| Outer Darkness | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Publication date | November 2018 – 2019 March – June 2020 |
| No. of issues | 15 (6 + 6 + 3) |
| Main character(s) | Captain Joshua Rigg Crew of the Starship Charon Tony Chu (Fusion Cuisine) John Colby (Fusion Cuisine) |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | John Layman Afu Chan [1] [2] |
| Written by | John Layman |
| Artist(s) | Afu Chan Rob Guillory (Fusion Cuisine) |
| Collected editions | |
| Each Other's Throats | ISBN 1-5343-1210-2 |
| Castrophany of Hate | ISBN 1-5343-1370-2 |
| Fusion Cuisine | ISBN 1-5343-1657-4 |
Outer Darkness is an American comic book series published by Image Comics, created by John Layman and Afu Chan, and set in the Image Universe. Set in the far future, the series follows amoral Captain Joshua Rigg and the crew of the starship Charon as they explore the outer darkness of deep space, encountering demonic possessions, hauntings, and cosmic horror as they do so. [3] the title was announced near the end of 2018, running for two six-issue volumes into 2019: Each Other's Throats and Castrophany of Hate , [4] [5] after which it was relaunched in 2020 as Outer Darkness/Chew , a metafictional sequel to Layman's previous series Chew , Rob Guillory returning as a guest artist, the three-issue miniseries collected as Fusion Cuisine . [6] [7]
The series received a generally positive critical reception, and was followed by Chu , a prequel/midquel to Chew. [7]
Millennia after mankind has colonized the galaxy, interstellar travel reveals demons and all manner of supernatural forces to exist in the Outer Darkness of space. After beating out his second mutiny charge in an unconventional approach to preventing his previous crew's deaths, amoral Captain Joshua Rigg is assigned as the new captain of the starship Charon, headed deep into the Outer Darkness on a retrieval mission. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
As Captain Rigg's past is explored, the Charon finds a haunted house in deep space, finding a living nun from the 21st Century trapped inside, who consequently joins the ship's crew. [13]
FDA partners Tony Chu and John Colby are apparently brought forward in time millennia to the starship Charon from during the events to Chew to assist with food-communicating with an alien ambassador. In a plot twist, Tony and John are revealed to have actually been generated from the ship's holodeck "holosseum VRdeos" on the fictional in-universe Chew series. On realising they will be dematerialised on their mission's completion, and learning of their ultimate fates within the narrative of Chew, the duo resolve to bring forth their supporting characters from Chew from before they otherwise would have died, and live lives of their own in the future, only for Demon Chicken Poyo to morph them into "infernals" to take on the crew. Ultimately, Tony and John defeat the demons and relinquish themselves to be destroyed, while D-Bear (now Demon-Bear) is revealed to have escaped in a shuttle (with Poyo as his god-engine), along with several demon succubi he brought up from hell. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
| Issue # | Publication date | Critic rating | Critic reviews | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 2018 | 8.7/10 | 15 | [20] |
| 2 | December 2018 | 7.2/10 | 5 | [21] |
| 3 | January 2019 | 8.6/10 | 5 | [22] |
| 4 | February 2019 | 8.5/10 | 5 | [23] |
| 5 | March 2019 | 8.4/10 | 6 | [24] |
| 6 | April 2019 | 8.1/10 | 4 | [25] |
| Overall | 8.2/10 | 85 | [26] |
| Issue # | Publication date | Critic rating | Critic reviews | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 2019 | 8.9/10 | 8 | [27] |
| 2 | July 2019 | 9.0/10 | 6 | [28] |
| 3 | August 2019 | 9.8/10 | 3 | [29] |
| 4 | September 2019 | 8.9/10 | 3 | [30] |
| 5 | October 2019 | 8.5/10 | 3 | [31] |
| 6 | November 2019 | 8.9/10 | 3 | [32] |
| Overall | 9.0/10 | 39 | [33] |
| Issue # | Publication date | Critic rating | Critic reviews | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 2020 | 9.0/10 | 3 | [34] |
| 2 | May 2020 | 9.0/10 | 1 | [35] |
| 3 | June 2020 | 9.5/10 | 1 | [36] |
| Overall | 9.2/10 | 14 | [37] |
| Title | Material collected | Format | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1: Each Other's Throats | Outer Darkness #1–6 | Trade paperback | May 14, 2019 | 978-1534312104 |
| Volume 2: Castrophany of Hate | Outer Darkness #7–12 | Trade paperback | December 24, 2019 | 978-1534313705 |
| Volume 3: Fusion Cuisine | Outer Darkness/Chew #1–3 | Trade paperback | September 15, 2020 | 978-1534316577 |