Dark Moon by Freematik (2014)

Art by Benedick Bana

Dark Moon is an otherworldly comic book experience.  Created by Tom Freeman, a.k.a Freematik, a California-based artist/producer, this indie sci-fi horror comic will take you on a musical space journey.

In 2067 after an asteroid collision with Earth, seven survivors led by Dante, a theoretical physicist, find themselves teleported to a mysterious moon to escape the aftermath.  They are thrown into survival mode as this moon is not yet explored and there is only speculation whether it can support life.  Soon after their arrival on the moon, danger sets in as terrifying alien life forms show up as their greeting party.

This story is made unique by the soundtrack created specifically to enhance the reader’s experience.  Each of the 20 tracks make scenes in the comic all the more intense as the action unfolds.  And this soundtrack is, as the kids say, DOPE!!  D-O-P-E, DOPE!  I am biased as I love electronic music, so I really dig this melding of hip hop and trippy, dark electronic soundscapes that create a true sci-fi mood.  My top picks are:

Dark Moon Theme

When Fear Sparks In Your Heart featuring Mad Shad and Lokey

Alien Invasion

The Creatures Attack

Trapped featuring Agent 216

Synthetic Intelligence and This Dark Moon featuring Myka 9

The vocals give you insight to what the mindset of the characters may be and what they may be feeling, and the production is top-notch.  There are also some additional sounds available to enhance the main soundtrack.  What Freematik hopes is that you follow along with the music and encourages you to create your own playlist to fully experience the comic.

Benedick Bana’s slick and beautiful artwork creates an almost 3 dimensional feel, making the action jump off the page with accents of blue and red amidst the dark extraterrestrial landscapes.  The aliens will also float your boat if you are a monster fanatic like me-they are imposing, toothy and vicious.

The first issue of Dark Moon is quite the cliffhanger.  It left me wanting to know more about Dante, the survivors and the moon they have landed on.  While the intention is for the soundtrack to be the primary storytelling device here, I hope the following issues will delve deeper into the characters; who they are and their motivations by using more in-depth, natural dialogue between them, better overall writing and perhaps the use of caption boxes as a narrative guide, as well as more great music for this 4 part multimedia vision.

A print version will soon be available, but you can download the comic here at http://www.darkmooncomic.com where they are offering the full first issue AND soundtrack for a mere $2.95, and there is a really cool “motion book” of the story here:

http://freematik.deviantart.com/art/Dark-Moon-Issue-1-Transported-to-a-Dark-Moon-491512045

and a bandcamp link where you can also purchase the entire soundtrack and comic download plus the additional sounds:

https://darkmooncomic.bandcamp.com/

Check it out!