Heavy Metal Magazine invites readers to experience a cutting-edge, colorful, complex world of science fiction in Black Beacon, a new story in the fabled monthly anthology. A tale of intensity, both in philosophical quandary and gut-wrenching action, this new running saga will follow human refugee and historian Niko and alien policeman Bar as they navigate the entropy-laden society of a galaxy-sized alien Dyson sphere, searching for answers to a simple question: even if we’re not alone in the universe, does that matter if we can't get along?
Premiering in Heavy Metal Magazine #306, Black Beacon, written by Ryan K. Lindsay with art by Sebastián Píriz, imagines a team of human explorers arriving upon a massive Dyson sphere in space, a theoretical artificial world built around a sun to harness its energy, after receiving an alien message inviting all races across the universe to journey there to forge a new community based in “connection and understanding.” Upon landing, Niko, the sole member of the team to disembark, finds the planet in utter disarray, with a multitude of exotic alien races having already colonized every section of the surface (called “plates”), and seemingly no room left for new refugees. When asked about parallels to contemporary society, such as the U.S. Southern Border controversy, Lindsay acknowledged the influence, saying, “we should build empathy with those just trying to find the future.”
Putting the human representative of the story into the least powerful position was a 'by design' choice so we could all view the connections Niko builds in this new world through a lens not distorted by a sense of ownership or control. I'm not setting out to talk about one specific moment in our history, but more so trying to open up the concept that everyone has moments where they move or go somewhere new and that we should be more open to seeing this as not being fueled by just one thing.
Black Beacon takes a maximalist style to storytelling, immediately throwing the reader into a veritable cauldron of systemic issues inherent upon this world from the perspective of characters whose perceptiveness and inquisitive natures provide an ethical intricacy and experiential immersiveness rarely seen in the comics medium. “Exploring why people make their decisions and call themselves to action has been something I've wanted to explore with Niko and Bar,” said Lindsay, calling his approach to their relationship “a peek into how people connect for safety, and what can be considered to best act for the future.” He cited their struggles within the broken world of the Dyson sphere as emblematic of a core problem in modern society, a kind of Hobbesian allegory of the individual vs. society. “How do they view such a gigantic issue of aggressive colonialism when they come up against it, and what can two people actually do?”
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Complimenting Lindsay’s comprehensive scheme, artist Píriz provides lavish design and visual flair in bringing the world of Black Beacon to life. Taking influence from Heavy Metal founder Moebius, Píriz brings an almost fanciful imaginative quality that also ekes a certain dystopian air around the edges that grants the work a vivid sense of impending doom. “Moebius' worlds are amazing and all he does makes you want to be in the drawing, flying with Arzach through those landscapes,” he said. “We aspired to create something that feels that way.”
Píriz noted that the sheer number of different races of aliens in the story made it tempting to just “go crazy” on character creation, “but yeah, then you have to figure out serious stuff and you can't just be driven by having fun...it has to work, so there's details here and there that should help them feel grounded and somehow real.” He described his method of plotting alien designs:
We have the [large slug-like] Xed, which you start to see in Chapter 1, and my first idea was that they've had servants for so long that the species simply lost their arms. But then you need them to hold onto something in the story, so they ended up having thin appendages that most of the time are stuck to their bodies. That happens with expressions too: how do you draw a terrified guy when they have a group of slug-like antennas instead of a face? It ends up being a balance game between weird and relatable.
Will Niko and Bar ever reach their dream of a more universal connection between races? Black Beacon kicks off in Heavy Metal Magazine #306, on sale now, continuing in serial form and soon to be released as single issues in the Heavy Metal Elements line.