This is deep! I loved the artwork but I'm not sure I understood the book in it's entirity. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is incredibly deep and engaging sci fi with great artwork. I am not really sure I fully got the story but the artwork was great.

The Singularity by Mat Groom and Bear McCreary is a riveting dive into a future where technology and humanity collide in ways both thrilling and chilling. Groom’s sharp, thought-provoking narrative is perfectly complemented by McCreary’s masterful world-building, creating a story that feels both epic and unsettlingly close to home. With compelling characters and a plot that keeps you on edge, The Singularity explores the boundaries of human potential—and the dangers lurking in the race to transcend them. This is a must-read for sci-fi fans who crave intensity, intelligence, and a touch of the uncanny.

Live, Die, Repeat. Sound familiar? Although unlike in most media with a similar setup, poor Blue Eyes lives several hundred lives without any idea of how or why this is happening to him. The disorientation extends to the reader, as the lives begin ending quicker and quicker without any answers. The only clue is a mysterious yellow woman that he keeps seeing towards the end of his life.

Where this comic really excels is in the world building. Every few pages, we’re introduced to a new, wonderfully unique world. Unfortunately, because these lives are so short lived, each world ends up feeling woefully unexplored. Had we been given more than glimpses of these lives, we might have gotten to understand Blue Eyes a bit more. We’re told that he’s loved and lost over and over and we’re told that he’s been driven mad by his experiences, but by the time we catch up to him, it feels as though any personality has been burned away. By the start of our story, he’s a blank slate whose entire personality boils down to “keeps dying” and “mad about it”.

Each life lived by Blue Eyes is beautifully brought to life by a different artist, each with a different style that works to emphasize the differences between these lives. Again, I found myself wishing to see more of these worlds. If nothing else, each artist at least ended up with some excellent pages for their portfolios.

There’s a lot to love about this comic: the concepts, the artwork, the worlds, etc. But ultimately, as much as I hate to say it, I just don’t think it’s as good as the sum of its parts.

This is one of those concepts that I've hoped to see comics do for a while - tie-in with an absolutely gorgeous album by one of my favorite composers (Bear McCreary). Essentially, from what I can tell, Bear talked with each of the artists and talked about general vibes, and from there pretty much let the artists go wild for their pages. Lovely read over the space of an afternoon, definitely worth your time.

The Singularity hit me like a bolt from the blue. Groom and McCreary weave a tale that's as thrilling as it is thought-provoking, plunging us into a world where the line between human and machine blurs in terrifying and exhilarating ways. The action is non-stop, the characters are compelling, and the ideas are big enough to make your head spin. There were moments where the sheer scale of the story felt a bit overwhelming, but that's also part of its charm. It's a wild ride that challenges you to think about the future in a whole new light.

*The Singularity* by Mat Groom is a thrilling and thought-provoking dive into the future of technology and humanity. With sharp writing and gripping tension, Groom expertly blends science fiction with profound questions about identity and evolution. It's a captivating read that challenges the mind and excites the imagination.

Singularity by Mat Groom and a companion to Bear McCreary's album of the same name about a person that is born again, over and over.

Thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks Netgalley for letting me read this.

What a stunning graphic novel! I don't read a lot of graphic novels but I enjoyed this, thanks for letting me read it.

The Singularity is a beautifully illustrated, sweeping story that moves through one universe after another while the protagonist, "Blue Eyes," tries to figure out where he is and why he's living and dying through so many lives. He meets a golden entity that guides him, in ways he doesn't always like, through his awakening.

I read this book as an eGalley on my laptop and I don't think I really got it. I look forward to reading it as a printed book that I can flip back and forth to better savor the story and progression of Blue Eyes' experience.

Thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for the egalley copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Blue Eyes has a difficult journey through grief and loss to understanding and acceptance. He travels through countless worlds and lifetimes, trying to find answers about who he is and what is happening to him.

The Singularity's story concept was heartfelt and engaging, and the art was absolutely captivating. I deeply enjoyed getting to explore the multiverse through the creations of so many talented artists.

To say something new and additional to the information in the blurb, I will skip some details.
The Singularity is the story of Blue Eyes, who has a profound story,
The style is dynamic, vibrant and amazing; though I must admit, it is not 100% my cup of tea, it is one of the most detailed and energetic styles that I have ever seen in a comic. Due to the multiverses (timelines and locations, hence moods, characters), The Singularity must have required extreme hard work by the teams involved.
The concept of multiverses and the back story is certainly interesting.
Had this been a graphic novel with more scope to explore the plot and flesh out the characters, I would have enjoyed it slightly more.
For my personal tastes, this was a 3 star read, though I appreciate the hard work that went into this and I like the concept and this comic serving as a companion to an album - I would like it to reach more audiences. For that purpose, it is a 4 star read.

