Franchise / BUBBLE Universe

Spoilers for all BUBBLE Universe entries through the Second Wind Phase will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

This country should know its superheroes! ^note From left to right: Igor Grom, Andrey Radov, Nika Chaikina, Lilia Romanova, Alena Kuznetsova, Danila, and Sneak.

The BUBBLE Universe (commonly known as the BUBBLEverse) is the main setting of the BUBBLE Comics titles. Much like in the Marvel Universe that inspired its creation, crossovers between comic lines are frequent, as are Continuity Nods.

BUBBLE Universe Titles

Comic Book Lines

• Demonslayer vol.1 (2012–2016)
  • Demonslayer vol.2 (2017–2021)
• Friar (2012–2016)
  • Realmswalker (2017–2018)
• Exlibrium (2014–2018)
  • Exlibrium: Second Life (2019-2021)
• Major Grom (2012–2016)
  • Igor Grom (2017–2021)
  • Major Igor Grom (2021–present)
• Meteora (2015–2018)
  • Ziggy: Space Hamster (2016–2018)^note Spinoff of Meteora 6 issues
  • Coolix (2017–2018)
  • Crutix (2017—2018)
• MIR (2020–present)
• Plague Doctor Series (2020–present)
  • Volkov (2021)
• Red Fury (2012–2016)
  • Allies (2017–2020)

Bubble Legends Stories

• Balor and the Plainswalker: New Life (2017)^note Trade paperback; Demonslayer spinoff
• Balor and Yana: Dreamcatcher (2019)^note Trade paperback
• Black Dog: It's Time (2018)^note Trade paperback; Demonslayer spinoff 4 issues
• The Chronicles of Enoch: Storming of Berlin (2015)^note Major Grom/Enoch crossover
• Dima Dubin: Provincial Vacation (2018)^note Trade paperback 4 issues
• Exlibrium: Red Line (2021)^note Trade paperback anthology
• Exlibrium: The Blank Sheet (2019)^note Exlibrium prequel
• Major Grom: As At War (2019–2020)^note Major Grom prequel 4 issues
• Major Grom: The Promise (2018)
• Master: Death Is Only the Beginning (2021)^note Enoch/Demonslayer spinoff
• Prokopenko: Thunder at Sunrise (2022)^note Igor Grom, Major Igor Grom spinoff
• Rivers - No Fear: Part 1 (2022–present)^note Igor Grom spinoff 1 issue
• Sentry (2022–present)^note Demonslayer spinoff 5 issues
• Theo: Crop Circles (2018)^note Trade paperback; Meteora spinoff 4 issues
• Yarkh: Step Forward (2019)^note Trade paperback; Demonslayer spinoff 6 issues
• Witch (2022–present)^note Igor Grom spinoff 1 issue

Limited Run and Special Event Comics

• Friar vs. Demonslayer (2013–2014) 4 issues
• Major Grom: Chance (2017)^note trade paperback
• Major Grom: Hero Forever (2020)^note trade paperback anthology
• Major Igor Grom – Special Issue: Debt (2021)
• Time of the Raven (2015–2016) 7 issues^note includes Time of the Raven: Prologue, Time of the Raven.#1–5, and Time of the Raven: Epilogue
  • Witch-Hunt (2018)^note Follow-up to Time of the Raven and Allies 6 issues
• BUBBLE Triptych (2023)
• Heroes and Monsters (2023)^note Crossover between Major Igor Grom, Plague Doctor, and MIR 1 issue

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Franchise Tropes found in the BUBBLE Universe Comics include:

