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Brink
Brink: Book One
IN THE LATE 21ST CENTURY THE REMAINS
OF THE HUMAN RACE ARE CRAMMED INTO
the Habitats: vast artificial space stations;
hotbeds for crime and madness policed by
private security firms. When a routine drug
bust goes wrong, no-nonsense Investigator
Bridget Kurtis finds herself in a life or death
struggle with a new sect of cultists. But
evidence begins to point to something far
more sinister going on behind the scenes...
The first series of the new atmospheric, sci-fi
thriller from Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard.
96 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2019
4 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 14, 2024
Gimme some highlights of the last decade of 2000AD, I asked. This came up a few times and it turned out I had it from a Humble Bundle anyway.
It’s good! Very good, in fact. Dan Abnett’s US work often has him forcing his sci-fi sensibilities into superheroic shapes, and it’s nice to read some of the ‘pure stuff’. This one’s a detective thriller with horror overtones - Brink and Bridge are a pair of security investigators whose beat is one of the colossal corporate-owned orbital habitats which house the bulk of humanity now Earth is uninhabitable. It’s a grim setting, enough to drive a lot of people crazy, but there’s crazy and worse than crazy, and the pair start to draw dangerous connections between crimes which suggest a darker truth is out there.
The pacing is excellent: an in at the deep end setup and a very 2010s mid-story twist, but one that lets Abnett push Brink to its breakneck conclusion, full of well earned reveals and shocks. The world is grimy enough without needing to be especially detailed; what artist Culbard lacks in set dressing he more than makes up for with his simple, expressive character work really good panel to panel storytelling - the action scenes in this are important, and he gives them impact and clarity every time. There’s a European clear-line sensibility here - shades of Yves Chaland as well as Rian Hughes. Very strong opening - might well get a bump to 5 stars depending where the story goes.
It’s good! Very good, in fact. Dan Abnett’s US work often has him forcing his sci-fi sensibilities into superheroic shapes, and it’s nice to read some of the ‘pure stuff’. This one’s a detective thriller with horror overtones - Brink and Bridge are a pair of security investigators whose beat is one of the colossal corporate-owned orbital habitats which house the bulk of humanity now Earth is uninhabitable. It’s a grim setting, enough to drive a lot of people crazy, but there’s crazy and worse than crazy, and the pair start to draw dangerous connections between crimes which suggest a darker truth is out there.
The pacing is excellent: an in at the deep end setup and a very 2010s mid-story twist, but one that lets Abnett push Brink to its breakneck conclusion, full of well earned reveals and shocks. The world is grimy enough without needing to be especially detailed; what artist Culbard lacks in set dressing he more than makes up for with his simple, expressive character work really good panel to panel storytelling - the action scenes in this are important, and he gives them impact and clarity every time. There’s a European clear-line sensibility here - shades of Yves Chaland as well as Rian Hughes. Very strong opening - might well get a bump to 5 stars depending where the story goes.
Read
March 10, 2017A plausibly depressing near future in which humanity didn't wise up, Earth has been abandoned, and we're stuck in equally short-termist orbital habitats which are starting to show their age. And, as in any desperate situation, apocalyptic cults are blossoming...
May 4, 2025
Freaky space sci-fi cop thriller. Lots of exposition and lots of chin.
August 30, 2017
So I went to this comic con in London where I was a guest and while touring me a round, the immensely kind Anthony Garnon showed me this comic book and told me "if you like hard sci-fi and like The Expanse, you'll love this". I checked the pages and wasn't exactly impressed at first. They definitely looked like something... different. Not exactly my cup of tea. But I was intrigued, and read it and it blew my mind. The art, as was my first impression, is that mixture of not being what usually attracts my attention and of being the style that, if the story is good, will grow on me without a problem. I had the same experience with Hickman's Manhattan Projects.
The story is great. It just is. Three plot twists that took me entirely by surprise in one issue is no small thing (ok, one of them was maybe predictable, but not in its entirety). And the story flows great. The setting is rich and well presented, the characters interesting. You know what? If you like graphic novels just grab it and believe me like I believed Anthony. One of the best comics I've read this year.
The story is great. It just is. Three plot twists that took me entirely by surprise in one issue is no small thing (ok, one of them was maybe predictable, but not in its entirety). And the story flows great. The setting is rich and well presented, the characters interesting. You know what? If you like graphic novels just grab it and believe me like I believed Anthony. One of the best comics I've read this year.
November 15, 2025
This very much felt like Line Of Duty, but set in an incredibly bleak space world. I really enjoyed this and read it in one go, but it definitely feels like this first book has only really scratched the surface of the potential of the world. Definitely going to try out more.
