jacksepticeye's ALTRVERSE comics

Online creator Sean McLoughlin, aka jacksepticeye, has slowly been building a multiverse of stories across various mediums, from gaming playthroughs and skits to short films, interactive livestreams, and ongoing comic series, with a video game and narrative podcast on the horizon. In Part 1 of this series, we covered the origins of Sean's six main characters, including the two stars of the ALTRVERSE comic series. Be sure to read that guide to become acquainted with the early incarnations of Jackie-Boy Man and Marvin.

Part 2 explored the proper launch of the ALTRVERSE, the short films from 2019-2022 which mainly fleshed out the character of Chase and introduced the clandestine organisation IRIS, as well as the concepts of ALTRs, still only hinted at. We also covered the upcoming video game in this universe. Sean brought Sophie Jackson on board as creative director, fans having little idea what they were planning until hints began to be dropped and the ALTRVERSE comics, giving Sean's universe a name, were revealed towards of the end of 2023.

Bad Egg Publishing, a comics company launched with titles from Sean's fellow content creator and friend MoistCrITiKal, assembled a team of writers and artists and, with Sean, laid the foundations for two series, exploring characters not yet seen or only glimpsed on the short film side of the ALTRVERSE.

Issue #0 released on December 4, 2023.

The comic contained two pilot stories for the upcoming series, introducing the characters and worlds of Void Silver, following the magician Marvin, and the superhero The Somewhat Incredible Jackie-Boy Man. Below is Sean posed with the pre-order limited edition foil cover, and showing off the variant covers of issue #0 for each series.

The first issue of each title released May 28 of this year, each by its own team and with three covers, including the pre-order exclusive foils.

The issue 2s, which we covered more in-depth alongside Sean's New York Comic Con announcement, recently shifted release date to October 16, continuing the linear stories started in the first issues and with a smaller range of covers. Since then, our detailed overview of panels, signings and merch available at NYCC, including con-exclusive covers, has been released.

But let's get into the depths of the ALTRVERSE, how these comics tie into and continue the chronology of the wider multiverse which officially started back in 2019 with CHASE.

The Story so Far...

Void Silver #1 actually takes us further back in time than ever before in the ALTRVERSE, following Marvin as a gifted young child, far removed from 'the Magnificent' title of the character's first iteration, much like how Anti dropped the 'septiceye' in the ALTRVERSE. The comic reveals a world of magic, and Marvin's natural ability. Through dreams he meets with and is marked by a magical entity, perhaps future inspiration for the cat mask he will eventually wear, and convinces his mother, with help from the not-quite-omniscient Ramesses, to pursue his magical destiny.

Void Silver #2 chronicles the years that follow of Marvin's education, not as a magician but an archivist with so much innate ability it scares everyone in the Circle, hence their prohibiting his magic use. Helping his classmates succeed in their various disciplines, Marvin's power only grows in secret, including his fondness for alchemy, giving us our best look so far at his notebook from Argentum Inanis. The comic ends with a high note (literally) at the White Cliffs of Dover, setting up what will be a very exciting issue #3, and bringing us closer to the Marvin and wider world of magic and characters introduced in ALTRVERSE issue #0.

The Somewhat Incredible Jackie-Boy Man #1 gives us the hero's origin story as a delivery boy stumbling into the wrong area of a lab and trying to help. We also see how how he stumbled into his name. The accident that gives him his powers is a meltdown which lifts a curtain between worlds. A green eye, the timeless entity who also appears in the intro of this issue, seeing the faces of those across realities that will destroy him. All things seem to point to Anti, as the entity recognises Jackie's face right as there's talk of anti-energy and Jackie asks 'Anti--?'

The Jackie-Boy Man adventure in issue #0 opens with a fascinating scene with a scientist, perhaps tying to a wider mythos we have yet to uncover, then moves to show the hero on his usual mission, delivering food... and thwarting a potential threat. The last page teases many more outings and foes, including the green-eyed figure.

The Somewhat Incredible Jackie-Boy Man #2 takes place after Jackie's acrobatic antics in the issue #0 story. After two weeks of fighting crime, something drastically alters Jackie's hero life, tying to the wider event that gave him his powers. We learn a lot more about the 'rot' of that meltdown, and how it affected another person present at the lab. Plus - monsters?

The Void Silver story in issue #0 gives us the closest link by far to the world of Sean's short films, with Marvin as an adult magician. Higgins, possibly the cat form of the entity from Marvin's dreams, now lives with him, and drops us into the story here as a fourth-wall-breaking narrator outside of time. Without giving away too much, the story features the IRIS logo we know from the twitter account. However, it's paired with the words 'IRIS Industries', and Marvin brings out some paper with eleven variations of the logo. Later in the story, there are visions tying directly to the end of ANOMALY FOUND - CHASE BRODY, perhaps a retelling, or a version of events from a parallel reality.

The story's last page teases, like the Jackie-Boy Man #0, at future stories, many of which are in Marvin's past, with characters we now know from issue #2. The figure in the centre of it all, 'the man who's not there at all', with his slit throat and glowing eye, is definitely the entity known as ALTR 114209, Anti, the original Antisepticeye that slit the character Jack's throat, in some form... Perhaps he is the same entity feeling ripples across the multiverse due to one doctor's reality-tearing experiment as seen in Jackie's stories.

And that's where we are in the ALTRVERSE so far. In five years of concentrated yet divided storytelling, we've learnt a lot. But this world and Sean's team are only just beginning to show what they are capable of - there's a lot to look forward to. To support this growing indie multiverse, consider subscribing to jacksepticeye and more importantly, reading these comics. Physical copies of past ALTRVERSE issues, as well as posters, can be ordered direct from Bad Egg as well as other retailers, with a digital reader edition and PDFs available to purchase from GlobalComix.

It remains to be seen what news NYCC will bring for the ALTRVERSE!