• Adaptational Villainy: Played With regarding Kutkh. In folklore, he's often portrayed as a generally harmless Trickster God who lives alongside humanity, protecting and blessing them; in the BUBBLEverse, Kutkh is a terrifying creature who requires blood sacrifices and a Meat Puppet to exist on Earth, turns humans into monsters on a whim, and is so dangerous and destructive that Satan himself sees him as a worthy adversary. It's stated that he was formerly purely good, and that he only developed a dark side after absorbing monsters.^note This is, however, a Downplayed example, as there are many conflicting real world myths about Kutkh.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Friar: Did Andrey's consciousness actually travel through time and inhabit the bodies (or see through the eyes of) his ancestors while he was comatose? Was the whole thing a simulation created in an Afterlife Antechamber by the spirits of the Radov ancestors, to teach Andrey a lesson? An elaborate dream? Genetic memories that were somehow unlocked through the damage he sustained in the car crash? Some weird combination of the above? Andrey meeting and interacting with his recently deceased grandfather and brother in the ancient past seems to suggest the simulation theory. However, in Issue #14 of Friar, the Master speaks about his encounter with Andrey's ancestor in the ancient past as if he met Andrey himself, and in Issue #50 he gifts Andrey the sword of his ancestor — which he describes as "the sword you used to kill Kutkh"; taken together, these instances imply that Andrey's experiences were indeed real. However, a literal re-living of the past doesn't explain the presence of Andrey's grandfather and brother — or how Andrey instantaneously acquires the skills and knowledge of his ancestors (such as how to sword fight or deliver last rites).
• An Arm and a Leg: Near the start of Allies, Nika Chaikina awakens in a hospital bed following a fight with a horde of zombies to find that both of her legs have been amputated at the knee. This leads to a long and arduous journey of self-discovery, as Nika – who is accustomed to relying on both her physical abilities and her sexuality – fights to regain her sense of self and her independence.
• Ancient Artifact: The Cross of the Radov family. It's nearly fifteen centuries old, made of solid gold, and embedded with precious stones possessing various mystical properties.
  • Kutkh's armor also qualifies: each piece on its own has vague mystical properties; together, they have the power to (help) summon the Raven God from the netherrealm.
• Ancient Order of Protectors: The Radov family line counts: they've been protecting Russia (and the world) from the forces of evil for fifteen centuries.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Kutkh, the Raven God.
• Bald of Evil: The Master, the arch nemesis of Andrey Radov (and most other characters in the Bubbleverse at one point or another). He's thousands of years old, he's an Evil Sorcerer, and he tries to bring about Armageddon (or help others to do so) multiple times — with the deliberate goal of becoming more powerful than God.
• Been There, Shaped History: The Master was responsible for the death of Gaius Julius Caesar, and was present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He also was responsible for Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich's disastrous stint as Commander-In-Chief and the expulsion of the Russian troops from Rumelia: he personally delivered a bottle containing a genie to the Grand Duke — who was subsequently enthralled and went mad.
  • The Radov family has had a hand in many events in human history — especially in Russia and the surrounding countries:
    • The first of the family name was present at the Baptism of Rus' in 998 as a priest-in-training, and received a sword from Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich himself.
    • Another Radov fought with the Livonian Order in 1240; when present-day Andrey relieved the events firsthand, he ended up being stuck in that era for three years
  • Either Black Bird or The Rivers may have caused the London Fire of 1666.
  • The 2008 Russo-Georgian War was apparently caused by a demonic incursion on Earth. The memories (and essences) of some of the soldiers who died in the conflict were used to create Danila himself.
  • The Chelyabinsk Meteor was actually a space capsule that fell to Earth when Meteora attempted to break into the Earth's atmosphere.
• Black-and-White Morality: The First Wave comics ran largely on this. The heroes, while sometimes surly (and prone to bending, or even breaking, the rules) were always morally upright, while the villains were universally the most morally repugnant individuals imaginable. From the Second Wind on, however, this relaxes quite a bit.
