The Singularity

The artwork of this graphic novel was absolutely STUNNING. As for the story honestly I did struggle to get into it at first but ended up really enjoying and was surprised by how touching it ended up being.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this and will be picking up a copy as soon it releases. 💕
It was well written and I really enjoyed my time reading it, it was well illustrated.

Rating 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

aComics are for everyone. This is why The Singularity by Bear McCreary and Mat Groom is a great addition to the medium as it crosses over between the world of music and the world of visual storytelling.

How much loss can one soul endure? Blue Eyes can't stop being reborn. He tumbles from life to life, from one unthinkably strange universe to the next-the only constant that, one way or another, everything that he learns to love is lost. But when Blue Eyes finally catches up to a mysterious figure he's seen recurring throughout his lives, he realizes he might just have a chance to escape his cursed immortality-or, at very least, exact revenge for it.

Inspired by, and a companion to, Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning composer Bear McCreary's first-ever original concept album of the same name, The Singularity sees a cavalcade of comics' greatest artists join with writer Mat Groom to tell a sweeping, cosmic story about the lessons that loss can teach us.

The Singularity is more than just a comic book—it's a companion piece to Bear McCreary's groundbreaking concept album. Through a collaboration of a cavalcade of comics' greatest artists this comic delves deep into the existential questions surrounding life, death, and rebirth. Each panel is filled with just the right amount of vibrant illustrations that bring the journey to life in a way that is both visually striking and emotionally profound.

What sets The Singularity apart from other comics available at the market right now is the ability to seamlessly blend music with visual storytelling. Both comic readers and music fans can immerse themselves in Bear McCreary's album while flipping through the pages of this cosmic adventure. There is a true synergy between music and illustrations the creates an immersive experience.

The Singularity offers a thought-provoking journey through the cosmos that explores themes of loss, love, and revenge in a visually stunning format. It's a truly captivating story with breathtaking artwork that stands out as a truly unique medium for experiencing Bear McCreary's original concept album. An immersive comic reading experience that is like nothing else on the market right now.

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.

This is a tripy story about a man who keeps dying and jumping multiverses. Every time he jumps worlds he can remember the past one and each one is ending sooner and sooner to tell there is nothing left. It's a fascinating outcome

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.

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.

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.