Notes on The Internal Sea

Notes on The Internal Sea with creator Der-shing Helmer.

What would life on Mars really look like? Eisner-nominated creator Der-shing Helmer dives headfirst into that question in their acclaimed science fiction graphic novel, The Internal Sea: Mare Internum. With equal parts psychological drama, alien mystery, and metaphysical exploration, this story takes the readers beneath the surface of the 'Red Planet' to discover an ocean unlike anything humanity has ever known. Here's a note from Der-shing Helmer:

What would life on another planet look like?

In The Internal Sea, Mike and Bex are stranded on the shores of a subterranean ocean. The idea of a subsurface sea isn’t a new idea in science fiction–if you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll pick up on my love for both classic sci-fi like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth and more modern imaginings like Jeff Long’s The Descent duology. Of course, the twist here is that Internal Sea takes place off-planet, on Mars. Extant sea creatures of Earth are often described as “alien”, so designing aliens for an ocean on another planet was a fun challenge.

Here are some original concepts for some alien characters, whose designs changed a lot from development to final. The defining decision I made for this story was to have the aliens convey emotion entirely through movement of their strange bodies without relying on recognizable human facial expressions… after all, our ability to connect with each other and empathize despite our differences is what makes human beings so worth admiring.

Blending hard science fiction with supernatural mystery, The Internal Sea is as much about alien oceans as it is about the fragility of the human condition. Helmer’s attention to biology, psychology, and emotional storytelling makes this graphic novel stand apart in the sci-fi comics landscape. The alien creatures are breathtakingly strange, yet deeply relatable through the power of movement and design. Like the best speculative fiction, The Internal Sea asks readers to reconsider what it means to be human in the face of the unknown.

What is The Internal Sea?

Journey to the Center of the Earth meets Ghosts of Mars in this haunting tale of survival, grief, and discovery.

Dr. Michael Fisher, a disgraced planetary geologist living on Mars, has never felt more isolated. When he and Dr. Bex Egunsola, the station’s newest biologist, accidentally break through the floor of a lava tube, they find themselves in an ancient subterranean world — and they are not alone.

Is this abyss a prison or sanctuary? A realm of the living, or the dead? And if the line between them is thin, can those who’ve fallen ever find their way back?

From Eisner-nominated creator Der-shing Helmer, The Internal Sea: Mare Internum compiles the complete, acclaimed webcomic (2015–2019) into one volume. Perfect for fans of The Expanse, The Martian, Red Rising, and Scavengers Reign.