• Comic-Book Time: While many a Bubble Universe character has appeared at a younger age in flashbacks, very few have visibly aged since their stories began, even though at least a decade has passed in canon.
• Cowboy Cop: Igor Grom possesses most of the usual traits of this trope – works off-the-books, hot-headed, disdainful of rules, partial to beating information out of suspects – while simultaneously breaking the mold by being a brilliant analyst and strategist, and having a strong moral code and a heart of gold.
  • By the time of Major Igor Grom, Max is more than eager to take up the mantle. Unfortunately, he has none of the foresight, compassion, or maturity that Grom brought to the job; Grom is not happy about this.
• Crisis Crossover: "Time of the Raven" is Bubble's, bringing together, for the first time, four of the Bubbleverse protagonists in the same setting. (With the remaining two being effected by the events.)
• Dark Is Not Evil: Danila is gloomy and brooding, hides his face under a hood, sports demonic tattoos and glowing, sometimes red, eyes, has a rat-like imp for a sidekick, and generally doesn't look like the friendliest guy around. Yet, he is ultimately on the side of good. Even after becoming the ruler of Hell and The Antichrist.
  • Balor, despite being a demonic symbiote, is ultimately a benign entity (who ends up saving countess lives).
• Death Is the Only Option: This is ultimately the case for Andrey Radov.
• Demonic Possession: A staple of the Bubbleverse, especially in Demonslayer and Friar (though it has also happened to the characters of other comics).
  • Time of the Raven revolves around a major case of demonic possession, with Sergey Razumovsky becoming the vessel for the Raven god Kutkh. Interestingly, Kutkh can't take control without Razumovsky's permission; he forces compliance by killing The Bird (which leaves Sergei helpless) and reminding Sergey of the suffocating guilt he feels over killing Oleg.
  • Later in the same arc, Igor Grom also temporarily becomes host to the white aspect of Kutkh.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: While behind bars, Sergey Razumovsky grows out his coiffed hair and side-swept bangs into a longer style, signifying his dark side's emergence and his descent into greater cruelty and villainy. By the time of The Game arc, it's shoulder-length, which also gives him the vague appearance of wearing a medieval knight's helmet (Foreshadowing his eventual role as the vessel of Kutkh).
  • Between the end of the Riddle of the Sphinx arc and the start of Igor Grom, Igor's hair — which he's always worn short and neat — becomes slightly longer, messy, and unkempt, and he grows a Beard of Sorrow.
  • Prior to the start of the Plague Doctor spinoff series, Razumovsky — now (mostly) relieved of his murderous tendencies insanity and ready to turn over a new leaf — cuts his (now signature) long, red hair into a shaggy ear-length style. Some fans were not impressed.
• False Memories: Danila's entire history up to the start of the series – that he was a soldier who lost his wife and daughter, was killed by demons in the Georgia conflict, and was resurrected via a procedure that infused him with Satanic blood — is revealed in "Chareb" and "Sentry" to be a fabrication: He's actually a being called a Sentinel, created by the angel Semiaz (with the help of the Council of Equilibrium) to kill the Antichrist; his "memories" of his past life were cobbled together from the scattered memories of soldiers who were killed in the very conflict Danila believed he died in.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: To date, the Bubbleverse is home to ghosts ^note flaming Inquisitor ghost bound to Hammer of the Witches, anyone?, ghouls, zombies (of multiple varieties – including undead Nazis), vampires, werewolves, intelligent talking animals, Functional Magic, countless figures out of Russian folklore, Mental Time Travel, plainswalkers, God (based loosely on the Gnostic portrayal), pagan deities from multiple pantheons^note Kali and Thanatos make appearances, and Kutkh may or may not be the creator of the world, the living embodiments of various elements, Satan, The Antichrist, angels, fallen angels, demons, djinn, imps, hellhounds, dryads, aliens, robots, all manner of artificial humans, pseudo-"gods" created through genetic manipulation, superpowered Mutants, humans turned into monsters by a pagan deity, a demonic general-turned nightmare symbiote, and the personifications of humanity's evil — one of whom is the Slender Man. Sort of.
• Fiery Redhead: BUBBLE seems rather fond of this trope: they've presented Nika Chaikina, Yulia Pchelkina, Alena Kuznetsova, Tanakhia, Margarita Volnova, Princess Ariel, Ulya, Yuliya Litvinova, The Commander, and — because this trope isn't limited to female characters — Sergey Razumovsky and Murdoc McCalister.
