Downworld
A graphic novel in progress.
Sam Key is a physics undergrad at St Christopher's College of Maryland, working on a research project on the nature of matter. When her girlfriend Randa and their friends Leo and Necco stop by the lab to wish her a happy birthday, something very, very strange happens. The four discover they have somehow gained the ability to move through solid matter, and that this even gives them the ability to enter a parallel world.
The formerly-united states of Downworld North America.
In that Universe, which they come to call "The Downworld", the twentieth century turned out completely differently... and not for the better. Downworld America fell under the spell of fascism, finally electing strongman Marcus Avaddon to the Presidency. In 1970, midway through his third term as President, General Avaddon was steadily losing popularity in the Midwest and West Coast, and faced defeat in the coming elections; in response, he took nine states along the lower East Coast and claimed them as his own country, Avaddonia. The Avaddonian Secession had a tremendous impact on the rest of the continent. New nations rose up and battled furiously for dominance. The militaristic Canadians to the north invaded huge swaths of the disorganized and demoralized country, reaching as far south as North Platte, Nebraska before finally being turned back. The last bastions of American democracy, the New American Republic and Greater California Republic, are hemmed in on all sides by ferocious enemies. They have barely survived the last three decades, and when the next great war comes—as it inevitably will—the last truly American governments will fall with them.
When the four college students inadvertently arrive in Avaddonia, they don't like what they see. Before long, they find themselves mixed up with the Order of the Cicatrice, a gang of freedom fighters—or perhaps terrorists—who need their remarkable abilities to restore the American nation. Now each of the four must make a decision: is it worth risking their lives to save a world that isn't theirs? and is it worth their souls?
For more information on the world of the story, I suggest the following Eleventh Volume articles:
You may also be interested in short stories and excerpts from Downworld.
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