Black Science Volume 2 Explained: Multiverse Chaos Continues

In the swirling vortex of Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera’s Black Science, Volume 2—titled The Compound Motherfucker—escalates the frenzy from its predecessor. What began as a groundbreaking experiment in interdimensional travel spirals deeper into unrelenting pandemonium. Grant McKay, the flawed inventor behind the Pillar device, finds himself and his ragtag crew plummeting through ever more nightmarish realities. This volume, collecting issues #6-10 from Image Comics, doesn’t just continue the chaos; it amplifies it into a symphony of cosmic horror, personal betrayal, and raw human desperation.

Remender’s narrative prowess shines as he weaves science fiction with visceral family drama, forcing readers to confront the perils of unchecked ambition. Scalera’s kinetic artwork, paired with Moreno DiNisio’s colours, captures the disorienting rush of multiversal leaps, where every panel pulses with urgency. If Volume 1 introduced the hook of ‘black science’—the forbidden physics of reality-tearing—Volume 2 plunges us into its consequences, exploring how addiction to discovery devours the soul. This isn’t mere adventure; it’s a cautionary tale of hubris amid infinite possibilities.

What makes this arc stand out is its refusal to offer respite. Each new world heightens the stakes, blending body horror, existential dread, and poignant emotional beats. From cultish zealots to biomechanical abominations, the multiverse here feels alive, malevolent, and intimately tied to McKay’s unraveling psyche. Let’s dissect the volume’s key elements, from plot machinations to thematic depths, revealing why Black Science remains a pinnacle of modern comics storytelling.

Recapping the Precipice: From Volume 1 into the Abyss

To grasp Volume 2’s unrelenting momentum, a brief bridge from the first volume proves essential. Grant McKay, once a celebrated scientist ostracised for his radical theories, activates the Pillar—a device harnessing ‘black science’ to punch holes between dimensions. Accompanied by his research team, including the devout Katsu, sardonic assistant Poe, and security chief Raymond, Grant’s field test catapults them into a chain of hostile worlds: a dinosaur-infested jungle, a fungal nightmare realm, and a saccharine atomic suburbia warped by radiation.

Stranded after the Pillar malfunctions, the group splinters amid survival struggles and revelations. Grant’s estranged wife Sara and daughter Pia, pulled into the chaos against their will, expose his personal failures. By Volume 1’s close, they’ve crash-landed on a world dominated by the Anu—a fanatical cult worshipping atomic power as divine fire. This sets the stage for Volume 2, where escape seems futile, and internal fractures threaten to doom them before external horrors can.

The Compound Motherfucker: A New Hellscape Unveiled

Volume 2 opens with the crew imprisoned within the Anu’s towering Compound Motherfucker—a monolithic fortress pulsing with radioactive energy and ritualistic fervour. This eponymous structure embodies the arc’s central horror: a society built on blind faith in destructive power, mirroring Grant’s own reckless genius. The Anu, garbed in hazmat robes and chanting litanies to the ‘Eternal Flame,’ subject captives to brutal trials, forcing confrontations with irradiated mutants and hallucinatory visions.

Key Plot Twists and Multiversal Leaps

The narrative hurtles forward through a series of desperate Pillar jumps, each landing more perilous than the last:

  • The Anu World: Initial captivity breeds paranoia. Katsu’s growing zealotry clashes with Grant’s atheism, while Sara uncovers hidden agendas within the team.
  • The Language Eaters: A realm where words manifest as devouring entities, turning communication into a lethal gamble. Here, lies and truths alike summon ravenous beasts, amplifying interpersonal tensions.
  • The Flesh Curtains: A biomechanical hell of living tissues and parasitic vines, where bodies merge in grotesque symbiotes—a visceral metaphor for codependency.
  • The Atomic Family Idyll: A deceptive paradise shattered by underlying decay, echoing the McKay family’s fractured bonds.

These transitions aren’t mere set pieces; Remender uses them to propel plot via betrayals. Raymond’s violent tendencies erupt, Poe’s cynicism masks deeper loyalties, and Katsu’s defection to the Anu cult delivers a gut-punch. Meanwhile, Grant’s attempts to recalibrate the Pillar expose its instability—each jump erodes its structure, hinting at an impending collapse of all realities.

