Grant McKay

Grant McKay is the reckless, brilliant, and deeply flawed protagonist at the heart of Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera's groundbreaking Image Comics series Black Science. A self-described anarchist scientist, McKay leads the Anarchist League of Scientists in defiance of every established institution, driven by an obsessive need to push beyond the boundaries of what is known or permitted. His greatest achievement — and greatest sin — is the Pillar, a device capable of punching through the barriers separating infinite parallel dimensions. When the Pillar is sabotaged, McKay and everyone around him are hurled into an uncontrolled, unpredictable leap across the Eververse, triggering one of the most relentless survival stories in modern comics.

McKay's first appearance in Black Science #1 (December 2013) is one of the most sought-after debut issues of the 2010s independent comics boom. The issue drops readers directly into chaos, establishing Grant not as a hero but as a man already drowning in the consequences of his own choices — estranged from his family, morally compromised, and suddenly responsible for the lives of colleagues and his own children across a hostile multiverse. Remender crafted McKay as a deconstruction of the archetype of the lone genius, exploring how ego, addiction, and ideology can destroy everything a person claims to love. Scalera's explosive, painterly artwork made the first issue an immediate visual standout on shelves.

Across the full 43-issue run of Black Science, McKay's arc is one of brutal consequence and hard-won redemption. Major story arcs include the early survival horror of the first Eververse jumps, the devastating "Rebuild" arc that tests the limits of what Grant will sacrifice, and the haunting final chapters that force him to reckon with every broken promise and burned bridge. The series was completed as a unified, creator-driven vision — rare in modern comics — which gives the full run a literary weight that collectors and readers deeply respect.

For collectors, Black Science #1 represents an essential cornerstone of the Image Comics renaissance. First prints are increasingly difficult to find in high grade, and the series as a whole has developed a passionate cult following. Collecting the full run in single issues, particularly early printings of the first arc, is a rewarding pursuit for anyone interested in character-driven science fiction comics that actually stick the landing.