All throughout April and May, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…all paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from colorist Liz Kramer…enjoy!

Mare Internum
By Der-shing Helmer

Fans of The Expanse and Altered Carbon looking for a sci-fi fix will be satiated by this highly character driven story. While people look for comfort in this time, it’s also important to reflect on the uncomfortable. This graphic novel is not for the faint of heart; it touches on mental illness, PTSD, and the most human struggles of wanting to matter and personal failures. At its very core, it’s about life, death, and rebirth. If you can make it through the heavier themes, the ending is worth it.

Mare Internum fulfills so many things I want out of my hard leaning sci-fi from well researched environments, to the work that goes into terraforming, to alternate food sources, to AIs. Trying to keep it spoiler free here, but immediately after reading the first page, wondering if Mike would follow through, hooked me. Once our main characters fall, wanting to know if they’ll ever get out had me turning the page.

“Two scientists from earth discover an ocean deep below the surface of Mars– and they aren’t alone.” Mike and Bex plunge into an abyss and struggle to survive in an alien landscape. Not only do they journey inward towards threats in a subterranean biosphere, but they must confront the darkest parts of themselves to find their way out.

This comic is an absolute treat for the eyes. Helmer’s painterly style gives weight and depth to Mars’ fantastical settings with dark blues and burnt reds working in perfect harmony with the story’s tone. Carefully crafted in all aspects, Mare Internum made for a lasting impression. – Elizabeth Kramer

You can read Mare Internum online at: https://www.marecomic.com/ or you can buy the book at http://gumroad.com/shingworks. The book is a fine addition to any collection as it sports french flaps and a foil stamped title. On a more personal note, her mother was recently diagnosed with ALS so if you can spare a few dollars please consider donating at http://PayPal.me/shingworks

Elizabeth Kramer debuted her colorist talents in Going to the Chapel and is now coloring upcoming titles for First Second (JUKEBOX) and Action Lab (Jupiter Jet Vol. 2). When not coloring or graphic designing she is working on personal comic projects (like rebooting her webcomic Threader), diving into audio drama podcasts, and is probably watching bon appetite. You can follow her on twitter @lizkreates (https://twitter.com/lizkreates) and find her work at: www.lizkreates.com.

Mare Internum
Creator: Der-shing Helmer
Publisher: Ascend Press
Solicit: No man is an island, but Dr. Michael Fisher, a disgraced planetary geologist living on Mars, has never felt more isolated. The situation worsens when both he and Dr. Bex Egunsola, the station's newest biologist, accidentally break through the floor of an unstable lava tube into an ancient subterranean world... and they are not alone. Is this purgatorial abyss a prison or a sanctuary? Genuine or constructed? How thin runs the line between life and death? And is there a chance for the fallen to return to the world of the living? *Winner of the 2017 DINKy Award for Best Webcomic*

Get it from a local comic shop with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!