Zeb Larson reviews Black Science #14…
As the Dimensionauts struggle to save a helpless reality from the chaos the Pillar has wrought, their newfound heroics are threatened by one of their own. Is Kadir up to his malicious old ways again?
In this issue of Black Science, Grant McKay is finally a choice as to the kind of person he wants to be. The creation of the pillar was supposed to be a step forward for mankind, but thus far it has only left a legacy of destruction and death. The ultimate responsibility for the pillar and all of the damage that it’s caused rests with Grant, and the destruction they’ve seen on this world has pushed the group to a breaking point. I will be discussing spoilers for this issue, so only continue reading if this is not a problem for you.
Grant and Shawn race to find Pia and Sarah as Grant reminisces on his less-than-stellar history as a parent and a father. Grant finds them both badly burned, and with only one dose of adrenaline to restart their hearts, Sarah begs them to use it on Pia. Grant and Shawn flee with Pia, narrowly avoiding a large group of the men who have been pursuing them, and when they meet the others the shaman manages to heal Pia’s other wounds. The Shaman has had enough by now, though, and he angrily rebukes Grant, telling him that he isn’t protecting the group, but instead is protecting reality from the group. Shawn takes his turn and tells Grant, his former mentor, that he refuses to leave this world without undoing the damage done by the pillar. Inspired, Grant takes the Shaman’s source of healing and goes out to try and fix the plague.
This is Grant’s intervention issue, as even his most reliable supporter in the group confront him about their collective behavior. They’re right to do so: what have they managed to accomplish in all of this? All the noblest intentions in the world led them to disaster, over and over again. Grant is fundamentally reckless, a charge which the Shaman levels at him, and it sticks. Grant listens to what they’ve said, maybe finally remembering the words he spoke to Shawn. The real question is whether his heroic transformation is going to be his last act, or if this is the new way forward for the team? I have to wonder whether Remender will let Grant off the hook so easily or whether he’ll let him be a hero, but we’ll see.
Rebecca seems to have her own game here too, as she doesn’t want to see the Pillar disassembled. She’s barely present in this discussion, quite literally lurking at the edges of the argument and muttering. We know what she wants: to save her twin brother. The Pillar is literally the only way that’s going to happen. Yet we also know that using the Pillar for your own ends usually works out disastrously, so it seems unlikely that that will go down the way that she wants it too. Next issue promises to be mostly about her, so some light will be shed on that.
This issue needed to happen, to give Grant an arc and a sign that he might improve. It was hard to imagine that the group would tolerate the constant danger for much longer without speaking up about just what their mission should be. The real question is whether Grant’s next act will be his last one, and whether this is a new direction for the group to go in.
Zeb Larson
https://youtu.be/8HTiU_hrLms?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published May 13, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
