40 Seconds

40 Seconds #1-5

by Jeremy Haun, Christopher Mitten (Artist), Thomas Mauer (Letterer)

40 SECONDS is a science fiction/fantasy story about a forward team of science explorers, traveling through a series of alien gateways, in order to answer a distress call a galaxy away. They find themselves jumping across the universe though strange and beautiful landscapes only to be hunted by a vast inexplicably unstoppable horde. Truths lie at the final gate. If only they can make it in time.

Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle. Read for free as part of your subscription to comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime. Also available for purchase via comiXology and Kindle.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2021

About the author

Jeremy Haun is a freelance comic book artist. Beginning in 2002, Haun worked for Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Oni Press, Devil's Due Publishing, Top Cow, and Marvel Comics. Since 2008, he has worked for DC Comics. He is best known for his work on Berserker and Battle Hymn.
External links

Reviews

[TAP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different thus engaging.

But that ending is inadequate without a follow-up. Maybe that is to come?

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty exhilarating story with a nice twist. The artwork wasn’t my favorite but I did like the use of color, each page consisting of just two or three colors. Very interesting. I wish it didn’t end on a cliffhanger though. If more installments were out I would definitely continuing reading this story. The friendship in this was really great, often bordering on a family unit at times. There were also themes of loss, grief and the true meaning of courage. I wish there was a continuation of the story.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This kept me invested until the last page: unfortunately, it was then that I realized this was all one huge prequel leading up to the actual story (which, of course, isn't here). It is intriguing, engrossing, keeps you engaged, and there is a lot to think about. Despite this collecting several issues, it is pretty much one story arc - a journey to get to the actual plot beginning.

Story: They are a group of selected scientists - a group of four chosen to go through newly created alien jump gates and find out what happened to the first team to go through (who mysteriously disappeared). With each jump they get closer to discovering what happened to their fellow travelers but also begin to realize that something is very wrong in this journey.

The art is very 1970s - rough and gritty and fortunately not too arty to be decipherable. The colors are strangely pastel and very muted. It's not the most striking comic to read but the illustrations tell the story well enough to understand what is happening.

The plot itself is rather involved for what amounts to a prequel. There are a lot of mysteries and our team has to solve them as they are being hunted and pursued - all the while still communicating with the Earth corporation that sent them on the mission. This completes a story arc and of course has the usual cliff hanger ending.

In all, the read kept me invested and I wasn't bored. I was able to follow the action and though the plot was convoluted, it was also explained well. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[The Void Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: 40 Seconds

By Jeremy Haun (Writer), Christopher Mitten (Artist), Thomas Mauer (Letterer)
Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Survival Thriller
Tone: Mysterious, frenetic, visually mesmerizing

A fantastic and mysterious weird adventure jumping from gate to gate—and what a ride it is. 40 Seconds wastes no time (literally) plunging its science-forward team into gateway chaos, answering a distress call that grows more existential by the panel. Think Stargate meets Annihilation, but with an extra dose of high-concept weirdness.

What Works:

• Pacing with Purpose: The title says “40 Seconds,” and it feels like the team is running on borrowed time from page one. Each gate drop sharpens the tension and builds toward that elusive “final truth.”
• Art & Atmosphere: Mitten’s art makes each alien world sing. Ethereal landscapes, looming threats, and shadowed silhouettes amp up the sense of awe and dread. Mauer’s lettering guides the chaos with crisp urgency.
• Mystery Without Overload: There’s just enough breadcrumbing to keep the reader questioning: What is the horde? Who sent the call? Is survival even the goal?


What Keeps It from Five Stars:
While the concept is gold, character development sometimes takes a backseat to spectacle. We’re immersed in strangeness—but it’s hard to emotionally anchor to the team when the pace never lets up.

Final Takeaway:
A visually gripping, weirdly hypnotic hop across galactic unknowns, 40 Seconds earns its four stars by embracing mystery and cosmic dread without bogging down. It’s a sci-fi sprint that knows the value of a ticking clock—and the cost of what lies at the final gate.

Happy reading 🪐📚

[Darren-lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - Whatever...

