In Retroverse, Hopping the Multiverse Is An Existential Crisis

In Retroverse, Hopping the Multiverse Is An Existential Crisis

What if you suddenly woke up in a universe where you’d been dead for years — and on the surface, it looked like a better one than the world you’d just been in a moment ago? That’s already a horrifying enough existential crisis, but Retroverse decides that’s not enough and throws in some alien nightmares for good measure.

io9’s got your first look inside issue one of the series, penned by Cullen Bunn and featuring art and colours from John Bivens, and letters by Anna Peterson. The five-issue series, part of Comixology’s originals program, follows 19-year-old Kacy Martin after a hard night of partying sees her wake up in another reality, one where she died 13 years prior… and that’s not her only problem. “She must navigate the heartbreaking waters of a world that seems to have turned out much better without her in it,” Bunn said in a press release provided to Gizmodo. “And she must do so while wielding newly discovered, terrifying abilities against alien horrors.”

Image: Comixology
Image: Comixology

And boy howdy, are they horrors. “I’m pretty sure when Cullen and I started talking about this project, he knew I worked as a butcher for years before working full time as a comic artist,” Bivens added in the same release. “Because of that, it makes sense to design realities connected by muscles, organs, and viscera… and my goal is to make the reader think that what they are looking at is squishy.”

Brace yourselves for a squishy preview of those nightmares by clicking through to see our exclusive look at Retroverse #1 — the series hits Comixology next week, starting on December 13.

Retroverse Page 1

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 2

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 3

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 4

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 5

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 6

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology

Retroverse Page 7

Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Image: John Bivens and Anna Peterson/Comixology
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.