September 11, 2022
Fun, cutting edgy read.
February 18, 2022
The Earth has been destroyed and now humanity survives on vast space stations. Largely owned and run by corporations the habitats are policed by private security firms. Bridget Kurtis and her partner Carl Brinkman work for one such company: the HSD (Habitat Security Division). Keeping the peace amongst the thousands of inhabitants is hard enough, but the rise of a strange new sect of cultists could prove their toughest job yet....
This is essentially a police procedural/private eye story set in space. Abnett has created an interesting enough back story for his narrative and peppers his characters dialogue with futuristic slang to set the tone. The plot sticks closely to genre tropes, though there is an underlining commentary about the unrestricted power massive conglomerates can wield. That said the story itself takes a while to kick in and without more time to get to know the main character it is hard to really become invested. Culbard's art, although functional isn't especially impressive, lacking detail for much of the story, outside of his design for the space stations.
This is essentially a police procedural/private eye story set in space. Abnett has created an interesting enough back story for his narrative and peppers his characters dialogue with futuristic slang to set the tone. The plot sticks closely to genre tropes, though there is an underlining commentary about the unrestricted power massive conglomerates can wield. That said the story itself takes a while to kick in and without more time to get to know the main character it is hard to really become invested. Culbard's art, although functional isn't especially impressive, lacking detail for much of the story, outside of his design for the space stations.
October 11, 2017
An interesting start. I will be keeping an eye for more of them.
March 23, 2022
The Earth is dead.
Humanity killed it years ago and now lives in a network of orbital habitats scattered throughout the solar system. The habitats are huge constructs accommodating hundreds of thousands of people with new ones being built to handle the overcrowded populace.
Welcome to the post-post-apocalypse...
Ironically, space is at a premium, with most people living in tiny, cramped quarters. Only the rich - members of the corporations ('corps') that build the habitats - have the luxury of spaciousness. The psychological stress of this existence is ameliorated by the widespread use of medication, mostly the antidepressant "nudge" which is added to all processed food. Despite this, superstitious delusions are common, with people reporting strange phenomena: voices, ghosts, strange feelings of dread... Quasi-religious sects have cropped up everywhere.
Life is hard and crime is common, hence the need for a police force; the Habitat Security Division (HSD). It's not easy living on the brink of extinction.
Bridget Kurtis is a HSD officer on Odette Habitat. A homicide reveals disturbing links between work unions and sects with a belief in monstrous cosmic gods living in the Sun... Are the drugs causing group psychosis? Strange graffiti and arcane phrases put Bridget on edge. One expression makes her physically sick for no apparent reason. Is her own sanity slipping?
Originally published in the legendary 2000AD - the quintessential British sci-fi comic - Brink by writer Dan Abnett and artist INJ Culbard is a neat combination of detective fiction, sci-fi thriller and surreal horror. Bridge's investigation leads her into dark territory, secret societies, the eerie emptiness of a habitat still under construction (haunted?) and the cut-throat world of higher echelon corp management. The deeper she digs, the more the walls separating reality from madness seem to get thinner...
It's a heady mix of police procedural with conspiracy paranoia and an unsettling sense of the familiar, comforting world being built upon sand that is starting to shift. Think Twin Peaks in space with more than a hint of HP Lovecraft.
The setting of the space habitats, huge sterile cities floating in the void of space, evokes a claustrophobic vibe. The use of pacifying drugs (like 'soma' in Huxley's Brave New World and the Federation's secretly modified food and water in Blake's Seven) depicts a future in which state control of the individual goes beyond even the brainwashing of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Oppression within and the unforgiving, lethal void of space outside. Some evils are deemed necessary, but is there any truth in the whispered mythologies of the sects? Or are the demons simply the projections of the inevitable insecurities of a race trapped within huge coffin-like cities buried in the cold darkness and staring its fragile mortality starkly in the face?
Culbard's images are eerily atmospheric with subtle changes of colour scheme to denote different moods within the story. The vistas of the vast habitats are vertigo-inducing, emphasising the vulnerability of the humans clinging to them for dear life now that they have killed their planet. No punches, are pulled in depictions of violence and horror, and when things start to get really weird the visual distortions evoke genuine queasiness.
It's a compelling read and a chilling journey into nightmare territory. Bridget is determined to hunt down the mystery... but will it find her first?
Humanity killed it years ago and now lives in a network of orbital habitats scattered throughout the solar system. The habitats are huge constructs accommodating hundreds of thousands of people with new ones being built to handle the overcrowded populace.
Welcome to the post-post-apocalypse...
