J.M. Thakar

BarCode: Catalyst is the first part of River Comics new three part comic series.

BarCode: Catalyst, Creation, and Cure. Each part is broken down into 6 exciting issues with a total of 18 issues. 

BARCODE: Catalyst is an epic tale echoing the journey of the Odyssey, merging historical fiction and sci-fi through a chronicle of the imprisonment of a scientist during WWII, and his quest to return home to his wife. The story is set in the Pacific Jewel Islands, a historical locale modeled after the Philippines. The PJI are a collection of four island provinces originally inhabited by indigenous Asiatic peoples, and now controlled by a white English speaking colonial government. They have managed to remain neutral in the months after Pearl Harbor in 1942, when the Allied and Axis powers began to fight the Second World War. But then an enormous asteroid crashes into a volcano on one of the Pacific Jewel’s island provinces, causing the eruption of the dormant volcano, Mt. Golo.

Blue shimmering crystals are discovered, seemingly broken pieces of the asteroid, which are pieces of an unearthly element called BARRICIDE. Both the PJI government and a young Indian scientist DR. ARVIND VERMA have been trying to get their hands on Barricide to study its properties. Verma’s intentions have been peaceful, and he has gone around the world searching for traces of the element. However, the PJI military has plans of their own.

Catalyst follows the PJI Military’s unlawful imprisonment of Dr. Verma and his quest to return to his wife with the aid of a young Sergeant named Jones. Weaving in elements of Indian Mysticism and historical fiction, Catalyst is a harrowing tale of imprisonment and escape, but not without some battles along the way.