Noted graphic novel and art book publisher Magnetic Press has teamed up with Horrible Future to premiere their first original work: Black Box Chronicles, a science-fiction anthology dedicated to mankind’s exploration of space and far beyond throughout multiple generations. Horrible Future founders Mark Schey and Chris Northrop aren’t limiting themselves to just print — the anthology acts more as an introduction to the world, its inhabitants, and their stories, which can be further explored in digital, audio, print, video, and interactive spaces.
Black Box Chronicles welcomes you to The Great Outward Expansion, an age in the future where mankind has taken to space to colonize other planets and solar systems. Advanced technology allows for humanity’s insatiable curiosity to be forever fed, but that begs the question: What’s the limit? Is there one? What final border remains that we’ve never dared to cross? As it happens, there’s a Scavenger who believes he’s on the brink of crossing that last bastion, all thanks to his collection of black boxes, each containing precious data from eons of spacecraft that could be the key to unlocking what happens when we go into “The Great Dark”.
This collection of 15 interconnected short stories, designed to lay the groundwork for the Black Box universe, will be told by some of the industry’s most lauded artists and writers. Horrible Future founders Mark Schey and Chris Northrop have put together a team of seasoned talent from around the world, including David Mack (Daredevil, Kabuki), Michael Avon Oeming (Powers, Bulletproof Monk), Zach Howard (Hellboy, Wild Blue Yonder), Eryk Donovan (Memetic, Quantum Teens are Go), Marco Fodera (Nathan Never), Gavin Smith (Star Trek: Mirrorverse), Toru Terada (Small World), David Messina (Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca, 3Keys), Giovanni Rigano (Global, Artemis Fowl), Drew Moss (The Crow, Red Sonja), Christian Dibari (Revolvers, Providence of Madness), Taki Soma (Sleeping While Standing, Bitch Planet), and Mario Alberti (Spider-man and the Fantastic Four, The Wall).
As a companion to the anthology, a world-building art book, titled Black Box Design Space, will give fans an encyclopedic view of the many locations, technologies, and other amazing aspects of this new future. Concept artist Shane Molina provides full, vivid illustrations, allowing readers to become even more lost in the Black Box world through comprehensive lore and in-depth diagrams.
“We love hard sci-fi like The Expanse and thought pieces like Black Mirror. If Black Mirror is a shadowy reflection of humanity using technology, the Black Box is what happens after the technology kills you,” says Schey. “We wanted to create stories of that caliber but focused on a destination that few have dared to explore: The barrier between life and death. We wanted to take a scientific — albeit fantastic — approach to a subject that is normally seeped in the supernatural, exploring some alternate ideas about what happens in the last moments of a person’s life from a hard sci-fi perspective. While we don’t pose any concrete answers, our stories follow future explorers committed to figuring it out once and for all.”
If you’re excited for the anthology and the companion art book, other supplementary content is in the works including short stories, tabletop roleplaying games (based on Magnetic’s D6MV System), and even original music from on the stories’ characters.
BLACK BOX CHRONICLES will drop on Kickstarter, Tuesday May 16th, with special limited hardcover editions of both the anthology and the Design Space art book. The campaign-exclusive hardcover edition of the anthology will feature artwork by David Mack, while the general trade paperback edition will feature artwork by Shane Molina. A limited, deluxe slipcase set will feature both hardcover books inside a blue foil-laden slipcase with magnetic closure. Other campaign exclusives will include resin miniatures of some of the ships and drones featured in the series, a deck of premium playing cards featuring design motifs and artwork from inside the universe, and other unlockable bonus items that will be revealed at launch.
“On its surface, Black Box is a cool collection of dark, character-focused snapshots,” says Mike Kennedy, Magnetic Press’s Publisher, “but when taken as a whole and looked at together from an altitude, Black Box becomes a unique sci-fi series about the one thing technology and science can’t concretely explain: What happens after death. While Mark and Chris aren’t trying to make any theological claims with this series, the journey the characters take in their individual search for answers opens up some fascinating possibilities and intriguing reading.”
Interested readers and fans are encouraged to visit www.blackboxchronicles.com to pre-register for the upcoming campaign. Pre-registered and early backers will receive a limited-edition linen two-sided poster by Shane Molina added to their pre-order for free.
The limited pre-order campaign will run for 18 days, ending June 2nd at 5pm CST. Books are expected to ship to backers and bookstores in October.
