Galaxy of Madness looks like Mad Cave’s trippy journey into the abyss. So how do you get readers to follow this without losing them? By relating it to how the existential bits link up with interpersonal relationships.
Galaxy of Madness: A Relatable Cosmic Horror
Magdalene Visaggio approaches a cosmic horror story through the lense of what people try to distance themselves from. That way it feels a little more compelling than curiosity or a case that’s best left undiscovered. A lot of people have strained relationships with what gives them kinship. Sometimes that’s their families, their religion, their jobs, etc. Even more personal is how the plot ties into a conspiracy theory: the universe being a hologram. But it’s not so much the concept as it is about the effect of it. Much like what strains your relationship, discovering something like this is dangerous.
But there is a web of things getting the cast to act on it anyway. While a lot of it is back and forth redundancies, it’s structured for readers to feel what the characters are going through. Like how Vigil Virgo is navigating something that split her apart from her parents. While she rejected her folks’ theory, she’s looking at a discovery with enthusiasm, almost admitting that maybe her parents were onto something. Even if she doesn’t believe that.
A Four Color Universe
Creative couple Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma are known for their out-of-this-world visuals and Galaxy of Madness is no different. Some of the megastructures and ships make it look like a lot was accomplished by the 41st century, but with some things brushed over.
Oeming gives a strong sense of scale with how much empty space can make characters feel overwhelmed. Like when Vigil is almost absorbed by some Monolith-like artifact and pulling herself out gets a slightly distorted panel to sell that effect. Thanks to Soma’s colors highlighting the red bits of Vigil’s outfit the effect of fighting absorption is twice as effective when the rest of it blackens.
As for the lettering by Morgan Martinez, one of the best displays of everyone being on the same page is when pirates speak an alien language. It comes across as casual, even recognizable with some words. Other than displaying how a lot of thought was put into making this universe, there’s a sense of familiarity. Wait… why is something so alien so like an Earth language? Maybe there’s more to that crackpot theory than people think.
Embrace a Galaxy of Madness
This planned 10-issue series is one of the more ambitious things to come out of Mad Cave. By combining mesmerizing visuals with a relatable cosmic horror premise, it has the making of something timeless. It won’t just be curiosity that readers can’t forget, but it will make them think about what pushes them. So for now Galaxy of Madness gets 8.5/10.
But the ink’s not dry yet, so remember to look between the panels.