Awards
- Short-listed for Scholastic Graphic Novel Prize 2024
Overview
On the edge of burnout, Vern decides to return to his family in the Sunshine State to start over. Starting a new dead-end job as a custodian at Quasar-a local science facility with a shady motive-he shrugs on his uniform, grabs a mop and bucket, and trudges off to clean up. Black holes? Space-time anomalies? Galactic ooze? Things aren't entirely what they seem at Quasar, and when Vern accidentally plugs in a mysterious machine and finds himself standing on the brink of the destruction of every planet in the Multiverse, he finds himself presented with the greatest question of all: what is the point?
Full Product Details
Author: Tyrell Waiters ,
Tyrell Waiters
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Imprint: Flying Eye Books
Weight: 0.369kg
ISBN: 9781838742744
ISBN 10: 1838742743
Pages: 168
Publication Date: 14 August 2025
Recommended Age: From 12 years
Audience:
Young adult
,
Teenage / Young adult
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Burned out after a fruitless job search, Vern, a young Black man, drives home to Florida from San Francisco, eager to rest. But his grandmother has gotten him a job with her former employer. Quasar Industries researches the multiverse, hoping to find a new home for humanity. As their new custodian, Vern cleans up unexplainable messes, like blue multi-eyed interdimensional goo (""begone, weird eyeball dudes""), while getting lost in rooms that open to different dimensions. In one such room, he finds a strange machine that transports him to the edge of the multiverse when he plugs it in. There he meets the Void, who repeatedly asks him, ""What is the point?"" Unable to answer, Vern is dispatched to an alternate dimension-the Void promises to recall him for an answer after he's had a little time to think. However, Vern has unwittingly sparked a catastrophe that could end humanity-and it's up to him to stop it. This engaging, entertaining story has an intriguing plot and a fairly passive protagonist in Vern. Fortunately, Waiter's experimental art brings Vern's adventures to life, playing with form and color to creatively represent his movements through time and space. The story balances topics like climate change, late-stage capitalism, and humanity's self-sabotaging actions with a hopeful outlook, humorous tone, and a dash of family intrigue. An imaginative multiversal adventure. * Kirkus Reviews *
""Waiter’s experimental art brings Vern’s adventures to life, playing with form and color to creatively represent his movements through time and space. The story balances topics like climate change, late-stage capitalism, and humanity’s self-sabotaging actions with a hopeful outlook, humorous tone, and a dash of family intrigue. An imaginative multiversal adventure."" — Kirkus Reviews
Author Information
Tyrell Waiters is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer from Palmetto, Florida. After graduating Ringling College of Art and Design, he turned himself to working as an apparel graphic designer for children's clothing. Now currently living in on the East Coast with his wife and their many cats, he works in a huge range of industries ranging from marketing to music and entertainment. When not working, he's painting in his studio and exploring nature.
