Into the Unbeing Volume 1

Into the Unbeing (single issues) #1-4

by Zac Thompson, Hayden Sherman (Artist), Jim Campbell (Letterer)

Lose yourself inside its innards.

A group of climate scientists working in a remote base camp on the Australian outback discover an impossible landform. Led by botanist Hildur Johansson, the team sets out to conduct a routine exploratory mission to map the terrain, record their observations, and try to understand this anomalous landscape.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and the Unbeing delivers. The expedition discovers a massive, entirely novel, giant holobiont that threatens to upend everything they understand about the natural world. Propelled by hubris and the intoxicating charm of forbidden knowledge, the research team descends into a hostile alien environment allowed to thrive without human interference. The beautiful yet unforgiving landscape hosts strange flora, gorgeous fauna and dangerous predators lurking in the darkness. As the team pushes deeper, can they survive long enough to find what they’re looking for?

Into the Unbeing is an adventure into the sublime from the critically acclaimed writer Zac Thompson (Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, Blow Away) and visionary artist Hayden Sherman (Dark Dungeon, Wasted Space).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Speculative Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2025

About the author

Zac Thompson is a writer born and raised on Prince Edward Island, Canada. He's written titles like Marvelous X-Men, Cable, and X-Men: Black for Marvel Comics. Along with indie books such as Her Infernal Descent, Relay, and The Replacer.

In 2019, Zac became the showrunner of the Age of X-Man universe at Marvel Comics. His critically acclaimed miniseries, Come Into Me, was called the best horror comic of 2018 by HorrorDNA. His debut comic series, The Dregs, was called "lowbrow brilliant" by New York Magazine. His novel, Weaponized, was the winner of the 2016 CryptTV horror fiction contest.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans]

The good news is that unlike earlier Zac Thompson efforts I've read, I didn't dislike this one! No pretentious poetic narration this time, although we do get a full page of (diary) text per chapter (lots of text in comics is annoying to read, I find).

The whole thing feels kind of derivative, the idea of a 'god body' as a dungeon, liberally sprinkled with the flavour and paranoia of Annihilation.. problem is the characters are flat, too flat for what is basically psychological horror. The book just sort of.. ends.

The art is great.

Final note: the series' title is terrible.

[Scott Rhee]

The only other Zac Thompson graphic novel series I have read is a body-horror series called "I Breathed a Body" about mushrooms, social media, and how the two aren't that different. It was smart, fun, and really gross.

"Into the Unbeing" is equally creepy, about a near-future in which global climate change has gotten... well, weird. Four climatologists studying in Australia discover a mountain that shouldn't be there and the ginormous decaying body of a humanoid creature that shouldn't exist. Due to a strange series of incidents, they end up inside the body of the creature, studying the cave-like structures that could be lungs, a stomach, and a skull.

Where did it come from? Why is it inhabited with strange mutant creatures? Unfortunately, no answers in this volume. Waiting patiently for volume 2.

[Kormak]

This feels like a collision of "Annihilation" and "Scavengers Reign", a descent into something lush, alien, and quietly terrifying. The covers promise wonders—eerie, impossible beauty—but the interiors don’t always match that same fevered brilliance. Still, there is something here, something unfolding beneath the surface, a slow-burning cosmic horror that lingers at the edges of perception.

I’m not entirely convinced yet, but there is a pulse, a murmur of something vast and unknowable. Perhaps in Volume 2, it will finally awaken.

[Chad]

This was alright. It's needlessly obtuse. It's a take on Annihlation. Four climate scientists head to Australia where they come across a gigantic body that they descend into complete with it's own ecosystem. This is only the first half of the story so don't expect an ending unless you get the library edition. Each issue has a full text page that adds zilch to the story so points off for that. I hate prose in comics so much.

[W.T.H.]

Art is stellar here, the layout and colors are glorious.

[Fny]

Such eerie feelings this one brought with it. Felt very much like a mix of Annihilation by Vandermer and an alien cousin of the movie Descent… (and there totally was a Rocky wannabe in the very end… I’m just saying)…
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But it ended so abruptly… I need the second volume now haha. I want to see where this is going…. The second part will be out in October!
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I wasn’t that much a fan of the art though. It was so muddy.

