REVIEW: 'Beyond Real' #1 by Zack Kaplan, Fabiana Mascolo, Toni Fejzula, and Jordie Bellaire

 

BEYOND REAL #1 

Writer: Zack Kaplan

Artist: Jorge Corona, Dennis Menheere, Vincenzo Riccardi, 

Toni Fejzula, Fabiana Mascolo, Liana Kangas

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Publisher: Vault Comics

Release Date: December 13, 2023

An artist's discovery. When struggling artist June is injured in a severe car accident that leaves her boyfriend in a coma, she begins to experience strange visual phenomena. Soon, she's able to see that we are all actually living in a computer simulation. June must set out on a journey of possibility and peril into the metaphysical layers of the simulation to reach the world's creator and save her true love from death.

Score:

★★★★1/2 (4.5/5)

'Beyond Real' #1 by Zack Kaplan has enlisted an impressive list of artists to take readers on quite a journey. Jorge Corona, Dennis Menheere, Vincenzo Riccardi, Toni Fejzula, Fabiana Mascolo, Liana Kangas, and Jordie Bellaire are all expected to bring their talents to this new series for a mind-bending trip through the fabric of our very existence when it's revealed that we're living in a computer simulation.

At the heart of the series are a cute couple, an artist and a scientist, who debate the merits of Simulation Theory where the thought is we're all living in a simulated reality governed like a computer. A terrible accident ignites June's ability to enter that simulation and pierce the veil of reality while also trying to find a way to save her boyfriend from a coma. It's an ambitious sci-fi tale that's part 'Alice in Wonderland' and part 'The Matrix.'

Kaplan has written that the story is "a love letter to artists and creatives everywhere," and certainly is a challenging and welcoming playground for any artist to interpret what lies beyond this reality. Fabiana Mascolo, Toni Fejzula, and Jordie Bellaire make a beautifully grounded story to open up the issue with charming character designs and warm earthy tones. As the story unfolds the art becomes more and more dynamic encompassing flashbacks, color-coded scenes, and a jaw-dropping interpretation of the matrix. All of the artists, including the excellent letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, are at their best to make this complex world accessible but thrilling. 

'Beyond Real' is a fascinating culmination of science-fiction and fantasy that's artist-forward built on emotion, existentialism, and imagination. Kaplan's sentimental script opens the door for some amazing visuals for these artists and the others to come in subsequent issues. It's a feast for the eyes but has a complex and human heart. It's really an easily immersive world to get sucked into and from concept to execution it's a wondrous experiment.