What is a concept universe, really?

That’s what 3 Worlds / 3 Moons, 9 the Substack collaboration between Jonathan Hickman, Mike Del Mundo, and Mike Huddleston, is described as on its About page. To expand on that, the team referred to it as “a place where, from scratch, a universe of stories, characters, places is built and the readers have full access to engage, and watch it unfold.” For some, that’s terribly appealing, an idea of an infinite sandbox in a medium known for parameters and structures that both define and limit it. For others, its meaningless, the type of thing that sounds cool in theory but is impossible to visualize.

While the gap in the middle of those two camps is significant, if there’s one thing both sides can agree on it’s this: whatever 3W3M is, it’s difficult to envision how it will manifest, if only because of the relative dearth of comic books there have been to date. That’s not to say there haven’t been comics. It’s just some subscribers have seemingly bristled at the number of them. They’re excited by the idea of 3W3M. But in their eyes, there’s been very little steak so far and a whole lot of sizzle.

I was not one of those people. Not because my viewpoint is correct by any means, as each response to this process is valid. It’s just because a) watching Mikes Huddleston and Del Mundo create is something I could do all day every day and b) I trusted the process. This wasn’t like Tom King and Elsa Charretier’s Love Everlasting or Chip Zdarsky’s Public Domain; this was the 3W3M crew building up an environment for storytelling. That meant this wasn’t just “start with page one and go from there.” It was, “What does this even mean, what does this look like, and how could we do this whole comic thing better and more interesting?” That’s a different animal altogether. They want to make comics, but it’s almost like they’re more interested in finding a new way to build them.

And with this past week’s “Transit,” an astonishing, 12-page comic from the 3W3M team, 10 artist Christian Ward, and letterer Rus Wooton, it feels as if we have a better idea of what that might look like.

While it’s not the first of its kind – this is actually the seventh 3W3M comic – something just felt different about this one. There’s an unusual richness to this story, a sense of depth that’s truly rare in any art form, not just comics. Within its 12 pages – only eight of which are traditional art, with four design-based pages – you will find more fascinating concepts and exciting world-building than you might in an entire week of traditional comic releases. 11 That’s not to diminish your average comic; it’s just to say that what transpired within “Transit” was that impressive, at least to this reader.

Now, before we get into those elements, it’s worth noting that “Transit” is not just an information delivery system. Some have described Hickman’s work as cold in the past. I’d disagree with that premise. Typically, the big ideas of his projects are paired with plenty of heart. This story is no different. It’s a beautiful short, one that follows a young girl, Jala Pac, as she goes on a journey from one planet to another and one life to the next after experiencing a tragedy. Over its eight pages of narrative, we’re given an poignant, cathartic tale, one almost exclusively told with visuals, as the maximum number of words on any page is three. But those words speak loudly, with each being reflective of the emotions Jala is going through.

More than that, there’s a pervasive sense of wonder, as if we’re experiencing this rapidly expanding universe through Jala’s eyes. And that’s where the bridge within “Transit” is formed. The emotional narrative connects readers directly into the big ideas, and we start to understand just how massive this all is as she does, even if we do so to a level Jala can’t through a mechanic she lacks access to: the data pages.