Review: Black Box Chronicles

Every now and again a book comes along that blows you away in both scope of idea and quality of production. Black Box Chronicles, from Magnetic Press, under the creator-ship of Mark Schey and Chris Northop is one such feast of imagination.

The book takes two simple ideas and merges them together to create a greater whole. Firstly, you have the AI Black Boxes, an improvement of the ubiquitous pieces of equipment that monitors modern day flight especially helpful when something goes wrong. The second idea is that the human race has, as always, looked to the stars and began the Great Outward Expansion. Now, with death a seemingly constant companion, a scavenger is looking for the Black Boxes, hoping to find the secret of the Great Dark!

Co-creators Mark Schey and Chris Northrop have between them created worlds that have their own vibe and feel with links to each story. Given that the idea that the boxes are effectively the flight recording of imminent demise, you easily forget the impending doom with the well paced writing coupled with a variety of differing worlds. With that said, for all the different art, the writers, either together or singularly, ensure that we are in a universe of truly infinite diversity and infinite combinations. The extent of world building is next level!

The art and the colors, as stated, are provided by a wide range of artists, covering the gamut of styles from cyberpunk, to abstract with everything in-between with a touch of cheesecake thrown in for good measure. The color scheme reflects an ever-changing universe, though Flavio Disenza goes a long way to adding consistency to the changing planets. I have to say, that for a book that supplies a myriad of art over a mammoth 172 pages, there is not one style that I didn’t like or appreciate. Well done to all (see below for full credits). On top of writing duties, Chris Northrop also provides the lettering with a touch of variation a break from the more uniform text of the majority of the book.

I was lucky enough to see this book a little while ago on Outside the Panels (click here to view) and I was thoroughly impressed by Mark and Chris. Their visions merge and coalesce to build a universe that is a true wonder to explore.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art- 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Mark Schey & Chris Northrop
Art by; Zach Howard, Eryk Donovan, Marco Foderá, Gavin Smith
Toru Terada, David Messina, Giovanni Rigano, Drew Moss, Michael Avon Oeming
Christian Dibari & Mario Alberti
Coilors by; Flavio Dispenza, K. Michael Russell and Simon Gough
Published by; Magnetic Press / Horrible Future

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network