Since my return to regular comic reading I have been seeing these pesky little imprints on comics that look somewhat interesting.  Always printed by Dark Horse, they say “Black Sky Project.”  The problem with me is that I am somewhat of an absolute reader, in that I read absolutely everything or absolutely nothing.  In terms of Project Black Sky, I have never really known where to start, despite the fact that most series are not very advanced, and so I never really did get into any of them.  I would rather start with a #1 and then sort out what I want to read after I have worked my way through the series.  As if Dark Horse was reading my thoughts I discovered that they will be releasing a Project Black Sky Sampler, including the first issues of each of the series under this imprint.

Suffice to say, that for anyone that is curious about any of the series or the overall tie-in that this is an excellent place to start.  Each of the main four main characters was introduced and explained and the plot got going for each of them.  In my opinion, the best was by far Ghost, whose supernatural background does not match my own tastes very well, but whom is well written and well-drawn as well as providing an engaging story from the get-go.   If there is one criticism of this sampler it is that going in that I thought that Project Black Sky would be better explained than it was, as opposed to this being essentially just a collection.  That is likely to be the response of the readers that have already been invested into these series.  This issue is not really for them, unless they are trying to complete a collection.

The overall effect of this release is what it aimed for though, at least in terms of myself as a reader.  While three of the series I am happy to follow in passing, I am likely going to give Ghost a try on a monthly basis, and for anyone interested in a superhero setting outside of the Big Two, they might just find something, or everything, that they are after in this book.

Story: Tim Seeley, Fred Van Lente, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Christpher Sebela and Frank Barbiere Art: Mike Norton, Freddie Williams II, Ryan Sook and Colin Lorimer
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Read

Boom studios and Archaia provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.