To be honest this seemed like a waste of time. It was created as a companion to Bear McCready's new concept album. It's about a person that keeps getting recreated and living lives that keep getting cut short by the Red and this golden woman only for it to start all over again. Just go read one of DC's many Crisis events instead. They've done all this much better. (Never thought I'd say that.)

First thing first: Read the graphic novel first, then read AND listen to the album by Bear McCreary after. It will completely change the experience and make it ten times better.

5/5 stars, easy. When I had just read the book by itself, the story was a 3/5. It was cool with all the different artists, but nothing to claim it as one of the best graphic novels of the year (Comic Book Herald did so, which is how I initially found out about it). However, when I decided to give the album a listen, my thoughts immediately changed. I felt so immersed and the story was ten times more impactful. Then I proceeded to show my wife the album and the GN together, and now we are both big fans of McCreary. Such a cool experience.

A break neck speed exploration of life, loss and redemption. Unfortunately, the pace, the way the book hits the ground running and never stops, works to the detriment of the story and the ideas it's trying to explore, instead just coming off as pretentious and vapid. The art is great, however, and showcases many different talents.

The book is meant as a companion piece to a Bear McCreary album, which i will confess, I didn't listen to. It could be this will enhance the experience, and in animated form, I could certainly see shades of something akin to Heavy Metal, but I doubt my reading would have changed much personally.

ARC provided by NetGalley & Image Comics

The Singularity tells the story of one man’s journey through the multitude of universes, only to watch them die.
It’s also part of a multimedia endeavor by noted TV/movie composer, Bear McCreary.
There is a soundtrack that you can listen to that is pretty good.
The graphic novel itself is written fairly well. The artwork is good.
If there is any downside to the graphic novel, it’s that I never felt connected with the story. There were too many universes that came and went. You never really got a chance to feel invested in any of them.

So this is the official graphic novel to accompany a concept album composed by Bear McCreary with a myriad of collaborators, many of whom lean towards the hard metal scene. If there is a coherent throughline here, it's some chugging riffage. Some of these are in different languages, some are retellings of dialogue in the comic, and many jibe a little awkwardly against them. Each track has an appropriate matching chapter, which means that there are occasions when a four-minute song has a one-page story. I listen along as I read it, and certainly, once I got into the swing of things it was quite a fun combination - though I finished the book a good halfway through the album.

The story opens with apocalyptic mystery, a chapter title "The First Life (Part V)" with a man chatting to someone when suddenly a golden godess-like being comes out of nowhere followed by some sort of destructive red demon killing everything. We then get a gallery of heads, some human, some alien, enumerated anywhere between the 4th and 503rd life. But in case you don't quite get the hint, we join our protagonist in his 532nd Life finally trying to get answers from the golden goddess. And as befits a comic based on a concept album, the concept is huge. Our protagonist Blue Eyes (the one constant) is being constantly reincarnated into different universes, all of which die with him. Not before he struggles with whatever rebellion or nonsense he finds himself in. This allows the book to swap artists and styles constantly as we get small vignettes which are often fun short vignettes, but by the end when the grand role of entropy and the three eternal beings is explained, it's all rather pointless. Particularly when all the the mysteries are revealed in expositional dialogue which could have happened any time in the book or indeed previously in Blue-Eyes many lives.

It still manages to reach some sort of poignancy at the end, because the final entropic unraveling of everything should be a little poignant. And despite there being fifteen artists, there is a decent level of consistency across the book (I assume partially down to the colourists who do get to slather their reds, yellows and blues across the battle). It is a bit of a curio though, and in the scheme of things the album is probably a bit more chewy and satisfying than the graphic novel, though wouldn't make any sense as a narrative. It certainly ticks all the "concept album" boxes in ambition, self-regard and sincerity failing to mask the nonsense within. But surprisingly good fun when you get your lighter out at the end.

NetGalley Review

Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

Well, I finished it. There's an old short story I read in high school about a guy who lived through everybody's lives. Every single person everywhere. It had something to do with prepping him for the position of god. He needed to live everyone's life to better understand their situation.

Like always though, read it and decide for yourself

The changing art style is amazing. I listened to the companion album and it was…fine. Not really my cup of tea, but it was risky and bold and I love that. It is hard to rate this because as a comic nerd, a lot of this was stuff I’d read in other comics. Non nerds would totally find this brand new and mind blowing. I never want to criticize art that takes a risk. I do think the dialogue was a bit stilted in places and trying too hard in others.

I love the concept explored in The Singularity — rock album meets comics. Each page is a work of art and I loved how I could not anticipate what would come next visually or in terms of story. There’s a lot to appreciate in this book whether you like comics or not, and fantastic takes on fantasy abound.