# Event Horizon: Dark Descent
**Event Horizon: Dark Descent** is an American science fiction horror limited comic book series published from 2025 to 2026 by [IDW Publishing](https://www.edgepedia.org/idw-publishing) under its IDW Dark imprint, an official prequel to the 1997 cosmic horror film *Event Horizon*. Written by Christian Ward and drawn by Tristan Jones, it runs five issues and tells the story of the original crew of the spaceship *Event Horizon* and their first journey through the experimental gravity drive.[1](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/) • [2](https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3867065/event-horizon-prequel-comic-series-dark-descent-launches-in-august-from-idw/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Five-issue limited series, color, saddle-stitched, IDW Dark brand, Mature rating[1](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/) |
| Creators | Writer Christian Ward (*Batman: City of Madness*, *Two-Face*), artist Tristan Jones (*Aliens: Defiance*, *Tales of the TMNT*), colorist Pip Martin, letterer Alex Ray[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/) |
| Issue #1 | On sale August 20, 2025, 36 pages, $4.99, Mature; primary cover by Jeffrey Alan Love[4](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/details/?sort=-page_count) |
| Premise | Set in 2040, before the film's 2047 setting; Captain Kilpack and the first crew cross into Hell itself through the gravity drive and face Paimon, the eyeless King of Hell[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/) • [5](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026_May_PRH-IDW-Catalog.pdf) |
| Collected edition | 128-page trade paperback collecting #1-5, $19.99, on sale July 28, 2026, ISBN 9798887244495[5](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026_May_PRH-IDW-Catalog.pdf) • [6](https://www.comics.org/issue/2855630/) |
| Reception | Comic Book RoundUp critic rating of 8.9 across 22 reviews for the series[7](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/trades/idw-publishing/event-horizon-%282025%29/dark-descent) |
## Publication history
The series was announced in October 2024 as part of IDW Dark, a horror imprint expanding Paramount properties in comic book form alongside titles from the *30 Days of Night*, *[A Quiet Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-quiet-place-film-series)*, and *Smile* franchises, *Sleepy Hollow*, and *The Twilight Zone*.[2](https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3867065/event-horizon-prequel-comic-series-dark-descent-launches-in-august-from-idw/) The 1997 film, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and written by Philip Eisner, in which a rescue squad investigates a spaceship that got sucked into a black hole and resurfaced with a strange new presence, was considered a critical and commercial failure on release but developed a cult following large enough to warrant a comic book prequel series.[2](https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3867065/event-horizon-prequel-comic-series-dark-descent-launches-in-august-from-idw/) A Spanish-language report of May 2025 described it as a five-issue series maintaining the film's explicit violence and revealing the fate of the original crew.[8](https://as.com/meristation/cine/un-clasico-de-culto-del-terror-espacial-recibira-una-precuela-aunque-no-como-los-fans-esperan-n/)
**Printings.** Issue #1 went through four printings: the second, with a Christian Ward cover, on sale October 15, 2025; the third, also with a Ward cover, on December 10, 2025; and the fourth, with a Tristan Jones cover, on February 4, 2026, all at 36 pages and $4.99 with the Mature rating.[4](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/details/?sort=-page_count) The first issue's covers included Cover A by Jeffrey Alan Love, Cover B by Ward, a variant by Martin Simmonds, a blank cover, a variant by Joshua Hixson, and a foil variant of Ward's cover.[9](https://www.comics.org/issue/2812652/?display=grid) Issue #5, the finale, carries a 26-page main story with an epilogue pencilled and inked by Ward, and shipped with variants by Darick Robertson.[9](https://www.comics.org/issue/2812652/?display=grid)
## Story and connection to the film
The comic is set in 2040, seven years before the film's 2047 setting, and follows Captain Kilpack and the original crew of the *Event Horizon*, a spaceship designed for faster-than-light travel using a top-secret experimental gravity drive. On activating the device, the ship crosses the borders of Hell itself into a nightmarish realm of torments, where the crew must resist demonic forces, including Paimon, the eyeless King of Hell, as well as their own descents into madness and bloodlust.[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/) • [5](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026_May_PRH-IDW-Catalog.pdf) Every member of the crew carries a secret, from fleeing abusive husbands to dying of cancer.[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/)
The ship's designer, Doctor William Weir, has lost his wife and built the ship based on a single command from a haunting vision of her, an eyeless entity: "Come find me".[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/) After the crew activates the drive, they are transported to an outer-space hellscape that defies comprehension, where crew members begin to behave strangely and the king of this hell is about to make his entrance.[10](https://bazingacomics.cl/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/PRH-PANELS-AUG25-1.pdf) Kilpack's radio log from the third issue reads, "My crew and I attempted faster-than-light travel and have found ourselves stranded someplace that defies understanding".[11](https://forbiddenplanet.com/subscriptions/series/idw-publishing/event-horizon-dark-descent/)