• Generation Xerox: As shown in The Chronicles of Enoch: Storming of Berlin, Igor Grom, Andrey Radov, and General Rippe are all virtually identical to their grandfathers.
• God Of Human Origin: Xenia Radova/Ksyusha.
  • The Antichrist gives Hell's Throne over to Danila (who is infused with the spirit of Satan). Since the Antichrist is the embodiment of [[spoiler the dark side of God (and the creator of the universe), and Danila effectively takes over his job]], it counts.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Dima Dubin, Mira Dubin, Andrey Radov^note (at least initially), Sasha Filipenko, Push, Lera Makarova, Mir, and Jesus Christ: all are blonde, and all are noble, morally upstanding, compassionate characters who are thoroughly on the side of Good.
• Heroic Lineage: The Radov family certainly counts:
• He's Back!: After Time of the Raven, Sergey Razumovsky is recaptured by the authorities…only for the helicopter to be hijacked, and Razumovsky kidnapped, by Oleg Volkov (who was believed to have been killed by Sergey during The Game arc).
  • In the first issue of Plague Doctor, Razumovsky himself reappears for the first time since the end of Time of the Raven.
  • In Issue #11 of that same series, The Poet — who was last seen being killed by Igor Grom in the comic book series of the same name — is revealed to be Back from the Dead.
• Homeless Hero: Yana, of Besoboy goes from a mentally broken homeless girl to a powerful sorceress who fights the forces of evil.
• Hot God: God, as depicted in the BUBBLE Universe, is a youthful, blond, Long-Haired Pretty Boy with crystalline blue eyes. (It's explained that his appearance is a combination of Jesus Christ and the Antichrist: his light and dark sides, respectively.)
• Light Is Not Good: The Antichrist is a blond-haired man with crystal-blue eyes who is nearly identical to Jesus Christ. Do not, under any circumstances, mistake one for the other.
  • For that matter, God himself has condemned the universe to an endless cycle of creation and destruction at the hands of the Antichrist. Admittedly, He didn't do so out of malice, and it ultimately ends up driving Him (or at least, the embodiment of his dark side) somewhat mad, but it's still rather terrible.
• The Masquerade: Magic is everywhere in the Bubbleverse, and there are multiple organizations — including the Magic Emergency Committee on Applied Mysticism and Exophysics, the Council of Equilibrium, and (to some extent) the Order of Bookkeepers — dedicated to making sure that it doesn't become public knowledge or disrupt the lives of ordinary people.
  • After the Kutkh incident, most of the evidence is (rather conveniently) removed by Kuthk himself before he self-destructs. And how to explain a massive explosion that leaves a radioactive crater in the middle of Siberia? August van der Holt blames it all on Murdoc McCalister attempting to start World War III with weapons of mass destruction.
    • Witch Hunt, the sequel Miniseries to Time of the Raven, concerns August van der Holt assembling a task force to systematically hunt down and dispatch every person who was touched by one of Kutkh's feathers, which cause humans to mutate and develop superpowers.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: There have been several major (or "Global", as BUBBLE calls them) crossover events that affected all the comic book lines of the BUBBLEverse:
  • In Besoboy vs Friar, the first major BUBBLE crossover event, demons manipulate Andrey Radov and Danila into facing each other in combat.
  • The Chronicles of Enoch: Storming of Berlin brings together the grandfather's of Andrey Radov and Igor Grom, while exploring the origins of the Council of Equilibrium.
  • The miniseries Time of the Raven, which took three years to set up and ran from 2015-2016, was the major crossover event for BUBBLE: the storyline brought together the protagonists of Major Grom, Demonslayer, Red Fury, and Friar, while also effecting the plots of Exlibrium and Meteora. BUBBLE announced it with a trailer.
  • Witch Hunt is the follow-up to Time of the Raven, in which a special task force hunts down humans who have been touched by Kutkh's feathers (and subsequently developed superpowers). Each series impacted by the Time of the Raven event had an issue.
  • The Third Wave global event, Heroes and Monsters (2023), was greatly scaled back, as many BUBBLE lines had ended by that time. The miniseries featured the heroes of Plague Doctor and MIR teaming up to combat Major Igor Grom villain Albert Fishk, a sadistic cannibal.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Andrey Radov is especially prone to this. In his very first story arc, he pawns the Radov Family Cross — a priceless family heirloom centuries old possessing unfathomable power — to his family's Archnemesis for a few thousand roubles. He has to go on a journey spanning fifteen centuries to even begin to atone for his actions.