Ironically, space is at a premium, with most people living in tiny, cramped quarters. Only the rich - members of the corporations ('corps') that build the habitats - have the luxury of spaciousness. The psychological stress of this existence is ameliorated by the widespread use of medication, mostly the antidepressant "nudge" which is added to all processed food. Despite this, superstitious delusions are common, with people reporting strange phenomena: voices, ghosts, strange feelings of dread... Quasi-religious sects have cropped up everywhere.
Life is hard and crime is common, hence the need for a police force; the Habitat Security Division (HSD). It's not easy living on the brink of extinction.
Bridget Kurtis is a HSD officer on Odette Habitat. A homicide reveals disturbing links between work unions and sects with a belief in monstrous cosmic gods living in the Sun... Are the drugs causing group psychosis? Strange graffiti and arcane phrases put Bridget on edge. One expression makes her physically sick for no apparent reason. Is her own sanity slipping?
Originally published in the legendary 2000AD - the quintessential British sci-fi comic - Brink by writer Dan Abnett and artist INJ Culbard is a neat combination of detective fiction, sci-fi thriller and surreal horror. Bridge's investigation leads her into dark territory, secret societies, the eerie emptiness of a habitat still under construction (haunted?) and the cut-throat world of higher echelon corp management. The deeper she digs, the more the walls separating reality from madness seem to get thinner...
It's a heady mix of police procedural with conspiracy paranoia and an unsettling sense of the familiar, comforting world being built upon sand that is starting to shift. Think Twin Peaks in space with more than a hint of HP Lovecraft.
The setting of the space habitats, huge sterile cities floating in the void of space, evokes a claustrophobic vibe. The use of pacifying drugs (like 'soma' in Huxley's Brave New World and the Federation's secretly modified food and water in Blake's Seven) depicts a future in which state control of the individual goes beyond even the brainwashing of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Oppression within and the unforgiving, lethal void of space outside. Some evils are deemed necessary, but is there any truth in the whispered mythologies of the sects? Or are the demons simply the projections of the inevitable insecurities of a race trapped within huge coffin-like cities buried in the cold darkness and staring its fragile mortality starkly in the face?
Culbard's images are eerily atmospheric with subtle changes of colour scheme to denote different moods within the story. The vistas of the vast habitats are vertigo-inducing, emphasising the vulnerability of the humans clinging to them for dear life now that they have killed their planet. No punches, are pulled in depictions of violence and horror, and when things start to get really weird the visual distortions evoke genuine queasiness.
It's a compelling read and a chilling journey into nightmare territory. Bridget is determined to hunt down the mystery... but will it find her first?
August 21, 2022
Brink is named after its setting: a series of space stations orbiting a desolate, post-apocalyptic Earth — the last remaining outposts of humanity. They’re massive and can support millions of humans, but the people who live their lives on them are fed strong anti-depressants, to deal with the desolate existence of their relatively meaningless lives. All they’re really doing is breeding and eating synthetic foods, while orbiting a dead planet in massive tin cans.
However, while the backdrop is clearly deep-rooted in science fiction, the book doesn’t stick to the genre alone, rapidly veering off into a police procedural, and determinedly avoiding doing anything else you might expect it to for the entire remainder of the book. The main plot follows two cops as they investigate a cult that seems to be growing in power and status. However, they have to operate somewhat off grid, because everything to do with the running of the space-station, from the security to the food supply, is intrinsically tied up in the machinations of the corporations that run them.
The art in this book is far from incidental. The beautiful, grungy design echoes classic 70s/80s sci-fi movies, crossing the costume design of Alien and Blade Runner with the space station design of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This ties in well with the story, which has a Philip K. Dick feel of paranoia and lives lived on the edge. However, it maintains an original feel, too, wearing its influences subtly and carrying them well.
Even more striking than the overall design, though, is the use of colour, with the extreme harshness of artificial lighting permeating every frame of the book. There’s one particularly stunning sequence where a character is escaping from enemies through an air duct. Inside the duct is bathed in blue light, while outside the rooms and corridors are brighter. It creates a phenomenal contrast of action with the intersections between the two creating a stunning masterclass in dramatic colouring.
The art and the story are intricately tied together, with detail built into the backdrops and explained through a sort of augmented reality effect, where labels display the names of devices and the locations where the action is taking place in the metropolis-sized space-stations. Where necessary it also shows the content of the characters’ personal devices, so they don’t have to read out their messages for us to know what’s going on.
This all ties nicely into Abnett’s script, which is dense and sophisticated but worth savouring. He creates a rock-solid backdrop that’s authentic and believable. His central characters are just as solid and well-rounded, fitting in with and reacting to the technological world they live in. But it’s the layers of plot that will keep you awake, pondering over the implications.
