The story of life after "The Crash," a catastrophic ecological disaster that's left the world in ruins (and just awfully damp), The Massive launched earlier this year to become one of Dark Horse's most popular creator-owned series. Written by Brian Wood, Captain Callum Israel's quest to find his Das Kapital's lost sister ship, The Massive, has seen the (former?) environmentalist and his crew encounter ruthless pirates, an underwater Hong Kong, Antarctic strongholds, dangerous derelicts, and floating cities with delusions of utopianism -- all the while challenging the ideals of the pacifist heroes and presenting a reality that real-life climate scientists warn us may not be so far fetched.

Beginning with March's issue #10, Wood will create what he told ComicsAlliance was a kind of "mini-event" across three single-issue stories, each of which will be drawn by a different distinctly excellent artist: Declan Shalvey (Conan the Barbarian), Danijel Zezelj (DMZ), and Gary Erskine (War Stories, Dan Dare). Providing interlocking covers for these comics is John Paul Leon, whose complete, high resolution illustration you can see for the first time below.

(click to enlarge -- it's really big)

"In the tradition of the DMZ and Northlanders and Demo one-shot stories, these three issues are complete stories and at the same time part of a larger narrative, as well as great world-building episodes," Wood told CA. "So I turned to some artists I've worked with before: Declan Shalvey and Danijel Zezelj -- and someone I've wanted to work with forever, Gary Erskine. The three stories follow our main cast aboard the Kapital as they finally get a strong lock on their missing ship The Massive, and are then taken on a wild chase up the western coast of the Americas. They make stops off Peru, off San Francisco, and then finally in the ice of the North Pole. Without giving too much away, there's a powerful human drama unfolding throughout this arc, something we first introduce in #9."

Issue #10
Artwork by Gary Erskine
On sale March 27

The Kapital finally gets a reliable lead on The Massive and moves to follow . . . only to stumble into a regional war zone! Callum must deal with a mutiny when members of his crew force him to divert so they can join their home country in its war.


Issue #11
Artwork by Declan Shalvey
On sale April 24

Following a mutiny, the crew of the Kapital are in a race against time to catch their increasingly elusive sister ship, The Massive, when a school of aggressive great white sharks cross their path!

Issue #12
Artwork by Danijel Zezelj
On sale in May

When the crew of the Kapital gets trapped in an ice field, Captain Callum Israel ventures out on foot to continue the pursuit of The Massive. He quickly gets lost in the increasingly dangerous weather, and the reality of the risks he's asked his crew to take fully hits him. When it does, it threatens to break him completely.

"The world of The Massive is so big, that these one-shots are crucial in that I can show the reader things I normally can't within the main narrative," Wood explained. "And if DMZ and Northlanders are any indication, it's these one-shots that are often the most memorable."

If you're not caught up on Northlanders, the entire series is available digitally via Dark Horse Digital. The new issue, The Massive #8 is on sale now in Dark Horse Digital and in print at finer comics shops. Here's an advance look at next month's issue #9, which Wood said would introduce an element that comes into play in the "mini event" described above.