By Dustin Cabeal

When I looked at my list this year there weren’t many indies on it. It’s just been a rough year for comics in my opinion and whether you agree or not won’t change this list. The Immortal, though, was a surprise hit for me. Not only did creator Darryl Knickrehm manage to put together a unique sci-fi story, with a huge amount of mystery, but he also illustrated it and released it consistently. I doubt I’m alone in saying that it always sucks to like an indie book and never know if or when you’ll see it again. The fact that The Immortal keep on churning helped keep it on my radar, but also retain my interest.

Z is the last human in the universe. He has a regeneration machine that brings him back to life, but it’s a painful process and there's problems with memory loss, gotta back up the data and no one wants to do that. Z is also a bounty hunter looking for his last big score before he retires and calls it a day, but on this last score he ends up the target of someone else’s bounty. Now he’s on the run from people he considered friends and must figure out why and who is targeting him. By the fifth issue, there’s a huge bomb dropped on the story and with only three issues left after that. I’m pretty excited to see how it ends. Knickrehm keeps the story moving and has some fantastic narration for Z. That and his black and white art works well with the story giving it personality. It also helps that Knickrehm is intentionally using just black and white and it’s not just a book waiting to be colored.

The Immortal probably isn’t at your local shop, but you can find it online and should.