PORTLAND, Ore. 02/23/2024 — Two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated, Emmy, and BAFTA Award- winning composer Bear McCreary will join forces with writer Mat Groom (Supermassive, Inferno Girl Red, Self/Made), artists Ramón K. Pérez (Stillwater, Deep Cuts), Danilo Beyruth (Deep Cuts), Matias Bergara (Eisner Award nominated The Scumbag), Rod Reis (C.O.W.L.), Eleonora Carlini, Helena Marsellis, John J. Pearson (The Infernals), and more, with creative director Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black, Moon Man, Deep Cuts), for the upcoming graphic novel, The Singularity. This standalone story will hit shelves in May, be produced by Black Market Narrative, published by Image Comics, and tie-in with McCreary’s forthcoming concept album—of the same name—which was just announced this morning.
How much loss can one soul endure? In The Singularity graphic novel, Blue Eyes can’t stop being reborn. He tumbles from life to life, from one unthinkably strange universe to the next—the only constant is that, one way or another, everything that he learns to love is lost. But when Blue Eyes finally catches up to a mysterious figure he’s seen recurring throughout his lives, he realizes he might just have a chance to escape his cursed immortality—or, at very least, exact revenge for it.
The accompanying album’s story includes three spoken-word monologues lifted directly from the pages of the graphic novel and performed on the album by Lee Pace (Foundation, The Hobbit trilogy), Danai Gurira (Black Panther, The Walking Dead), and Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, God of War Ragnarök).
“Ever since I was a kid, growing up on the groundbreaking comic books and graphic novels of the ’80s and ’90s, I have dreamed of expressing myself in the medium,” said McCreary. “When I began writing my concept album, The Singularity, I felt perhaps this opportunity had finally arrived. Thanks to creative guidance from my friend Kyle Higgins, and his team at Black Market Narrative, I have found myself connected with the brilliant writer Mat Groom, and a cadre of some of the most talented artists working today. These visionaries have astonished me with their ability to translate my ambitious music into stunning imagery and moving narrative. Together, with the passionate team at Image Comics, we have materialized my music into a gorgeous and vibrant book, fulfilling my lifelong dream. I hope that fans of cinematic music, rock, concerts, and comics all find something to explore in The Singularity.”
McCreary began his career as a protégé of legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein, before bursting onto the scene scoring the influential and revered series Battlestar Galactica in 2004. He is perhaps best known for recent contributions to the Amazon Original hit series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Foundation for Apple TV+, the beloved Starz series Outlander, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Films’ 10 Cloverfield Lane, AMC’s global phenomenon The Walking Dead, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the video game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge for Disney. McCreary’s acclaimed score to Sony PlayStation’s blockbusters God of War and God of War: Ragnarök have earned him honors including GRAMMY® Award nominations for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games.
Groom added: “I’ve loved—and been inspired by—Bear’s work for almost two decades now. So I knew that, to create an appropriate pairing for his music, we’d need to create a story that was thrilling, emotional, and tremendously bold. Working to achieve that with Bear and a Murderers’ Row of comic artists has been one of the greatest privileges of my career.”
The Singularity promises to tell a sweeping, cosmic story about learning the value of what is truly meaningful in life, in thousands of lives, while splashing from one dazzling vision of reality to the next.
“There’s nothing I love more than an outside the box narrative, a challenge to do something new across mediums that—while so complimentary—have rarely worked together in such a fully immersive and realized way as they do with The Singularity,” said Higgins. “This is a special project made by an immensely talented group of creators all working at the top of their game. This is a project made from a deep well of love, passion and craft and I could not be more proud to be a part of it. A huge thank you to everyone who has joined us to make an incredibly one-of-a-kind storytelling experience.”
Eric Stephenson, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer at Image Comics added: “When Kyle first approached us about The Singularity, it sounded incredible—almost too good to be true, really—so we’re all deeply honored that he, Bear, and the rest of the team have chosen Image as the home for such an ambitious project. It’s the kind of inventive work every publisher wants to be part of, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this comics fans and music lovers everywhere.”
The Singularity (ISBN: 9781534324923, Lunar Code 0324IM179) will be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, May 8 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Indigo on Tuesday, May 7.
The Singularity will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play. |
