Black Stars Above #3 is out January 29, 2020. — **Black Stars Above #3** is out January 29, 2020.

By Zack Quaintance — We are now three issues into Black Stars Above, a cosmic horror historical fiction story set in the snowy Candian wilderness (redundant, much?) during the 1800s, and I am both happy and deeply unsettled to report that this book has lost none of what made its debut one of the best of last year. On the contrary, as this book has continued it has started to accomplish something that is incredibly difficult.

In Black Stars Above #3, the creative team of writer Lonnie Nadler, artist Jenna Cha, colorist Brad Simpson, and letter Hassan Ostmane-Elahaou continue to let out more of their concept. We see more of the infant being (being? I’ll go with being…) that the protagonist Eulalie is carrying. We learn more in an extended text segment (that actually works! something I find relatively rare for comics) about the titular black stars above, and, perhaps most jarringly, we see what the mania it inspires is doing to others caught up in the pull of the region.

It’s all really enjoyable and tense to consume as a reader, but I found the last part to be key to the books continued success, upping the stakes as it does. From the start, the imagery has done an absurdly effective job of making the book unsettling, doing so with a mix of creepy design and almost claustrophobic perspectives. As a result, there’s been a built-in sense that our hero is facing great risk, great possibility of a cosmic price being wrought upon her. In this issue, we see far more of the form that price can take, to the point that running off unwarmed into unforgiving snows feels like a merciful release

In the end, I think the biggest compliment I can pay this comic (yet again), is that I continue to think to myself — got-damn, how are they making something this good? — as I read Black Stars Above.

Overall: Black Stars Above #3 continues to build this series case as one of the best new books in all of comics, managing the difficult balancing act of doling out more answers without sacrificing any of the mystery or dread. 9.5/10

Black Stars Above #3
Writer: Lonnie Nadler
Artist: Jenna Cha
Colorist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Hassan Ostmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Solicit: Eulalie holds the life of an otherworldly infant in her hands. Desperate to keep it safe, she finds refuge in an abandoned cabin taken over by hunters, who also seek relief from the worsening storm. While these men offer shelter, food, and companionship, they ask for something in return. For they view the ever-shifting snow as a herald of great change in the nation, and their minds have succumbed to the icy embrace of winter, and the entire creative team should be quite proud of that.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.