Of course, the strength of this issue is when the reader actually witnesses Sarah connecting with the last extinguished life on this planet. Doe excels in populating that alien world in flashbacks, and his aliens are compelling humanoids capable of clear emotion, while Loveness’ provides a narration here that is absolutely heartbreaking. Loveness describes a civilization torn apart by hatred, an escalating deterioration that culminates in a terrifying explosion.

And yet the alien world isn’t safe in the afterlife. Sarah’s melding with the alien ghost is put to an end by a grotesque, haunting figure that eats the essence of the alien and gives Sarah a glimpse as to what has been killing these planets. The colors that Doe uses to hop from scene to scene in that flashback, and especially the interruption and end of the issue, are powerful. They force the reader’s emotions to the forefront, upping the tension panel by panel.

I also want to give notice to Rachel Deering, whose work on the letters was a very pleasant addition. Right off the bat, the lettering of the captions caught my attention – all caps using a font that makes it seem as though the words were hand drawn. Her choices in font size made the story seem bolder, more intense.

And that’s part of the draw of this: it was a simple, yet incredibly innovative premise that Loveness provided, and his work in crafting this narrative has been fantastic. How Sarah’s powers work, her accompanying adventurers, the reveal of the cause of the dead planets. Hell, the narration in this book alone was just captivating, and the dialogue between Harris and Sarah was pleasantly organic.