29 Years Later, Event Horizon's Prequel Has Arrived, and We Have a First Look (Exclusive)
29 years after Event Horizon hit theaters, fans can now see the shocking history of the gravity drive in an exclusive first lootk at Pandemonium.
29 years later, the follow-up to Event Horizon has landed, and ScreenRant is pleased to bring fans a first look. Event Horizon is a cult classic, a jarring and disturbing ride through a realm that could only be described as Hell. The film left a lot unsaid, and now, nearly 30 years after it graced theaters, these gaps are being filled in by IDW Publishing.
Released in 1997, Event Horizon, directed by Paul Anderson, was not a hit with critics, but in the years since, it has gained a huge following. This, in turn, has led to critical reappraisals of the movie. At turns a horror movie and a tale about the dangers inherent in technology, Event Horizon follows an Earth crew as they investigate the reappearance of the titular ship at the edge of the solar system. The rescue team learns the disturbing truth: the ship’s “gravity drive’ opened a portal to Hell, or something remarkably close to it.
IDW's Event Horizon comics are part of the publisher's IDW Dark imprint, which includes licensed titles such as Smile and Sleepy Hollow, as well as original books such as 30 Days of Night.
As Event Horizon’s stature has grown, so has interest in continuing the story. IDW Publishing acquired the rights to produce comics based on the movie, so far releasing Event Horizon: Dark Descent and Event Horizon: Inferno, the latter being set 200 years later. Both books were hits with fans eager to learn more about the doomed Event Horizon. Now, ScreenRant is bringing readers an exclusive preview of the next chapter in the Event Horizon saga.
IDW Has Announced Event Horizon: Pandemonium
Pandemonium Shows the Gravity Drive Has a Much Deeper History Than Fans Expected
IDW Publishing today announced Event Horizon: Pandemonium, which will be written by Christian Ward, who has penned the company’s other Event Horizon comics, and drawn by rising star Hernan Gonzalez. IDW also released a synopsis for the series, which reads as follows:
Heaven is real. And it’s worse than Hell.
The crew of the starship Event Horizon awaken in a prison they’ve never seen before and don’t remember entering. A prison where the walls whisper and their trauma is given life, power, and…eternity. But why is Heaven horrendous? And if the Event Horizon has long been abandoned…how did they get here?
Christian Ward (Event Horizon: Dark Descent, Batman: City of Madness) enters the Chaos Realm one final time to tell the most daring cosmic horror story of all! With horror artist extraordinaire Hernan Gonzalez (Star Trek: The Last Starship) at his side, no corner of Heaven or Hell is safe…
Finally, IDW provided ScreenRant with three exclusive interior pages, showcasing Gonzalez’s moody and evocative art in all its glory, as well as three variant covers, all shared here.
Event Horizon: Pandemonium follows IDW’s previous comics based on the movie. Event Horizon: Dark Descent is currently available in trade paperback, and tells the actual story of the crew of Event Horizon, and what they experienced in that other dimension. As noted earlier, Dark Descent was set two centuries after the film. The preview pages provided by IDW seem to indicate Pandemonium will be another prequel.
Yet the true shock of Pandemonium’s preview pages is not that the book will be a prequel, but when it actually takes place. Fans can clearly see that famed scientist Isaac Newton is somehow involved in the creation of an earlier version of the gravity drive. Event Horizon was set in 2047, yet Newton lived centuries prior. One of Pandemonium’s central mysteries will be how humanity was able to build a highly sophisticated piece of machinery such as the gravity drive just as it was figuring out the laws of the universe.
Event Horizon: Pandemonium Expands the Franchise's Lore in New and Exciting Ways
IDW Publishing has upped the ante for the Event Horizon franchise. The first two books based on the movie expanded the universe, taking fans back to the beginning, and then moving forward 200 years. These books showed the events of the movie were just a tip of the iceberg, and that humanity has been grappling with the gravity drive much longer than the Event Horizon. How Isaac Newton factors into the history of the Event Horizon remains to be seen when Pandemonium hits shelves later this year.
Pandemonium also introduced a new concept to the lore: that of Heaven. The crew of the Event Horizon traveled to Hell, so it follows there must be a heaven. Yet the solicitation provided by IDW indicates it might be just as bad. If Heaven is as bad as Hell, then Ward and Gonzalez are tapping a serious cosmic horror vein, fitting perfectly into the spirit of Event Horizon.
Event Horizon: Pandemonium #1 is on sale December 2. FOC is October 19!