[Susan]

This was very weird.

[Sanpaku]

8/10.
Suprisingly mature (and not completely self-righteous) take on the dying earth genre.
The issue are the characters: very bland for the most part. It felt like the focus on their back stories existed as an alternative to giving them a personality.
It gets better towards the end, so hopefully the following volume will flesh them out more.

[Quentin Wallace]

This is definitely different. The story is set in a future post apocalyptic environment, and then a giant's dead body is found and some explorers investigate the giant dead body, which includes new organisms and creatures. At least, I think that's what's going on. This is a little surreal, but the art is cool and it's interesting. Very curious to see how this ends up.

[sarah w]

art was amazing!! as was the plot but i was just reminded of other and better stories the whole time but that’s a me thing. this was very nicely compact and super cool

[Brandon Daniels]

This really needs to be read as a whole. I read the first issue when it came out and it was clear that I needed to wait until it was finished. There’s a nice hardcover coming out in a few months which will likely be the best way to enjoy this.

I’ve been a fan of Zac Thompson’s work since he started out, and this is one of his best works. It’s very obviously a riff on Annihilation (both the book and the distinctly-different film). If you like that series, you’ll likely enjoy this. But it pulls in plenty of other influences, notably Alan Moore’s Providence, and it’s enough of its own thing.

Even if it started out hewing too closely to Annihilation, Hayden Sherman has helped concretize it as something uniquely its own. Hayden has become a comics superstar over the past few years, and you can really see them level up over the course of this series. The character designs of the core cast are a bit too similar, but the creatures, world building, and increasingly inventive paneling far outweigh this slight criticism. I just recommend paying close attention to character names and identifying features early on. And Sherman’s covers for this series really deserve their own special shout out. Rarely have I been so tempted to buy singles to frame and hang them on my wall.

I’ll be returning to this in a year or so with the hardcover, and I expect I’ll like it even more.

[Brandon]

My favourite part of this was the artwork. Lots of great pages to play around with the shape of the 'body' they are exploring. Like that one page of them exploring the lungs, each long acting as a separate act of their climb (the descent, then the camping). Or watching them swim through blood. I didn't much connect with the characters themselves, but I still enjoyed the book.

[Cail Judy]

Quite good, creepy, terrific art. Dialogue and characters feel a bit thin, but I like what’s being built here. Will keep reading.

[Matt Krahn]

Art was cool

[Jackson]

I feel as though I would have enjoyed this graphic novel a lot more if I hadn't already read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer.
Into the Unbeing has a pretty good core concept, decently set up themes, and really nice art and colour work, but it also has the looming shadow of other, more original stories, hanging over it.

There is enough here to tempt me into reading the second volume at some point, but I am going into it hoping for something more in the plot-department.

3 stars

[Phoebe]

very annihilation - very sick art design. i love how architectural it is, the way some pages/sets of panels look like stained glass windows.

[Victor]

Liked the artwork and the eco horror spin. Lovecraft by way of Annihilation. Compelling concept. Would have given it a better rating but I felt it dragged in places and I struggled to maintain interest. Solid read but didn't wow me. Haven't decided to read volume two yet.

[francesco]

Lovecraftian horror meets eco-horror at an ingenious intersection, picking readers up for an enthralling ride that just goes deeper and deeper into horrific sludge. Excited to check out part 2.

[Kaspars Zalāns]

Forša māksla, bet dialogi tik "cringe", ka sāp.

[Brandon]

9/10

Ecofiction and ecohorror are my two favorite subgenres of science fiction and horror (they also go hand in hand together). The art is great and simple. That's really my favorite art technique. Don't do too much. Don't make it too busy or detailed. The story's unfolding in a very cool way and the continued discoveries of this massive lifeform has me giddy for part two. This series could easily go down as one of my all-time favorites when all is said and done. I also love the single issues' cover art cohesion.

[Kyle Still]

This book was phenomenal, and I cannot recommend it enough. The storytelling is tremendously intriguing (and appropriately creepy). The artwork is outstanding and very creative - the layouts move the story along in a way that you rarely see. If this type of horror/sci-fi story is your thing, I absolutely, unequivocally recommend checking it out. I will be getting the single issues of Volume 2 as soon as they come out.

