REVIEW: ‘Retroverse,’ Issue #1

A lot is coming at Kacy all at once. She’s reeling from a killer hangover, struggling with a home life that is less than ideal, and now she’s come face-to-face with a snarling monster. For reasons she can’t explain, squaring up and punching it right in the mouth just feels right. But why? How does something that should be terrifying her seem to be the only thing that makes sense? In Comixology Originals‘ Retroverse #1 from writer Cullen Bunn, artist John Bivens, and letterer Anna Peterson readers can take their first steps with Kacy as she begins to figure it all out. Maybe.

It is this air of bizarre mystery that makes Retroverse #1 so alluring. The way Bunn writes Kacy’s oddly relaxed confusion at the current state of her life elevates the questions posed by this story from simple mysteries to something that feels deeper, more profound. As the story retraces Kacy’s path over the past day and how she found herself in her current state, the mysteries grow and intertwine with her life in a truly curious way. The glimpse at the daily life we see paints a realistic and largely unflattering portrait of Kacy. While this teen comes across as mean, with at least a moderate drinking problem, the world she occupies makes these less-than-stellar personality traits feel like potentially more of survival mechanisms than outright failings. Though the glimpse here is brief, and much is left up to the reader to translate at this point.

When Retroverse #1‘s trip back through Kacy’s day hits the point where things clearly went off the rails, the story does a great job of giving the reader a great impression of what happened and who likely did it to her while leaving enough wiggle room that there is no certainty. I hope Bunn has a unique explanation for the strange happenings that are coming for Kacy, as it would be a letdown if the final explanation was too cookie-cutter.

The art in Retroverse #1 delivers the hard edges of Kacy’s day quite well. From the mundane to the weird, all the elements of this story come together smoothly, thanks to Bivens’s line work. I especially liked the design of the monster Kacy faces off with. It is big and complicated, but Bivens always keeps the details clear enough that the reader is never confused by what is being presented within the panels. The color schemes implemented throughout the book also align themselves perfectly with the overall energy of the story. Wrapping up our look at the book is the lettering. The dialogue placement by Peterson is excellent, despite some panels having numerous boxes within them, and the way the found effects design is done goes great with the unearthly energy of the story.

Taking it all in together, Retroverse #1 delivers a great opening chapter. It feels like this story has so much to explore within its narrative, and the creative team does a great job of presenting its mysteries in a way that begs the reader to stick around until all the answers are discovered.

Retroverse #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.