INFINITY'S END
An Original Graphic Novel
"He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." | Ecclesiastes 3:11
The Infinite has haunted Mankind through the ages, from Aristotle's "potential infinity" to Cantor's transfinite numbers - from philosophers deriving thought experiments like Zeno's Paradox to physicists stumbling upon it inside particles and black holes, Infinity is a concept that befuddles, tantalizes, and inspires, leading great thinkers, mathematicians, and scientists to continually wrestle with its veiled mysteries. In each encounter our knowledge has been expanded and changed, leading to new ways of thinking about the universe around us. Yet for all our ponderings, we always seem to come at Infinity sideways, eyeing it with suspicion, disbelief, skepticism, and if we were being honest, a little fear. "The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me." declares Pascal. The Infinite seems to fill us with dread and confusion, if we take it seriously at all. Perhaps, though, this tumultuous and agonizing affair is precisely what drives and propels us forward. Certainly we can say that by pursuing it, encountering it, poking, prodding, ramming our heads against it we have come a long way as a species, gaining understanding in math and physics that while not complete, at least help us to do science, i.e. the mathematics of motion or the normalization of particle physics. Perhaps it is the fear of that which is the incomprehensible, the untouchable, which compels us to keep reaching?
Or perhaps the pursuit of the Infinite is really just the pursuit of asking questions. We look to the stars, plumb
the centers of atoms, and wonder at the nature of consciousness, the questions becoming "infinities of infinities" themselves, pushing us to the edges of our understanding and beyond. "Further up and further in!"
as we traverse through this strange, unearthly country that expands and morphs as we go. We must not stop here, but continue to go further, farther, and deeper. The pull of the Infinite, the insatiable soul cry of the questioner, luring us into unsafe and dangerous territories. Do we have a choice? If we did, would we be satisfied if we gave up the pursuit? Inspite of ourselves, because of ourselves we press on, and in our anguish or in our joy, we pursue the fringes of the Infinite. Will we ever come to the End?
"The fear of infinity is a form of myopia that destroys the possibility of seeing the actual infinite, even though it in its highest form has created and sustains us, and in its secondary transfinite forms occurs all around us and even inhabits our minds." | Cantor.
In my graphic novel, Infinity's End, Mankind has truly expanded to all reaches of the universe, evolving unhindered for hundreds of thousands of years, becoming an inexhaustible, intergalactic society with complete dominion of the stars. Yet for all this glory Mankind has forgotten his curiosity; he has forgotten how to ask questions.
From the secluded halls of The Casimir Academy of the Sciences, there are those who haven’t forgotten, those who still call themselves scientists. Among this venerated group is physicist Dr. Josef Sarton who has been especially gifted with unorthodox brilliance. He has been developing a radical scientific theory, one that could achieve the unthinkable: break open the infinite dimensions of spacetime to an entirely new concept of reality!
Relentless in his quest and unflagging in his work, Dr. Sarton will utterly defy the costs, leading himself and a team of scientists on a perilous journey into the Unknown, through the uncharted fabric of reality. What he’ll find there will either be to humanity’s enlightenment or to his own undoing; there, at Infinity’s End!
Evoking Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Aronofsky’s The Fountain with a dash of Isaac Asimov, Infinity's End is a science fiction work of illustrative prose, something I have been working on for quite some time and which will take even more time to complete. An ambitious and sprawling story and world, I am exploring metaphysical and spiritual themes, and - if all goes according to plan - my unabashed love for hard science fiction and surrealism. Below are examples of what will soon become many illustrated panels and images from my story. I hope to give you a taste of my story and an idea of what I hope to achieve with it. Please enjoy!
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I.
I.I The First Incident
I.II The Review
I.III Interchange I
I.IV The Room
I.V The Inversion
I.VI Interchange II
I.VII The Second Incident
I.VIII The Solution
I.IX The Overlook
I.X Interchange III
I.XI The Third Incident
I.XII The Breaking
II.
II.I Emergence
II.II The Aether
II.III The First Form
II.IV The First Catalyst
II.V The Second Catalyst
II.VI The Third Catalyst
II.VII Dissolution
III.
III.I The Shore
III.II Apeiron
III.III Decoherence
CONCEPT ART
The Red Room
Every mad scientist needs his laboratory - his secret science lair within which he conducts his unspeakable experiments. 'The Red Room' serves this purpose, but also is symbolic of my protagonist's inner mind. It is a relatively small space, very crowded and suffocating. I can't speak too much
about this room, however. . .
The Casimir Laboratory
This is the official laboratory of the Academy that was granted to my protagonist to test his theory within a practical setting. It is a cozy testing chamber, as it includes living chambers and recreational areas for the scientists who are to remain onboard the vessel. It exists within its own little vacuum pocket of space.
Dr. Josef Sarton
These are early sketches of my protagonist. He was the easiest for me to formulate, as he existed in my mind's eye almost instantaneously. Thin - almost emaciated - awkward, yet elegant, but always a slight disheveled quality to him. I created his clothing to flow with him, almost as if it were a second skin.
Dr. Sagan Carlyle
Every protagonist needs a worthy and loyal "foil", and this takes the form of Dr. Sagan Carlyle. He is everything the opposite of my protagonist: confident, charming, loquacious, and brazen. His clothing has a lot of weight to it, so that whenever he enters a room, there are a lot of ruffles and dramatic swooshing.
The Casimir of the Academy | Dr. Orielle Aedon
'Integral to the Casimir Academy of the Sciences'
The Casimir is the prestigious head of the Academy, the "Pope", if you will, in this venerated establishment. Dr. Aedon is his "right-hand man", she the next in line to become The Casimir. Dr. Aedon I chose to draw in a very voluptuous manner, accentuating her femininity. Yet, the
squareness of her shoulders gives her a severity that is
not to be underestimated. The Casimir takes on the appearance of youth. I wanted him to look like the "old child" trope, full of wisdom the comes with the heavy passing of years, which makes his youth very disarming.
"Sacrifice"
"Discovery"
Doors of Perception Series
"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." | William Blake.
