Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alter-Life, Caleb Thusat, Comics, entertainment, kickstarter, village

Living In My Own Alter-Life

Published Sat, 21 Jan 2017 14:00:23 -0600

Caleb Thusat writes for Bleeding Cool:

I altered the course of my life by simply typing some words on a page. Where would I be right now if I never wrote that first page? Does one action in your life dictate the outcome of another?

In the fall of 2015, I wrote Alter-Life, a story that had taken root in my imagination when I was 18 years old. Alter-Life is science fiction at its core, but it is rooted an extremely personal and relatable concepts of regret, love, loss, and death.

The Story of Alter-Life

Alter-Life is the story of Jake. An average man stuck in a mind-numbing 9 to 5 job with dreams of being a successful writer.

Jake lives through one of these Alter-Life moments that changes the core of his existence and the timeline of his future. He has an argument with his wife while driving with their daughter in the back seat. This argument escalates and in an instant his family is gone.

Months pass, and Jake lives a hard, regret and sorrow-filled existence. He decides the suffering must end, and steps in front of an oncoming train. But, death is not the end for Jake. He comes to find that he cannot die. Instead, he jumps into what seems to be one of his infinite parallel existences. The world is the same, but with small changes and variations. This impossible truth takes time to accept, but the possibilities of this newfound power are clear. If all things are possible, then perhaps his wife and child are still alive somewhere in his infinite timelines.

Alter-Life Moments

There are moments in everyone's life that can change the course of your existence. A chance encounter, a promotion, a debilitating accident, or even a death in the family. Life is filled with these moments. Some of them are bright and shinning moments that you'll never forget, while the infinitesimal others are smaller, quieter moments that pass you without a shutter and without a care.

But, every single choice could be just as important as the other. The theory of the Multiverse is that all of these moments and all of their possible outcomes have happened, and they all exist. You are only seeing and experiencing one of them. For me, this past year has been the most exciting and eventful year of my life. Filled with amazing Alter-Life Moments. I was fed up with my job and inspired by independent creators around me, so I wrote three comics.

In early 2016, I decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign and fund my first comic, Alter-Life Issue #1. The same day that Kickstarter was funded, I was laid off from my 9 to 5 job. A month later, my wife and I discovered that the only way we would ever have a child would be if we pursued IVF treatment. While on vacation that summer, my grandfather unexpectedly passed away. And in the fall of that same year, our IVF attempts were successful.

I'm sure I have had other years that have shaped my existence and molded me into the person that I am today, but these recent life-altering events feel grandiose and special. Like I finally found the right piece to fit in that corner of my puzzling existence, and I'm so glad this is the one I am living.

To the Future

Come join the journey into Alter-Life. Alter-Life: The Graphic Novel is on Kickstarter right now. It's the full 200 page story of Jake's quest to find his lost family, the truth of his past, and mystery that is Alter-Life. You can read Issue #1 for free on the Kickstarter page or for $1.99 on Comixology. There are infinite worlds and timelines we are living. I hope this is one where we create something together.

(If you back Alter-Life, make sure you mention this article on Bleeding Cool, and you will get a special exclusive signed postcard)

LINKS
Kickstarter Link: http://kck.st/2jWK7g3
Twitter: @alterlifecomic and @calebthusat
ComiXology: http://bit.ly/2igRXko
www.villagecomicbooks.com

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