THE BACKPACK COMICS UNIVERSE
THE UNIVERSE EXPANDS
EXPLORE THE CHARACTERS. CLICK A FACE.
PROTAN
THE TWIN BROTHER
The twelve-year-old twin brother of Neutrina. He’s brilliant, he’s caring, and incredibly brave. Although he is a twin, he is very much a loner. He knows there is something different about him and his sister, but he accepts it and chooses to view it as what enables him to make a difference.
KEY TRAITS
RELATIONSHIP
TWIN: NEUTRINANEUTRINA
THE TWIN SISTER
Neutrina is Protan’s twin sister and shares the extraordinary connection at the heart of their story. Intelligent, confident and determined, she embraces what makes the twins different and brings her own perspective, courage and power to the Backpack Comics Universe.
KEY TRAITS
RELATIONSHIP
TWIN: PROTANBLACKOUT
Blackout is a kid surviving on the streets with his mother and younger brother, Fitzgerald. After enduring Dr. Liezle’s experiments, he emerged with an extraordinary ability: he can absorb the force and energy of virtually any attack directed at him.
Every attack makes Blackout stronger while draining the strength of whatever stands against him—whether it’s a living opponent or a physical obstacle. As he absorbs more energy, his strength and physical size increase, making him progressively more powerful.
Fighting Blackout only makes him harder to stop. He can’t be beaten by overpowering him—he can only be avoided.
RELATIONSHIP
ASH
Ash is a fifteen-year-old immigrant of African origin who found solace on the streets while trying to escape an abusive home. Alone and searching for a different life, she was abducted by Bo. Ash survived Dr. Liezle’s brutal experimentation and emerged transformed, possessing the extraordinary ability to harness and control the unmatched heat of the sun.
What was meant to destroy her instead awakened an incredible power—turning a young survivor searching for refuge into a force capable of wielding the sun’s devastating heat.
RELATIONSHIP
DR. BARRILLO
Dr. Barrillo is Protan and Neutrina’s father, a brilliant scientist whose decision to experiment on himself transformed both his body and mind.
Now a hulking protector, he can camouflage himself completely—becoming invisible or visible at will. Guided largely by instinct and love for his children, he remains close to them even when unseen. Protan and Neutrina can see him while camouflaged, and he communicates through melody and frequency.
RELATIONSHIPS
ASYLUM
Asylum is an Ethiopian runaway from a once-respected family forced to flee after the regime his father served was overthrown in a coup. Struggling with his family’s diminished circumstances and believing he was meant for more, Asylum set out on his own—only to be abducted from the streets.
After surviving Dr. Liezle’s experimentation, he emerged with retractable wings, extraordinary strength and speed, heightened senses, and an impenetrable body and wings. He can enter a shadow and emerge anywhere another shadow exists. Real gold coats his wings, which Asylum can manipulate at will into whatever form he desires.
MISTY
Misty grew up as Neutrina’s best friend, with their families closely connected through Dr. Barrillo. While Misty was spending a weekend with Protan and Neutrina, her parents were killed in a plane crash. Orphaned and later fleeing an unsettling uncle, she eventually fell into the hands of Feeble, whose brutal experiments left her for dead.
Misty survived transformed, developing an extraordinary connection with machines. She can control virtually any machine—or individual component—as naturally as if it were an extension of her own body.
RELATIONSHIPS
TWISTA
Twista is the son of a woman who had been in a relationship with Bo. After losing his mother to an overdose, he was left to survive on his own. A chance reconnection with Bo initially seemed like a path to safety and stability—but quickly became something far more dangerous.
After surviving Dr. Liezle’s experimentation, Twista emerged with the ability to command the forces of the wind, transforming the air around him into a powerful extension of his will.
RHYTHM
Rhythm lived with her mother in a shelter. Brilliant, fun-loving, and naturally trusting, she was lured away and abducted by Bo while making a simple trip to the neighborhood store.
After surviving Dr. Liezle’s experimentation, Rhythm emerged with the extraordinary ability to manipulate space and time, affecting a single person or an entire crowd. To protect her identity, she uses her abilities to age her appearance forward, allowing her to move through the world without revealing who she truly is.
FITZGERALD
Fitzgerald is a 12-year-old tech genius and the younger brother of Blackout. After surviving Dr. Liezle’s experimentation, he emerged with an extraordinarily powerful mind, able to intercept and process digital, satellite, and radio signals while wielding advanced psychic abilities.
Despite Blackout’s seemingly unbeatable power, Fitzgerald is his living off switch—the one person capable of shutting his brother’s power down.
RELATIONSHIP
HAILP
Hailp is an alien from another world, sent to Earth in response to the extraordinary evolutionary changes emerging in the children who survived Dr. Liezle’s experiments.
A being of immense power, Hailp’s mission is not to control them, but to gather, guide, and train the newly powered children—helping them understand their abilities before those powers create consequences they cannot control.