Abnett plays havoc with our expectations, making a surprising and genuinely tense tale that’s overflowing with sleight-of-hand storytelling. It leaves you feeling like you’ve been taken on as much of a roller coaster ride as the main characters, as Abnett juggles them in a twisted pattern of gentle obfuscation that will be thoroughly appreciated by anyone who enjoys a hearty dose of intelligent sci-fi.
However, while the backdrop is clearly deep-rooted in science fiction, the book doesn’t stick to the genre alone, rapidly veering off into a police procedural, and determinedly avoiding doing anything else you might expect it to for the entire remainder of the book. The main plot follows two cops as they investigate a cult that seems to be growing in power and status. However, they have to operate somewhat off grid, because everything to do with the running of the space-station, from the security to the food supply, is intrinsically tied up in the machinations of the corporations that run them.
The art in this book is far from incidental. The beautiful, grungy design echoes classic 70s/80s sci-fi movies, crossing the costume design of Alien and Blade Runner with the space station design of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This ties in well with the story, which has a Philip K. Dick feel of paranoia and lives lived on the edge. However, it maintains an original feel, too, wearing its influences subtly and carrying them well.
Even more striking than the overall design, though, is the use of colour, with the extreme harshness of artificial lighting permeating every frame of the book. There’s one particularly stunning sequence where a character is escaping from enemies through an air duct. Inside the duct is bathed in blue light, while outside the rooms and corridors are brighter. It creates a phenomenal contrast of action with the intersections between the two creating a stunning masterclass in dramatic colouring.
The art and the story are intricately tied together, with detail built into the backdrops and explained through a sort of augmented reality effect, where labels display the names of devices and the locations where the action is taking place in the metropolis-sized space-stations. Where necessary it also shows the content of the characters’ personal devices, so they don’t have to read out their messages for us to know what’s going on.
This all ties nicely into Abnett’s script, which is dense and sophisticated but worth savouring. He creates a rock-solid backdrop that’s authentic and believable. His central characters are just as solid and well-rounded, fitting in with and reacting to the technological world they live in. But it’s the layers of plot that will keep you awake, pondering over the implications.
Abnett plays havoc with our expectations, making a surprising and genuinely tense tale that’s overflowing with sleight-of-hand storytelling. It leaves you feeling like you’ve been taken on as much of a roller coaster ride as the main characters, as Abnett juggles them in a twisted pattern of gentle obfuscation that will be thoroughly appreciated by anyone who enjoys a hearty dose of intelligent sci-fi.
October 20, 2019
I did read this in 2000AD where it was first published and Abnett's storytelling with Culbert's visualisation was captivating at the time.
Re-reading as a completed series brings a fluency to the storytelling that is fantastic. The premise of a dead earth, with people living in habitats on the brink of existence is deftly introduced in a few panels.
Our Habitat Security Division (HSD) protagonist, Bridget Kurtis is, basically, the cop in this buddy-movie drama. The buddy is called Brink btw!
Abnett manages to create something different in this unsettling drama. Unsettling because things are happening that we don't understand. Something Orwellian, with drugs, misinformation and cults. Something creepy and disquieting.
Culbert's artwork and visualisation is stunning, delivering the vision, with some really clever details that paint, not just the scene, but the metadata for the scene that, in almost any other context would be incongruous. It fits here, it fits well and it creates a visual language that other artists will have taken note of.
Frankly, I don't know why this hasn't been optioned for a movie yet (has it?).
Re-reading as a completed series brings a fluency to the storytelling that is fantastic. The premise of a dead earth, with people living in habitats on the brink of existence is deftly introduced in a few panels.
Our Habitat Security Division (HSD) protagonist, Bridget Kurtis is, basically, the cop in this buddy-movie drama. The buddy is called Brink btw!
Abnett manages to create something different in this unsettling drama. Unsettling because things are happening that we don't understand. Something Orwellian, with drugs, misinformation and cults. Something creepy and disquieting.
Culbert's artwork and visualisation is stunning, delivering the vision, with some really clever details that paint, not just the scene, but the metadata for the scene that, in almost any other context would be incongruous. It fits here, it fits well and it creates a visual language that other artists will have taken note of.
Frankly, I don't know why this hasn't been optioned for a movie yet (has it?).
January 19, 2025
FYI This is the first volume of the collected editions of the comics that first appeared in 2000ad.
I took a chance on this as it was described a a collection of things that I adore, like science fiction and a dystopian setting, along with things that I sometimes enjoy, like police procedurals. Also, the writer, Dan Abnett, has written a thing or two that I have really enjoyed.