[Niche]

Scientists find a cave system that appears to be the body of some kind of giant. It has a weird horror setting, but there's a lot of brooding drama between the characters that made for hard going, and, quite frankly, the weird horror aspects felt rather under developed and kind of boring.

[Clint]

2.5 stars
Sherman’s art is great, but Thompson’s story is just a less interesting riff on Annihilation, populated with boring characters constantly monologuing about their pasts with dialogue that’s needlessly cryptic.

[Maciej]

Zac Thompson ponownie zanurza się w koszmar – tym razem głębiej, ciszej i bardziej niepokojąco.
Nie jest debiutantem, jeśli chodzi o literacki horror – wcześniej dał się poznać jako twórca mocno eksperymentalnego komiksu „I Breathed a Body”, łączącego body horror z ostrą krytyką współczesności, zwłaszcza świata mediów społecznościowych i ich brutalnej, pasożytniczej logiki. Tym razem jednak Thompson rezygnuje z brutalnych efektów i groteskowej dosłowności. „Into the Unbeing” to inna bestia – bardziej medytacyjna, cicha i skupiona na poczuciu metafizycznej obcości. Zamiast szoku – powolne zanurzanie się w nieznane.

Akcja rozgrywa się w przyszłości, gdzie zmiany klimatu dosłownie przekształciły świat – jego geologię, życie, porządek rzeczy. Grupa czterech klimatologów zapuszcza się w głąb australijskiego interioru i trafia na… górę, która wygląda jak czaszka. Gdy wchodzą do jej wnętrza, odkrywają struktury przypominające organy: płuca, żołądek, coś jak kręgosłup. To, co miało być ekspedycją badawczą, zamienia się w powolne zejście w głąb czegoś, co może być równie dobrze martwym bóstwem, jak i nowym światem.

Brzmi jak klasyczna opowieść SF? Może i tak, ale Thompson gra z konwencją. Nie zależy mu na prostych odpowiedziach. Nie prowadzi nas do wielkiej kulminacji. Pierwszy tom jest bardziej otwarciem niż konkluzją – to drzwi uchylone do czegoś obcego, niepokojącego, trudnego do uchwycenia. Głównym zagrożeniem nie jest tu potwór. Jest nim sama obcość.

Narracyjnie „Into the Unbeing” oscyluje między kinową grozą „The Descent” a filozoficzną zadumą „Solaris”. Nie ma tu efektownych straszaków. Przerażenie przychodzi powoli – jak dźwięk, którego nie da się zlokalizować. Jak cisza, która brzmi zbyt wyraźnie. Bohaterowie są obecni, ale nie dominują. To bardziej świadkowie niż nośniki akcji – obecni, obserwujący, czasem zagubieni. Jeszcze nie do końca pełni, ale już nie papierowi.

Największą siłą tej opowieści jest jej rytm. Jest powolny, hipnotyczny, wręcz dryfujący. Ale pod spodem pulsuje napięcie – jakby sam komiks oddychał, wciągał i wypuszczał powietrze razem z nami. To rzadkość w medium graficznym.

Hayden Sherman (rysunki) i Jim Campbell (kolory) tworzą duet, który świetnie rozumie, że horror nie musi krzyczeć. Styl Shermana jest surowy, często geometryczny, z wielkimi, minimalistycznymi plamami koloru i ostro ciętymi konturami. Jego wizja miesza cielesność z krajobrazem, mikrokosmos z makrokosmosem. To nie są ilustracje realistyczne – to bardziej mapa psychiczna niż zdjęcie satelitarne.

Dla niektórych czytelników taki styl może być trudny – twarze nie są realistyczne, brakuje klasycznych paneli akcji. Ale to, co tracimy na czytelności, zyskujemy w emocjonalnej sile. Kolory Campbella – stonowane, pastelowe, rozmyte – budują nastrój, który przypomina sen tuż przed przebudzeniem. Gdy światło przygasa, zaczyna się lęk.

Nie da się ukryć – pierwszy tom nie oferuje rozstrzygnięć. Nie kończy się cliffhangerem, nie daje odpowiedzi, nie pozwala na katharsis. Dla jednych to może być wada. Dla innych – zaproszenie do refleksji i kontynuacji. Thompson nie chce nas usatysfakcjonować – chce nas zaniepokoić.

