just saying like there's plenty of room for other books by other authors as well! :) They could run simultaneously. I'd almost certainly subscribe to both.[/QUOTE]


It's Remender's world and characters though so he'd still have to oversee it in some way. Maybe someday he'll do something like Mark Millar is doing with Millarworld. It's basically an anthology of stories taken from Millar's old series done by up and coming creators picked by Mr Millar.