Dagmar, Rick, and Jules, intrepid private eyes/bounty hunters, have been hired by a high-ranking Senator to retrieve his teenage daughter who’s run off to join a mysterious religious cult.

This is no ordinary cult though. In the near future of “The Disciples,” the ultra-wealthy have become true masters of the universe by colonizing moons throughout the solar system. Billionaire industrialist McCauley Richmond is one such colonist: he’s built a new society on Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, where his flock of cultists can have the religious freedom to worship him.

But when the team reaches Ganymede in their Starship Venture, they discover something has gone horribly wrong…

The Disciples #1 begins like so many space stories of the type. The crew of the ship talk a lot of crap to each other, go into cryo-sleep, then something happens. It’s all pretty chill and rather mundane almost until that final moment. But, even mundane there’s a tenseness about it all. You can feel the dread building.

Writer Steve Niles takes his mastery of horror into space, and the combo for the first issue is really solid. He does ensemble comics so well, and his strengths are shown off here as the crew of the ship pick on each other, and lay out what may be coming before us. Through their actions, we get a perfect understanding of who we’re dealing with, and what types of people they are.

Joining Niles is Christopher Mitten whose style has brought Wasteland, Criminal Macabre, Umbral, and more to life. His style is perfect for horror, and the fact he’s teaming up again with Niles is fantastic. It’s a great combination between the too. Mitten nails it throughout the book. When there’s talk of the ship feeling cold, between the art and coloring, you feel it. It’s solid work.

The Disciples #1 is a slow start, but by the end of the first issue, we’ve got our first horror moment. It’s a build throughout the issue that pays off. It had me saying WTF. Definitely a great addition to sci-fi horror like Alien, Aliens, Event Horizon, and other classic films in the genre. Can’t wait to see where it all goes, and counting down until the second issue.

Story: Steve Niles Art: Christopher Mitten
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Black Mask Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review