What I didn't realise was that it also dealt with the esoteric. That could have made it either a disaster or simply glorious.
For me, if only, this is glorious.
The characters are interesting and seem to be being developed as the story moves on. And the story appears to be opening up to be a much bigger tale.
I am really looking forward to the subsequent volumes.
I took a chance on this as it was described a a collection of things that I adore, like science fiction and a dystopian setting, along with things that I sometimes enjoy, like police procedurals. Also, the writer, Dan Abnett, has written a thing or two that I have really enjoyed.
What I didn't realise was that it also dealt with the esoteric. That could have made it either a disaster or simply glorious.
For me, if only, this is glorious.
The characters are interesting and seem to be being developed as the story moves on. And the story appears to be opening up to be a much bigger tale.
I am really looking forward to the subsequent volumes.
June 23, 2020
Got this because it’s by the creative team behind the very cool Wild’s Ends (a sort of Wind in the Willows/War of the Worlds mash up?)
This is is nothing like that book except in quality. Originally serialized in 2000AD so it reads with the rhythm of Law&Order (short scenes, always starting with a little exposition) but the world of Brink is big time sci-fi.
Earth is abandoned and everyone lives in a series of space stations. We follow two officers who get involved in a possible sect crime (cult) and things get weird. What’s really going on? I’m not sure but I loved the ride and already bought volumes 2 & 3.
This is is nothing like that book except in quality. Originally serialized in 2000AD so it reads with the rhythm of Law&Order (short scenes, always starting with a little exposition) but the world of Brink is big time sci-fi.
Earth is abandoned and everyone lives in a series of space stations. We follow two officers who get involved in a possible sect crime (cult) and things get weird. What’s really going on? I’m not sure but I loved the ride and already bought volumes 2 & 3.
August 8, 2025
The more I read from Dan Abnett the more I like. Normally when someone tells me ''if you like X and Y then you'll love Z'' I'm usually not especially sold because splatting two genres I like together doesn't necessarily work. So when I say if you like Sci-fi horror and Crime procedurals then you'll love Brink please believe me that it's damn good Sci-fi horror and damn good police procedural.
The characters feel gritty and real with Bridget coming across more like a Line of Duty character than a space faring hero type. The setting instantly hooks you in and the dialogue is some of the best I've ever read.
The characters feel gritty and real with Bridget coming across more like a Line of Duty character than a space faring hero type. The setting instantly hooks you in and the dialogue is some of the best I've ever read.
July 16, 2021
Recent Reads: Brink Vol 1. Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard's serialised graphic novel delivers SF noir. Earth is dead, survivors crammed into cylinders scattered across the sky, waiting an expiration date. Cop Bridget Kurtis is hunting elder god worshipping cults. Could they be right?
June 3, 2022
4.25 Stars. I hadn't even heard about this series until recently. It's published by 2000AD and this is a really great read. It's kind of a Sci-fi crime story with some interesting characters & the start of a great story, definitely gonna be reading vol 2 & the rest of the series.
July 22, 2024
This is a rather good, atmospheric sf police procedural set amongst the habitats carrying the survivors of a messed-up Earth. Dangerus cults are on the rise as humanity slips into a collective psychosis, our heroes track a particularly sinister one and discover a lot more than they bargained for.
February 14, 2025
I'm not well versed in the 2000 comics/graphic novels, but I am very familiar with Dan Abnett. And as usual, the character building is excellent, the world is interesting, and there is a haunting dark force that is doing unexplainable things. Lots of fun, easy read, with excellent illustration.
September 29, 2018
INJ Culbad is one of my favourite comic book artists. I'll read anything he works on. Add in a deep SF mystery from Dan Abnett, and boom! Sold!
February 1, 2019
Exactly what you'd expect from both Abnett and Culbard. Great storytelling and art to match.
Read
June 2, 2019Library book
March 8, 2021
I felt it was a bit slow to get started but really pulls you in as it goes.
May 18, 2021
An interesting police procedural with sci-fi elements, that has some cool worldbuilding around a human race trying to survive in space, but that suffer from somewhat to much expository talking heads.
June 26, 2021
Abnett sure knows how to write a solid horror-themed investigation with Lovecraftian space cult as an antagonist.
October 23, 2021
I do like Culbard's art. And the story with so much grimness ain't bad either
November 18, 2023
Brilliantly presented and written. Painfully apt, really.
November 26, 2023
Plenty of atmosphere but feels flatter than other Abnett stories. A depressed, hard boiled Kirby.
December 31, 2023
So good!
September 3, 2024
One of the highlights of 2000ad in the last decade and a story that benefits from being read in a collected form as its long- form storytelling and world building can be appreciated in this format.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews