History Main / Echo

* The 2024 American [[Series/Echo2024 series]] set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* The 2024 American [[Series/Echo2024 series]] set in the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''.

* The [[VisualNovel/{{Echo}} furry visual novel]] in development by the [[https://www.patreon.com/EchoGame/overview Echo Project]] group.

* The furry visual novel VisualNovel/{{Echo}} in development by the [[https://www.patreon.com/EchoGame/overview Echo Project]] group.

* The furry visual novel in development by the [[https://www.patreon.com/EchoGame/overview Echo Project]] group.

* The GenreBusting [[VideoGame/{{ECHO}} video game]].

* The [[{{Creator/Echo}} South-Korean studio]].

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Echo1_2311.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Maybe it's time to get in out of the rain...]]

'''Echo''' is an American comic book independently published by Terry Moore, who is predominantly known for his previous self-published series ''StrangersInParadise''. Produced under his Abstract Studio imprint, ''Echo'' follows the story of Julie Martin, an amateur photographer who witnesses the murder of scientist Annie Trotter during tests of the [[AdaptiveArmor Beta Suit]], an experimental high-tech flight and combat machine that utilizes [[{{Unobtainium}} a newly created alloy]] produced by the Phi Project. Annie, who had always urged caution during the development of this new alloy, was killed by her superiors in order to pave the way for more aggressive exploitation of the alloy, but the attack (With missiles) also scattered the alloy across several square miles of desert. The subsequent rain of alloy coated the wilderness (And Julie) with tiny pellets of this wonderful (and dangerous) new metal. Julie quickly discovers that she can not remove these pellets from her skin, and they absorb any new pieces of the metal that come into close proximity as they begin to alter both her body and her mind. The series follows Julie, her park ranger acquaintance Dillon (Annie's boyfriend, now looking into her murder) and NSB agent Ivy Raven (Originally assigned to track down all the pieces of the alloy) as they try to figure out what, ''exactly'', this new metal does, and how they can survive/take down the corporate/military conspiracy that is coming for them.

Like most of Terry Moore's works, ''Echo'' revolves around a core cast of strong female characters with artwork that focuses on realistic body dimensions, as opposed to [[{{Fanservice}} statuesque women]] in [[{{Stripperific}} skin-tight clothing]] (although it does have a little bit of that as well). Interpersonal relationships and emotions are a primary focus of the series, despite its action/adventure plot, and readers are kept in suspense as personal and historical information is only revealed as it is brought up in the story, so you never know more than the characters themselves.

The series has concluded with issue #30 and has been collected into trade-paperbacks.
* Vol 1: ''Moon Lake''
* Vol 2: ''Atomic Dreams''
* Vol 3: ''Desert Run''
* Vol 4: ''Collider''
* Vol 5: ''Black Hole''
* Vol 6: ''The Last Day''

There's also a complete edition that collects the entire series in one phone book-sized volume.

!!''Echo'' contains examples of:

* ActionGirl: Ivy Raven, secret agent extraordinaire.
* ActionSurvivor: Julie really has no experience with ''anything'', but she catches up quick.
* AdaptiveArmor: The Beta Suit molds itself to its wearer and can cushion against g-forces, emit deadly electrical attacks, cure diseases and even re-write human DNA.
* ApocalypseHow: Class-X at a ''minimum''. The full properties of the Phi-project are still being explored, but we know that if a single test-bomb is detonated, or the Arctic collider is activated, [[EarthShatteringKaboom there goes the Earth]]. What we do ''not'' know is if the "there goes" part will ''stop'' with Earth.
* AppliedPhlebotinum: The Phi Project alloy can do...well, ''everything''.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology + ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: Carbon dating [[spoiler:Cain's finger]] reveals his age as being 25,000 years. Carbon dating is used to test how long it has been since an organism ''died'', not how long it has existed (the carbon-14 that testers look for is continuously "topped off" by simply living, and this stops at death, beginning the decay that the dating test is looking for). Since he was clearly alive only days earlier, it speaks more to the alloy having weird effects than [[spoiler:Cain]] being very old.
** While on the subject of [[ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics nuclear physics]], if you're talking about protons (a common, well understood sub-atomic particle) having special properties because they came from an alloy (as opposed to from an element or an atom... not that that makes a difference to the proton's properties), well... you may as well be talking about [[Film/YoungEinstein splitting beer atoms with a chisel]].
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Ivy Raven
* AxeCrazy: Cain
* BecomingTheMask: Lieutenant Laura Higgs, formerly a [[StrangersInParadise Parker Girl]] operative named Stephanie who was infiltrating the US military, was trapped in her identity when the operation collapsed. Now she has friends and a life as Laura and [[ThatManIsDead asserts that Stephanie is dead]]
* UsefulNotes/BlackHoles: The goal of the Phi Project, one of them anyway, is to create and sustain an artificial black hole whose power will be harnessed by humanity.
* BuryYourGays: Poor, poor [[spoiler:Ethan]], shot in the back just because Jack could not handle being left. [[spoiler: Do not worry, Jack gets his, too]].
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: "Y'know, Hong... I've burned so many psychos, kinda hard to tell you guys apart."
* CainAndAbel: The crazed maniac that serves as the direct antagonist for much of the series believes himself to be ''the'' Cain, son of Adam and first murderer who has wandered the Earth for thousands of years, and spends most of his time ranting at God.
* ClingyCostume: Julie ''cannot'' get the Beta Suit off.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Without the Beta Suit, Jule is just a normal photographer struggling with everyday life.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive
* {{Crossover}}: Ivy begins to suspect that her superiors in Washington might not be as completely trustworthy as she thought, so she decides to make a call to somebody outside the system that will be able to help her peek behind the scenes. The next panel, framed from behind, is apparently [[StrangersInParadise Casey getting a phone call.]] Tambi Baker guest-stars in a later issue, which also features one of the former Parker Girls, and it is revealed that she and Ivy are on a first-name basis.
* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:The Phi project will, if left unchecked, destroy the world. Period. Unlike atomic weapons testing or other theoretical physics experiments it will not require somebody to make a mistake or go "too far," the detonation of even a single test weapon will make the earth go "boom."]]
* {{Fanservice}}: ''Echo'' might deviate from the comic norm by drawing women with realistic proportions and clothing, but Julie and Ivy seem to spend more time naked than is truly necessary.
* FormFittingWardrobe: The Beta Suit is literally skin-tight, and seems to be thin enough to see right through it.
* FountainOfYouth: Due to the Phi-Project, as Julie gets bigger (and bigger...and ''bigger'') Ivy is rapidly de-aging. First it is simply superficial, a few inches of lost height and a slimmer waist, but as time goes on she gets younger and younger, until she actually becomes what appears to be an adolescent, maybe even pre-pubescent, child. [[DeconstructedTrope She finds the entire situation horrifying and disturbing, and even begins to lose her mental faculties and memories of what has happened]].
* GainaxEnding: The story's climax is confusingly laid out and narrated, turning virtually every plot "resolution" into a complete enigma. We are left to guess [[spoiler:how Annie survived the effects of Foster's weapon, how Dillon, Vijay, and other characters survived, which/how many [=HeNRI=] personnel survived (including their Black Ops assassin), and how/why Julie and Ivy returned to some semblance of their correct ages and sizes.]].
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: When Ivy is [[HeroicBSOD starting to be seriously disturbed by the changes to her body]], particularly that her mind is regressing in addition to her body, she instructs Dillon to not sleep with Julie since that is how the she first began to be changed by the alloy. Dillon is too preoccupied with the implication that they had sex to recognize the importance of other parts of the conversation.
* AGodAmI:
** Cain does not believe that he is actually {{God}}, but he does believe himself to be ''the'' [[CainAndAbel Cain]]. This leads him to assume himself to be immortal and protected from harm by God, and he spends a lot of time having direct conversations with the big one (Whether God talks back is a different question).
** The scientists working on the Phi Project are well aware of the power and impact of the technology, and even the ones advising patience and cautioning against tests are swept up in the possibilities.
--> '''Professor Foster:''' "[[IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect If our calculations are correct]], today we will not only generate a black hole, we will ''sustain'' it--and all its immeasurable power--for as long as we like. And that, my friends, will be a miracle. Last century we harnessed the power of the atom--Today we will harness ''the power of '''God'''''!"
* GovernmentConspiracy: We are still working through the details, but Henri has plans for the alloy and they are not letting anybody get in their way.
* HeroicBSOD: Ivy had more than a few rough spots throughout the series, but when she woke up and ''did not remember the story'' she began to break down.
--> '''Ivy:''' "I need to know...Julie, I woke up and I couldn't remember..."\\
'''Julie:''' "Remember what?"\\
'''Ivy:''' "''Anything!'' I didn't know where I was, how I got here...I've been telling myself these changes to our bodies are just external but, I don't know. What if it's affecting our minds, too?"
* HollywoodAtheist: Subverted. Ivy instantly dismisses Cain's claim to being ''the'' [[CainAndAbel Cain]] and Julie thinks that she is just arbitrarily making this decision because she does not believe the story, but Ivy then explains that she has given a lot of thought to combining creationism and modern scientific understanding. Even assuming a literal interpretation of the Bible and a humanity that has only existed for a few thousand years, Cain would still be black, since only common African ancestry for all humanity could account for the current diversity of skin colors after only a few generations.
* IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: When Tambi Baker ambushes "Laura Higgs" and knocks her onto the nearby bed, she calmly drops to the floor the bullets that she had earlier taken out of Laura's gun.
* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The spirit (Soul? Memory? DNA imprint?) of Annie seems be existing within the Beta Suit/Julie, and many attempts are made to contact her for information and help on dealing with the situation.
* LeftHanging: If Hong is to be believed, at the end of the series the Chinese still have the alloy ''and'' the Phi-suit technology.
* LikeYouWereDying: As the date of the Collider test approaches various characters take time to prepare for the end. Vijay suggests that Ivy Raven call her daughter while there is still time, and Ivy herself tells Tambi Baker to spend the day of the test itself with someone special.
* NoodleIncident: That box that Julie seems to value more than her life was never opened where the viewer could see it. Whatever it is makes Rick view her as deviant, and Julie even explains that it is the reason why he left her, and Ivy instantly recognizes it as important.
* NotQuiteBackToNormal: The series ends with the effects of the Phi-project removed from Julie and Ivy, [[spoiler:but the final page reveals that Annie is ''still in Julie''.]] And the two leads' relative heights and ages still seem ''slightly'' different from their starting points.
* TheOneGuy: The are many male characters throughout the series, but within the main protagonists there is only Dillon. Vijay does join the trio later on however.