Character Arcs Amid the Maelstrom

At its core, Black Science thrives on flawed humanity thrust into the inhuman. Volume 2 deepens these portraits, transforming archetypes into multifaceted tragedies.

Grant McKay: The Addicted Visionary

Grant evolves from arrogant pioneer to haunted penitent. His mantra, ‘The onion theory of reality’—peeling infinite layers—fuels his drive, but Volume 2 reveals it as addiction. Flashbacks intercut with multiversal horrors show his descent: abandoning Sara for the lab, prioritising discovery over daughter Pia’s pleas. Scalera renders Grant’s breakdowns in jagged, splintered panels, his face a mosaic of regret and mania.

Sara and Pia: Pillars of Resilience

Sara, no damsel, emerges as the moral compass. Her ingenuity aids escapes, while her fury at Grant catalyses growth. Pia, the wide-eyed child, witnesses atrocities that scar her innocence, yet her empathy binds the group. Their arc culminates in a heart-wrenching reunion fraught with unspoken resentments, underscoring the personal cost of Grant’s ‘science’.

The Crew’s Fractured Loyalties

Katsu’s radicalisation into Anu priesthood explores faith versus reason, Poe’s biting wit conceals trauma, and Raymond’s brutality forces reckonings. These dynamics propel the chaos, as alliances shift like sand in the multiversal winds.

Themes of Chaos: Addiction, Hubris, and Infinite Consequences

Remender layers profound ideas beneath the spectacle. Central is the addiction analogy: the Pillar as a drug, each jump a hit yielding euphoria then withdrawal. Grant’s highs—euphoric revelations in bizarre worlds—crash into lows of loss and monstrosity, critiquing scientific overreach akin to Oppenheimer’s bomb or Frankenstein’s folly.

Multiverse chaos symbolises life’s unpredictability; infinite realities mean infinite failures, yet choice persists. Family dysfunction amplifies this—Grant’s neglect births generational trauma, healed only through sacrifice. Remender draws from quantum mechanics and chaos theory, grounding pulp horror in intellectual rigour, while Scalera’s art evokes psychedelic disorientation, with swirling colours and distorted anatomies mirroring psychological fracture.

Artistic Mastery: Scalera’s Visual Symphony

Matteo Scalera’s work elevates Volume 2 to visual poetry. Panels fracture during jumps, mimicking reality’s tear; double-page spreads engulf readers in alien vistas—from throbbing flesh landscapes to word-devouring voids. DiNisio’s palette shifts per world: searing oranges for Anu fires, sickly greens for fungal horrors, amplifying immersion.

Character designs evolve with trauma—Grant’s eyes hollow, Sara’s posture steels—while action sequences burst with kinetic energy. Letterer Rus Wooton’s SFX integrate seamlessly, their jagged fonts evoking screams across dimensions. This synergy makes chaos tangible, a feat rare in comics.

Reception and Legacy in Comic History

Upon release in 2014-2015, Volume 2 garnered acclaim, with critics praising its blend of The Manhattan Projects weirdness and Saga‘s heart. Remender’s Image tenure post-Marvel solidified his indie cred, while Scalera’s star rose alongside Dean Haspiel collaborations. Sales thrived, spawning trades, hardcovers, and absolute editions.

In broader context, it anticipates multiverse trends in Everything Everywhere All at Once or Marvel’s incursions, yet predates them with grittier edge. Its influence echoes in modern sci-fi comics like Paper Girls or East of West, proving Remender’s prescience. Fans laud its re-readability—easter eggs like recurring symbols (the onion, the pillar’s glyphs) reward scrutiny.

Conclusion

Black Science Volume 2 doesn’t merely continue the chaos; it crystallises it into a masterpiece of multiversal mayhem. Grant McKay’s odyssey warns that peeling reality’s layers risks unravelling the self, yet amid horror lies redemption’s flicker. Remender and Scalera craft a tale where science’s promise curdles into nightmare, family endures as anchor, and infinite worlds reflect our finite flaws.

As the Pillar teeters toward oblivion, Volume 2 leaves us breathless, pondering: in boundless realities, what worlds might we summon—or destroy? This arc cements Black Science as essential reading, a chaotic beacon for comic aficionados craving depth amid dazzle. Dive in, but brace for the fall.

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