Comics Review: "Void" HC by H. Hanna & S. Phillips

- by Señor Editor, 17 October 2014

If there’s one thing science fiction thrillers and horrors taught me, it’s that space is goddamn terrible. Things have a tendency to go horribly wrong in space and before you know it, you regret ever getting on a space ship in the first place. Awful as space can be, it certainly lends itself well to intriguing works of fiction, as is the case with Herik Hanna’s and Sean Phillips’ “Void”.

“Void” was originally released in 2012 in Belgium, but this hardcover is the first time the comic is available in English. I know the writer Herik Hanna from “Bad Ass”, but it’s the art of the highly-talented Sean Phillips (probably most well-known for his crime comics with Ed Brubaker) that made me interested in reviewing this book when I found out Titan Comics is releasing it.

Goliath 01 is a prison ship, irreparably damaged when the stellar winds hit its hull with thousands of bits of stardust. The ship’s captain, Colonel Mercer (known by his crew as “No Mercy”, although nobody dares say that name to his face) has seemingly gone insane, forbidding his crew to leave the ship, and killing both his subordinates and the prisoners. All prisoners but one – John, who is left stranded on the ruined ship, hiding from the insane Mercer.

In time, the Colonel will no doubt find John and kill him like he did the rest of the ship’s passangers, which is why John needs to do everything he can to shoot Mercer first.

Mercer getting busy with his crew.

This would all be well and good if it wasn’t for the fact, that all that hiding around, with massacred bodies lying everywhere and no one to talk to, coupled with the fact that ship lost a lot of air, has made John pretty mentally unstable. So mentally unstable that he sometimes loses track of what he needs to do, because he starts talking with a pile of vomit, or hallucinates his naked high school girlfriend. Things we all do when we’re down on our luck.

Before he completely loses it, John needs to kill Mercer, get to one of the escape pods that are still intact, and get the hell out of Goliath 01.

John is being watched.

This is a thriller with many psychological horror elements. If you enjoyed movies like “Sunshine” or “Event Horizon”, then there’s a similar kind of terror present in “Void”. Losing one’s mind when you’re in deep space and completely isolated is a very potent theme, and Hanna uses it very well, building up the tension throughout the story. The way the story is presented to us, we have a sneaking suspicion that things that may not be exactly the way we’re told they are (no spoilers from me, though).

Phillips delivers his usual stunning artwork, and it’s quite refreshing seeing him drawing a story set in space. He also gets to draw a lot of creepy and weird things, especially when John and his sanity slowly begin parting ways. Phillips’ art is complemented by the colors done by Hubert (Yes, “Hubert”. The colorist goes by one name only.), which are appropriately moody and grim. There are moments where the colors look flat, but overall the whole thing works pretty well.

If you’re a science fiction fan and “losing your mind in space” stories are your bread and butter, “Void” certainly hits all the right notes. It’s a good comic, with a disturbing story and some really nice art. We don’t get a lot of comics similar to this one, so it’s all the more reason to pick up Titan’s hardcover edition.


Pick it up! Or maybe you already did? What are your favorite "Oh my God, I'm losing my mind in spaaaaace!" movies, books or comics? Leave us a comment!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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