* OneRiotOneRanger: Deconstructed. Ivy finally contacts her superiors and begins to get guidance from her Washington organization, but Julie [[GenreSavvy wonders why they have not sent any support or personnel to help deal with the potentially Apocalyptic scenario]]. This causes Ivy to begin to think about it and she starts to agree with Julie that this might have some unpleasant implications as to the trustworthiness of her superiors.
* ProductPlacement: Ivy Raven owns a Blackberry cellular phone and, in one scene, uses it to visit {{Wikipedia}}, complete with exact quotations from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel its article on Cain and Abel]].
* [[spoiler:RealAfterAll: Cain never displayed any powers or skills beyond what was bestowed on him by the Phi-project and was clearly not immortal, so Ivy rejects out of hand his claim that he was actually the Biblical [[CainAndAbel Cain]]... at least, until she gets the results of the [[ItMakesSenseInContext carbon dating]] of his finger. The analysis places his age at over ''25,000 years!'']]
* ShownTheirWork:
** When the characters are being [[{{infodump}} briefed]] on the history and purpose of the Phi-project, Terry Moore spends quite a bit of time talking about all the different mathematical problems and artistic creations involving phi and its relationship with the universe.
** When Ivy Raven is doing research on the story of CainAndAbel she visits {{Wikipedia}} and the comic features verbatim quotations from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel their article on Cain and Abel]].
* TheSingularity: It is accepted by most characters that the Phi Project will fundamentally change ''everything'' about humanity and society.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Annie is far from malevolent, but as time goes on and the Beta Suit makes more and more changes Julie is beginning to fade away and fears that soon she will be completely gone, replaced by the woman now living within her. She has even begun to sign her name as "Annie Trotter," and she is apparently not even aware that she is doing it. [[spoiler: In issue #27 the takeover is complete as, with Ivy's urging, [[MindScrew Annie admits that she has been in control for some time now. Issue #30 shows that Annie still exists in some manner in Julie despite the destruction of the suit.]]]]
* StatuesqueStunner: The Phi-project is slowly altering Julie's body, making her grow larger and larger until she towers over everybody else in the group. People soon begin to believe that she is an actress or model and refuse to accept that she is not at least ''somehow'' a sex icon.
* {{Stripperific}}: Julie's coating of alloy is [[FormFittingWardrobe skin-tight]] and covers only the primary sex organs, and she and Ivy lose the rest of their clothing with relative frequency.
* TakeThat: Creator/MNightShyamalan, have you even ''seen'' your [[Film/LadyInTheWater last]] [[Film/TheHappening few]] [[Film/TheLastAirbender movies]]?
* TapOnTheHead: Subverted [[spoiler: Jack is knocked down with a single punch to the jaw, but in the very next panel he is moving his arms and is pushing himself up in the one after that.]]
* [[ThatManIsDead That Woman Is Dead]]: "Stephanie's dead. [[BecomingTheMask I'm Laura Higgs now]]."
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Dillon is no smaller than an average man, but with the Phi-project affecting her body Julie begins to steadily grow larger and larger. At first she is simply [[StatuesqueStunner tall and statuesque]], mistaken by a few people as an actress or model, but she continues to grow until she is positively ''huge''. When she and Dillon are lying on the ground head-to-head, his feet only reach her ''knees''.
* {{Unobtainium}}: The Phi Project alloy seems to be a discovery that surpasses ''everything'', its impact on humanity (Provided we survive its creation) could potentially be greater than fire or nuclear technology.
* {{Wikipedia}}: When Ivy is waiting to hear information on the upcoming Super-Collider activation she begins to read about the history of the story of CainAndAbel. These scenes includes images of, and exact quotations from, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel the Wikipedia article on Cain and Abel]].
* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler: Foster has Jack killed because Jack has "made a mess of things."]]
* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Inver...subver...no freakin' clue. The crew take a break at a rest stop and inform the staff that they are there on government work. However, thanks to the body-warping Phi-project, Ivy is too young and Julie is too beautiful to be taken as government employees and Vijay, the new tagalong member of the gang, is Indian. The staff is now convinced they are serving Creator/MNightShyamalan and a movie crew, despite all claims to the contrary.

