By Thea Srinivasan

If the answer to the universe’s problems was handed on a silver platter, we would probably end up in something similar to the D.C and Marvel’s universe. Like several others, I can only dream about the scientific advancements that can come to life and I end up relying on hope for any sense of discovery in different fields. It led me to wonder, what if everything relied on one source of hope?

Copperopolis is about an alternative universe where energies and forces are manipulated and used to change the universe.  With that in mind, humans have the ability to control this energy and this led to the two wondrous legends of Merlyn and Vortigen. (Sound familiar yet?) After the war between the two beings, the cosmic energy left behind from the war created a pillar called “The AllTime”. The pillar became the center point of the universe with its infinite energy and ability to defy the laws of physics with two men acting as guardians to make sure all of the cosmic energy from the AllTime was safely released into the universe.  Soon enough, a new town called Copperopolis grew next to the pillar and from there, both groups coexisted and work together until the universe was disrupted once more.

Although the comic’s purpose is to act as the publishers’ melting pot for all of its universes, characters, etc., I do think this comic will be good for someone who wants a vat of crazy shit, nonsensical humor and a lot of “what the hell” moments regardless of the type of reader.  Unfortunately, I haven’t read any other comics by the publishing company, therefore I missed out on several jokes and references the authors may have attributed to other comics. But for the satirical references outside the comics, I found myself laughing at the small moments that I was able to understand.

The creators of the comic were strategic with characters they were using for this particular story. Since the story itself was partially meant to be a creative vat, many characters had strange quirks to them that allowed them to be distinctive enough to not be a creation of spontaneous vomiting. For example, a secondary character named Delilah is referenced to the famous song by the “Plain White Tees” and the usage of “Merlyn” and “Vortigen” dates back to famous tales of King Arthur. Although these figures are recognizable to someone familiar with pop culture, not everyone would understand the references and it makes it harder for other readers. For this particular case, I would think that the creators would have to rely more on the randomness to get their story across to a wider audience. Even without understanding pop culture references, I enjoyed the random shit each character brought and I was able to see the type of humor each character was branded with.

My favorite part of this entire story is the portrayal of the guardians of the AllTime and the leaders of Copperopolis. Without spoiling too much, they did not stick to any archetype and I was really happy to see the creators use innovativeness to make these characters keep the story going in unexpected directions. While I am worried that later comics would veer too far out because of the craziness the characters have, I do think that they would be locked down in terms of their personality and that readers will end up having a fun time getting to know the motives of everybody and hopefully end up fighting over who’s the best character out of every single one.

Overall, the comic is a giant truckload of spontaneity that isn’t usually found in other comics.  With several pop culture references, a classic art style and a boatload of possibilities for the universe itself, this comic will surely appeal to lovers of “what the hell”. This comic is for the person who has no idea of what comes next and is open to every possibility that exists to mankind.

Score: 3/5

Swansea Comics Collective