EVENT HORIZON: INFERNO #4 (IDW DARK)

As Durante’s vision of making the Event Horizon whole again and opening the true gateway to hell gets closer to being a reality. He needs to rely on his android, Annabelle, to access the ship’s main frame to join the two pieces together. However, the ship loves its mind games, and an android isn’t even immune to them.

Event Horizon: Inferno #4 - Written By Christian Ward – Art By Rob Carey – Colors By Xenon Honchar - Letters By Alex Ray – Edited By Nicolas Niño - Published By IDW Publishing

Credit: IDW Dark

STORY OVERVIEW:

Durante is ready to move to the next part of his twisted mission and reconnect the two pieces of the Event Horizon in hopes that this will open the gateway to hell. He now relies on his android, Annabelle, to do exactly what she was made for and get into the main frame and get the reconnection started. Unfortunately for her Weir is waiting for her inside of the computer and not even an android is safe from the torment he can inflict. As Weir makes her question her life and love for Durante, he also allows her to start the reconnection because it serves him as well. With time running out for the crew aboard the other half of the ship, they will have to plan a final stand to stop Durante from damning not just them but possibly the universe.

WRITING:

The closer this story gets to the conclusion of this arc, the more urgency and momentum it gains. Christian Ward does a strong job taking what the reader thinks they understand about the Event Horizon, Durante’s mission, and the evil attached to the ship, then twisting those expectations into something even more disturbing. The issue works because Ward does not treat Annabelle as just a tool for moving the plot forward. Instead, he uses her connection to the ship’s main frame as a way to explore how far Weir’s influence can reach and how personal his torment can become, even against something that should not be vulnerable in the same way a human being is.

That choice makes the horror feel bigger than simple possession or physical violence. Weir is able to turn Annabelle’s own programming, memories, doubts, and love for Durante into weapons, forcing her to question whether her devotion is real or simply something she was built to feel. It is a chilling idea because it suggests the darkness behind the Event Horizon can corrupt not only flesh and faith, but identity itself. Ward also uses this conflict to strengthen Durante as a villain. His obsession with making the ship whole again feels increasingly reckless because he believes he is in control, even as every scene makes it clear that he is only helping the darkness get exactly what it wants.

As a penultimate issue, the writing succeeds because it balances psychological horror with forward movement. The story slows down just enough to let Annabelle’s confrontation with Weir land emotionally, but it never loses sight of the fact that the two halves of the ship are moving closer together and the remaining crew is running out of time. Ward sets the table for the finale with a strong sense of inevitability, making the coming final stand feel desperate, dangerous, and earned. By the end of the issue, the reader is left with the feeling that stopping Durante may no longer be enough, because the real threat has been guiding the pieces into place from the beginning.

ARTWORK:

The artwork in this issue, much like the rest of the series, is fantastic because it understands that the horror of Event Horizon is not only about what is shown, but how uncomfortable every moment feels. Rob Carey captures the story perfectly by making the strange and impossible elements clear without ever making them feel safe or easy to process. There is no confusion about what is happening on the page, yet the visuals still carry that sense of instability that makes the ship feel alive, hostile, and impossible to fully understand. Carey’s work keeps the reader grounded in the action while also reminding them that the Event Horizon is a place where reality, memory, technology, and nightmare are all bleeding into one another.

The scenes between Annabelle and Weir are especially strong because Carey finds the right balance between beauty and corruption. Annabelle still has an elegance to her design, but the way she is placed inside the ship’s system makes her look vulnerable in a way that feels unsettling for an artificial being. Weir’s presence pushes against her from every direction, and the artwork makes those mind games feel invasive rather than simply supernatural. The panels suggest a violation of thought, code, and identity, which fits perfectly with the writing’s idea that even an android can be broken down by the evil tied to the ship. That mixture of human expression and mechanical structure gives the issue some of its most disturbing and memorable imagery.

Carey also does a great job making the environments feel massive and suffocating at the same time. The backgrounds suggest the scale of the ship and the cosmic stakes of Durante’s plan, but the framing often makes the characters feel trapped inside machinery, shadows, and impossible spaces. That contrast makes the horror stronger because the reader can feel both the size of the threat and the lack of any real escape. Xenon Honchar’s colors make the artwork stand out even more by giving each scene an oppressive mood. The colors highlight the unnatural energy of the ship and the violence of the situation while still letting the quieter moments feel filled with dread. Honchar’s work adds another layer of despair to the issue, making the visuals feel vivid, dangerous, and emotionally heavy.

CHECK OUT MY REVIEW OF EVENT HORIZON: INFERNO #3

Final Thoughts:

Event Horizon: Inferno #4 is a tense and unsettling penultimate issue that pushes Durante’s plan closer to disaster while deepening the psychological horror surrounding Annabelle, Weir, and the ship itself. Christian Ward keeps the story moving with urgency, while Rob Carey and Xenon Honchar make every page feel strange, oppressive, and dangerous. With the pieces now almost fully in place, this issue delivers a strong setup for the finale and proves once again why this series is one of the most exciting horror comics on the shelves.

FINAL GRADE: 9.4/10

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