There's also a complete edition.

* EarthShatteringKaboom: The Phi project will, if left unchecked, destroy the world. Period. Unlike atomic weapons testing or other theoretical physics experiments it will not require somebody to make a mistake or go "too far," the detonation of even a single test weapon will make the earth go "boom."

* ProductPlacement: Ivy Raven owns a BlackBerry cellular phone and, in one scene, uses it to visit {{Wikipedia}}, complete with exact quotations from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel its article on Cain and Abel]].
* RealAfterAll: Cain never displayed any powers or skills beyond what was bestowed on him by the Phi-project and was clearly not immortal, so Ivy rejects out of hand his claim that he was actually the Biblical [[CainAndAbel Cain]]...at least, until she gets the results of the carbon dating of his finger (Long story). The analysis places his age at over ''25,000 years!''

** While on the subject of [[ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics nuclear physics]], if you're talking about protons (a common, well understood sub-atomic particle) having special properties because they came from an alloy (as opposed to from an element or an atom... not that that makes a difference to the proton's properties), well... you may as well be talking about [[Film/YoungEinstein splitting bear atoms with a chisel]].

* TheOneGuy: The are many male characters throughout the series, but within the main protagonists there is only Dillon.

Like most of Terry Moore's works, ''Echo'' revolves around a core cast of strong female characters with artwork that focuses on realistic body dimensions, as opposed to [[{{Fanservice}} statuesque women]] in [[{{Stripperific}} skin-tight clothing]]. Interpersonal relationships and emotions are a primary focus of the series, despite its action/adventure plot, and readers are kept in suspense as personal and historical information is only revealed as it is brought up in the story, so you never know more than the characters themselves.

* TakeThat: [[MNightShyamalan M. Night Shyamalan]], have you even ''seen'' your [[Film/LadyInTheWater last]] [[Film/TheHappening few]] [[Film/TheLastAirbender movies]]?

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Inver...subver...no freakin' clue. The crew take a break at a rest stop and inform the staff that they are there on government work. However, thanks to the body-warping Phi-project, Ivy is too young and Julie is too beautiful to be taken as government employees and Vijay, the new tagalong member of the gang, is Indian. The staff is now convinced they are serving [[MNightShyamalan M. Night Shyamalan]] and a movie crew, despite all claims to the contrary.

* TakeThat: [[MNightShyamalan M. Night Shyamalan]], have you even ''seen'' your [[LadyInTheWater last]] [[TheHappening few]] [[TheLastAirbender movies]]?

'''Echo''' is an ongoing American comic book independently published by Terry Moore, who is predominantly known for his previous self-published series ''StrangersInParadise''. Produced under his Abstract Studio imprint, ''Echo'' follows the story of Julie Martin, an amateur photographer who witnesses the murder of scientist Annie Trotter during tests of the [[AdaptiveArmor Beta Suit]], an experimental high-tech flight and combat machine that utilizes [[{{Unobtainium}} a newly created alloy]] produced by the Phi Project. Annie, who had always urged caution during the development of this new alloy, was killed by her superiors in order to pave the way for more aggressive exploitation of the alloy, but the attack (With missiles) also scattered the alloy across several square miles of desert. The subsequent rain of alloy coated the wilderness (And Julie) with tiny pellets of this wonderful (and dangerous) new metal. Julie quickly discovers that she can not remove these pellets from her skin, and they absorb any new pieces of the metal that come into close proximity as they begin to alter both her body and her mind. The series follows Julie, her park ranger acquaintance Dillon (Annie's boyfriend, now looking into her murder) and NSB agent Ivy Raven (Originally assigned to track down all the pieces of the alloy) as they try to figure out what, ''exactly'', this new metal does, and how they can survive/take down the corporate/military conspiracy that is coming for them.

* NotQuiteBackToNormal: The series ends with the effects of the Phi-project removed from Julie and Ivy, [[spoiler:but the final page reveals that Annie is ''still in Julie''.]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: This trope applies to the ending ... [[TheEndOrIsIt or does it]]? [[spoiler:Apparently, Annie is still in there somewhere.]]
** [[spoiler:What's more, Julie is still markedly taller than Ivy (she used to be an inch shorter).]]
** [[spoiler:And though Ivy's no longer a child, she still looks a decade younger than she started out.]]

* GainaxEnding: The story's climax ([[spoiler:the massive explosion at the test site]]) is confusingly laid out and narrated, turning virtually every plot "resolution" into a complete enigma. We are left to guess [[spoiler:how Annie survived the effects of Foster's weapon, how Dillon, Vijay, and other characters survived, which/how many [=HeNRI=] personnel survived (including their Black Ops assassin), and how/why Julie and Ivy returned to some semblance of their correct ages and sizes.]].

** The odds are sky-high that at least a few individuals aware of the Phi Project either [[spoiler:survived the test-site explosion]], or were left back at [=HeNRI=] headquarters, where there's probably a ton of notes and documentation as well.
** And because Annie's breakthrough was so fundamental, anyone left aware of it has Phi technology within his grasp--in all its variants, helpful or destructive.