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humanity has gotten the call to travel between gateways millions of light years apart towards a signal. They lost contact with the first team, so a second is on the way. Travelling through the first gateway goes without a hitch, but when they reach the second one, they get attacked by dark creatures with arrows. More of the mystery unfolds with each jump, but this story is just the introduction to something else. Yeah, I found myself another incomplete story. At least it was a fast read.

The second gate puts them on a lush world. The team finds a decades-old uniform with nametags that look human in origin. They encounter only two people alive who speak a different language. They are Gaia and her uncle Arn. Arn, who is slowly dying of an infection, offers to help the team leave this world through the next gate, if they agree to protect Gaia.

The team survives another encounter with the dark creatures and ends up on an ice world that soon claims one of their lives. Arn sacrifices himself to allow the rest to pass through the next gate. One of the dark creatures manages to follow them. It looks human, but is guided by bloodlust. The team is saved by someone who looks like the teammate they lost on the ice world. It's not the same person, but a clone. When contact with the first expedition team was lost, several more teams were sent comprised of clones of the initial members. The originals were infected by the ichor after visiting all but the final gate and now claim each new clone into their mindless host.

The team arrives at the hotel at the end of the world where the last gate is found. They destroy it in the hope of ending the cycle. In the next world they meet the being that sent the message that mobilized the first team. It desperately needs help.

[Alex Sarll]

"Four years ago, we received a beacon – a distress signal. Its origin, some four million light years from Earth. Within that beacon were schematics for forge gate technology. It has brought us to today. This forge gate technology allows us to jump further than we could have ever imagined, yet it is only a portion of the way to our terminus."
Gotta love it when a mission briefing provides a handy excuse to get the exposition out of the way, hey? And with little concern for elegance, even; note that unnecessary repetition of "forge gate technology", and that immediately following this quote, the next sentence begins with the lethal "As you know". But this isn't the problem it might have been because, despite having read a couple of volumes of Haun's The Beauty, I wasn't really here for the plot or the writing, so much as Christopher Mitten's art. Which I always associate primarily with Wasteland, where he was a perfect example of whatever the opposite of nominative determinism is, his cosy Beatrix Potter name so very at odds with the blasted desert settings of its horribly likely post-apocalyptic future. This time out, things are less grim, not least because Brett Weldele's colours add shimmer and light to the worlds through which the expedition voyages. Still, there are dangers out there, and the worlds seem mostly empty, except of course for that swarm of attackers who keep appearing. Answers do come, but the story remains the merest sketch of an action SF story, which could equally be a bold conceptual gesture or a really lazy pitch for a film deal.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

7,5 I hope this is a part one of a longer series, because taken as a standalone the ending disappointed me. Some of the mysteries on the way are solved, but the main one - that is the reason for a team of travellers (calling each other by numbers: one, two, three and four) to enter a portal and travel to another galaxy - is not, and several aspects of the adventure seem to hint at revelations to follow ...
Still, I liked the adventure that we got. With its Stargate-like team traveling along portals, hopping from deserted world to deserted world - the pacing was great, and soon there are threats appearing, interesting companions and questions about their own identity. I was grinning with some of the SF-nal ideas in here and the tension was well built - at the end I was genuinely involved. I got enough (rudimentary) information about the characters to care about what happened to them. And the art was great. Not too realistic, but evocative. The mute coloration with pastel tones worked well too. Not one I'll reread soon necessarily, but I will when a follow-up is announced.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

40 Seconds is a fast-moving adventure that stumbles ever so slightly here and there, but ultimately delivers a satisfying tale.

It follows four space adventurers on a mission to connect one end of a space bridge to the other. There are plenty of stops along the way, including some unwanted destinations and even some alien species. Soon, the nature of the mission becomes puzzling, and by the end of trip, connecting the space bridge becomes the least of the four's concerns.

Art is precise, yet delivered with a relaxed hand that makes everything feel organic and comforting. I found a few visual elements to be a little jarring in that it took me more than one look to figure out what was going on. That only occurred every twenty pages or so, so it wasn't a huge problem; it just made you look twice.

Overall, though, it's an efficiently told story that doesn't waste time with too much dialogue and gets where it needs to go.