Pewnym mankamentem jest też powierzchowność postaci. Na razie klimatolodzy są raczej zarysami niż pełnokrwistymi bohaterami. Ich emocje, konflikty i przeszłość dopiero zaczynają się przebijać przez warstwę idei. Jeśli kolejne tomy pogłębią ten aspekt, zyskamy nie tylko wizję świata, ale też jego ludzkie odbicie.

„Into the Unbeing. Volume 1” nie jest dla każdego. To nie jest klasyczny horror, ani przygodowa fantastyka. To bardziej ekofikcja na granicy filozofii i poezji graficznej, z elementami weird fiction i echa Lovecraftowskiego lęku przed niewyrażalnym. Dla czytelników szukających czegoś innego, bardziej emocjonalnego niż fabularnego – może być to tytuł, który zostanie w nich na długo.

Przyjemność 3,5/5
Styl: 3/5
Historia: 4/5

Ocena: 3,51/5
goodreads - 4/5
thestorygraph - 3,5/5
lubimyczytac - 7/10

[Lukasz]

Review of the whole series.

This one pulled me in fast. I read two volumes in a single day, which says a lot. Into the Unbeing isn’t comforting or character-driven, but it’s weird, eerie, and intriguing.

A team of scientists enters the corpse of a massive, godlike being. Inside, the world turns alien. Flesh becomes landscape. Biology becomes architecture. The comparison to Annihilation holds true. I found the idea of a holobiont large enough to function like a landscape fascinating, and the comic takes its time letting the scale sink in. The epistolary fragments, shifting viewpoints, and strange documents deepen the sense that this place is strange.

Characters, admittedly, are the weak point. They’re serviceable but distant. For me, you don’t read this to fall in love with the cast, but to see what’s behind the next organic wall, or what impossible biology will be revealed next. That distance almost feels intentional, but it adds to the cold, observational tone.

Hayden Sherman’s art is unsettling. Shapes almost make sense, then don’t. Landscapes look like organs. Organs look like terrain. Color choices sell the unease, and the scale constantly dwarfs the people inside it. There’s a steady "something is wrong here" vibe on every page.

The pacing is deliberate but absorbing. It doesn’t rush horror; it lets it accumulate. By the time things start to click, you’re already committed. That’s why I kept going.

Into the Unbeing is mind-bending, atmospheric, and ambitious. If you like eerie science fiction that prioritizes ideas, environment, and unsettling discovery over character work, this one is absolutely worth descending into.

[Raul Reyes]

Hayden Sherman always delivers, but the story just didn’t provoke any reaction out of me, this didn’t really register to me as an existential horror. Also, since this is a miniseries, the characters can’t be that well fleshed out, so the part near the end where one of the characters leaves one of her companions to die didn’t feel like a decision I could follow the logic of. In general, I don’t see how the backstories of the characters relate to what they’re going through. With all of that being said, I’ll probably read volume two though.

[Mason Kendrick]

Beautiful art with an ok story. Honestly very little in the way of worldbuilding and the characters react to insane and reality shaking discoveries with either casualness or shock that vanishes after one panel. Carried hard by the art for sure. Not sure if I will try part 2 as there isn't much to keep you reading if you aren't really invested in one of the four characters that sre fleshed out in tiny flashes.

[Mee Too]

‘Innerspace’ and ‘The Decent’ have a baby (both good movies btw).

I also felt this would be better as a one and done. The idea of waiting a year for a very interesting, very confusing 100 page GN just seems like a bad business plan.

No one will care about this story by the time the next volume comes out.

[Bee Anderson]

Decent ideas, interesting concept, woefully short and it’s over right as it gets some moral ambiguity. Hopefully part 2 picks up the momentum because while the concept is interesting, the execution is questionable to say the least, very slow for a 4 issue volume... I’ll be checking out Vol 2 when it releases, but overall it’s meh. Perfectly mid.

[endrju]

A very promising start to the series with all the right ingredients for me: strong Annihilation vibes, dead god(s), dying ecosystems, and terrorized humans. Can't wait for the rest.