  • The final act of Crusade. Hoo, boy. Andrey, as part of his mission to purge all magic from the world, ends up wiping countless worlds from existence, and then kills an enclave of Feathered Ones…only to learn after the fact that they were the people touched by white feathers, and he just killed one of the Earth's last hopes. Oops.
• Power Tattoo: Danila's tattoos are infused with the blood of Satan
• Reset Button: The second run of Demonslayer concludes with the destruction of the universe at the hands of the Antichrist (who is confirmed to be the dark side of God, and to have carried out the same process dozens of times in the past). Tired of the constant cycle of death and recreation, the Antichrist concedes Hell's throne to Danila, who uses the power afforded him to remake the universe just as it was before, with no one but himself the wiser. (He does, however, make a few notable changes, such as his deceased friends being alive, and himself — and a few demons — remade as ordinary humans.)
• Split Personality: Sergey Razumovsky has a powerful dark passenger in The Bird (a.k.a. Black Bird): an alter ego embodying Sergey's murderous urges, who frequently manifests in dreams and in his imagination.
  • After his emergence, The Bird hoards most of Sergey's confidence and aggression...leading to the creation of a secondary personality, Rag (a.k.a. Softie or the Doormat), who represents Sergey's meek, fearful, introverted side. Bird is killed by Kutkh when he attempts to protect them from the pagan god, leaving only Rag. It hasn't been confirmed whether Rag is an actual separate persona, or just the parts of Sergey not claimed by Bird; currently, Oleg refers to Sergei as "Grey", implying that the "real" Sergey is somewhere in between the two personas.
  • In the Cliffhanger finale of "The Last Case"^note Major Grom, Dr. Rubenstein informs Igor Grom that Ilya Kosygin, the man he has been working alongside to bring down a drug czar — whom Kosygin just murdered in cold blood, along with his entire family — was in fact Dead All Along: the man Igor was seeing was a manifestation of his own split personality, born out of the grief of losing Yulia and their unborn child, whom Igor is using as a scapegoat for his crimes]]. At least, that's how it appears...
  • This trope isn't limited to humans: it turns out that God himself has a light and a dark side, embodied by Jesus Christ and the Antichrist (respectively).
  • Kutkh also had a light and a dark side. It's explained that the dark side was created after Kutkh absorbed monsters, who passed their evil onto the Raven God, giving him a murderous, malicious aspect to his nature. After the two sides are given physical form (by briefly taking possession of Sergey Razumovsky and Igor Grom,. respectively), the light side forgives the dark, and the two are then merged into one being, which departs from the mortal realm.
• Split-Personality Takeover: Sergey Razumovsky's evil alter ego, The Bird, takes him over periodically, starting when he's imprisoned for his crimes after the Plague Doctor arc.^note Though it's hinted that The Bird inspired his crimes as the Plague Doctor/Citizen.. It first occurs when he's threatened by thugs in his cell; by the time the orderlies arrive, he's literally painting the walls with their blood. When Sergey is broken out of prison during "The Game" arc and enacts his plot of revenge on Igor Grom, The Bird takes over almost completely, forcing Sergey to (among other things) empty his gun into Oleg as part of their deadly chess game with Grom.
  • After Bird's death at the start of Time of the Raven, only the Rag alter ego (allegedly) remains; in Issue #8 of Plague Doctor, Sergey informs Lera that now when he loses control, Rag takes over, and he becomes a helpless, cowering wimp.
• Synchronization: In "Crusade", it is revealed that Vasilisa's life force was linked to Eden. In her absence, Eden begins to wither and decay.
• Tattooed Crook: While most tattooed BUBBLE characters are benevolent (or at least benign), there are a few who play the trope straight:
  • The Neo-Nazis whom Grom encounters all have tattoos that indicate their affiliations.
  • The same applies to some members of the Saint Patrick's Children.
  • Danila is frequently seen as such by those not in the know.
  • Vadim has his arms covered in tattoo sleeves depicting a dragon — hence his nickname, "Dragon".
• Urban Fantasy: Many of the Bubbleverse titles fall under this at one time or another.