'The ocean is so deeply unexplored that it really feels like a place where you could suddenly discover something that would change your world view and change your whole sense of evolution,' Snyder says. The sea is a cradle of life from a scientific and evolutionary standpoint, he says, but also an incredibly destructive force and source of myth. As a kid, he would play with his dad's replica of a globe from the 1500s that showed 'the New World' and things like sea serpents, mermaids and swimming griffins. Snyder, who writes Vertigo's American Vampire (including the Survival of the Fittest miniseries drawn by Murphy) as well as DC Comics' mega-popular Batman, has been fascinated with the lore of the ocean almost as long as superheroes. The scary and inventive sci-fi story spans eons and explores horrors and wonder hidden in history as well as in the secret pockets of an undiscovered world.

The two comic-book creators are experimenting but also playing with familiar themes for them with The Wake, a new 10-issue Vertigo Comics miniseries debuting Wednesday. Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy are plumbing the depths of the ocean and evolution in order to make readers think and, while they're at it, scare the wetsuit off them.

The Wake by Scott Snyder