[Chad Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from Comixology Unlimited and read it tonight.

Earth receives an SOS from space with instructions on how to construct a teleport gate. A team of four is tasked with going through the gate and both following the path of gates to the end and finding out what happened to a pervious team that went through the gate. The title refers to the time it takes for the gates to fully power up after they are activated.

This is a chase story with some twists and turns. It was an enjoyable enough read and the art was pretty cool. The alien worlds were breathtaking. I don't know that the creators stuck the ending, but I enjoyed the journey.

[April Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm assuming you've read the description, so no synopsis. This is an engaging story, it kept me turning pages and wanting to know what was going on and what would happen next. The art is gorgeous, the landscapes are strange and otherworldly, and we get a decent sense of the characters if not an in-depth feel for them. That ending though! If there isn't more to come, that ending is bullshit. We got an idea of what was happening, what was going on beneath what we were told at the beginning, but we didn't get nearly enough, unless the point is for me to make up my own story about it. A great read and I absolutely recommend it, but be prepared to be annoyed by the very open ending.

[Jose Granados · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer comic de Comixology Originals que leeo, el primer numero fue una introducción muy level, pero cuando vas avanzado un poco mas en los demás números ves el rumbo de la historia, usan el medio de transporte entre mundos llamado Portal, sacado de Stargate.... con un rollo de clones , donde todo era una carrera entre cada portal. entretenido pero no lo suficiente para ser algo que se considere muy relevante

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me a bit of Stargate SG1 and The Matrix. The story immediately caught my attention and didn't want the story to conclude. This should be adapted into a live action series on either Amazon or AppleTV.

The book is definitely sci-fi based that I love and a sci-fi fan. want to see a continuation of this story.

[John M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprising little story.

The nice thing is that the story is complete in this one issue. The art and the dialougue are equal in capturing the characters and moving them forward. Treat yourself. Read this.

[Del Riordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a chase, what a hook!

This is a near breathless rush of a read, sci-fi, pathos, heart, fantastic vistas.
I’ll not say much more, I’d just want to refer to things and I’d hate to spoil anyone’s experience of this read.
Beautiful work all round :)

[Kindle Addict · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started well but got confusing and ended in a way that suggests a sequel that doesn’t exist? It was hard to really get some of the characters motivation. I think it deserved to be more fleshed out

[სალომე ასლანიშვილი · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really fun and short read.

I adore apocalyptic and futuristic stories. It was different from my expectations and had impressive illustrations. It was really the retro future I long for and I really would like to continue on exploring these world

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a bit of a cliffhanger...

[JC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story, needs character

Great concept. Needs more life, more interaction out of the characters to bring it to life. Really curious to see what happens next.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qi!

[J.D. Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice change of pace

This is an interesting sci-fi mystery and a nice change for graphic storytelling From the usual spandex adventures. Kind of a Twilight Zone feel.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Close to a 4

a big scope scifi tale :)

[Andrew Rockwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 stars—-

Interesting and fairly original story. A science fiction story with a sprinkle of horror. Would have rated it higher if the ending was better. I would read Volume 2 if it existed.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art is nice, story is okay. It doesn't resolve or lead anywhere. No sign of a sequel.
It's fine.
Read ir digitally. I quite like Jeremy Haun.

[Aven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, a very different story, but it left me with a lot more questions than answers at the end of it. Still a fun romp!

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars, but still . . .

[James Sizemore]

Ok.

[Hazal Mestci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of Scavengers Reign (sub-par to that, but still good). Liked the drawings and story building. The ending kind of falls flat and cuts of very abruply, though.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but incomplete. What the heck is going on? There's no conclusion, no wrap-up. Story leaves the door wide open for a follow-up that doesn't seem to exist.

[Andrei · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty forgettable story overall. The premise is interesting and borrows elements from other sci-fi stories but spins them in its own way. However, the story is brought down by the lack of personality displayed by all characters, making it impossible to care for any of them. I mean, some even die and it barely makes you bat an eye. The antagonists don't seem to have a real purpose for being bad, and the story just reads without any real emotion to it. The final issue has some weird moments, and ends leaving a massive cliffhanger.