**Finale.** In the closing issues the crew is dying or consumed by Paimon's servant, a demonic wheel that grows larger as it adds humans to its body, and the King of Hell turns his attention to Kilpack himself.[12](https://westfieldcomics.com/wow/pdfs/2025-10-PDF_06IDWCatalog.pdf) • [11](https://forbiddenplanet.com/subscriptions/series/idw-publishing/event-horizon-dark-descent/) After their captain's death, the last crew members make a last-ditch attempt to destroy the ship's gravity drive, perhaps the only thing capable of hurting Paimon, while an angelic presence is felt aboard the ship.[11](https://forbiddenplanet.com/subscriptions/series/idw-publishing/event-horizon-dark-descent/) • [13](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/11-25_IDW_MONTHLY_TITLE_CATALOG.pdf) The fourth issue's promotional copy promised to reveal "the truth of the film's infamous blood orgy".[12](https://westfieldcomics.com/wow/pdfs/2025-10-PDF_06IDWCatalog.pdf)
Ward called the project a privilege, promising "big gory swings" and saying readers would "never see the film in the same light again"; Jones said the work was being done directly in collaboration with the team behind the film.[2](https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3867065/event-horizon-prequel-comic-series-dark-descent-launches-in-august-from-idw/)
## Reception
Comic Book RoundUp recorded a series critic rating of 8.9 across 22 reviews, with issue-level critic averages of 8.0 for #1, 9.0 for #2, 9.3 for #3, 8.8 for #4, and 8.2 for #5.[7](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/trades/idw-publishing/event-horizon-%282025%29/dark-descent) The Comics Beat review of the first issue called it "one of the most compelling issues of a horror comic I've read all year".[3](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/) AIPT's review of the fourth issue described the execution as "masterful, grotesque, and emotionally punishing in all the right ways".[14](https://aiptcomics.com/2025/12/23/event-horizon-dark-descent-4-review/) Catalog and review pull-quotes included "A must-read comic, for those not of the faint of heart"[15](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CATALOG_AUGUST_2025-lo.pdf) and "Exactly the kind of prequel that the original movie deserves".[13](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/11-25_IDW_MONTHLY_TITLE_CATALOG.pdf)
## Sequel
A sequel comic, *[Event Horizon: Inferno](https://www.edgepedia.org/event-horizon-inferno)*, set 200 years after the events of the film, was released in April 2026, with Christian Ward returning as writer joined by artist Rob Carey (*Outsiders*, *Aliens: Resistance*) to tell another story spun out of the cult-classic film.[16](https://bazingacomics.cl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/PRH-CATALOG-FEB2026.pdf)
## References
1. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent (2025 series), Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/)
2. ['Event Horizon' Prequel Comic Series 'Dark Descent' Launches in August from IDW, Bloody Disgusting](https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3867065/event-horizon-prequel-comic-series-dark-descent-launches-in-august-from-idw/)
3. [Wednesday Comics Reviews: A disturbing revival with EVENT HORIZON: DARK DESCENT #1, and more, The Comics Beat](https://www.comicsbeat.com/wednesday-comics-reviews-a-disturbing-revival-with-event-horizon-dark-descent-1-and-more/)
4. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent (2025 series) :: Details, Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/series/227038/details/?sort=-page_count)
5. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent TPB, IDW Dark, PRH Comics May 2026 catalog](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026_May_PRH-IDW-Catalog.pdf)
6. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent (IDW, 2026 series), Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/issue/2855630/)
7. [Event Horizon Dark Descent Reviews, Comic Book RoundUp](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/trades/idw-publishing/event-horizon-%282025%29/dark-descent)
8. [Un clásico de culto del terror espacial recibirá una precuela aunque no como los fans esperan, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/cine/un-clasico-de-culto-del-terror-espacial-recibira-una-precuela-aunque-no-como-los-fans-esperan-n/)
9. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent #5 [Cover A - Jeffrey Alan Love], Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/issue/2812652/?display=grid)
10. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2, PRH Panels August 2025 catalog](https://bazingacomics.cl/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/PRH-PANELS-AUG25-1.pdf)
11. [Event Horizon: Dark Descent Series, Forbidden Planet](https://forbiddenplanet.com/subscriptions/series/idw-publishing/event-horizon-dark-descent/)
12. [EVENT HORIZON: DARK DESCENT #4, Westfield Comics IDW catalog](https://westfieldcomics.com/wow/pdfs/2025-10-PDF_06IDWCatalog.pdf)
13. [EVENT HORIZON: DARK DESCENT #5, IDW monthly title catalog](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/11-25_IDW_MONTHLY_TITLE_CATALOG.pdf)
14. ['Event Horizon: Dark Descent' #4 review, AIPT](https://aiptcomics.com/2025/12/23/event-horizon-dark-descent-4-review/)
15. [EVENT HORIZON: DARK DESCENT #2, PRH Comics August 2025 catalog](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CATALOG_AUGUST_2025-lo.pdf)
16. [Event Horizon: Inferno #1, PRH Comics February 2026 catalog](https://bazingacomics.cl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/PRH-CATALOG-FEB2026.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Comics and sequential art › Comic-book series and issues › Independent American comics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license