It's the world of today, except that occasionally, at unpredictable times and places, the laws of physics are repealed-and when gravity starts disappearing, or a dimensional vortex appears, the Federal Bureau of Physics (FBP) is called in to return things to normal. With the bureau facing the possible legal privatization of "physics incident response," Adam Hardy, FBP field agent and son of a marginalized physicist who disappeared into a quantum tornado, puts his life on the line attempting to rescue a man trapped in a bubble universe. But he finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that raises the stakes considerably. Oliver's (The Exterminators) sf ideas are intriguing, and his focus on inter-FBP personality dynamics provides a human dimension. But his ordinary writing and plotting render the book less exciting than the above description suggests it should be, and -Rodriguez's scratchy, sketchlike, and sometimes exaggerated artwork doesn't do enough to sharpen it. -VERDICT Decent but uninspiring. With some gore, this is for larger adult collections.-S.R. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Sick of capes, utility belts, supercharged jets, and brooding in your comic books? Then tumble down the wormhole that is the Federal Bureau of Physics. Vertigo's new series is set in a world where earth's physics have gone haywire, and Adam Hardy, a new agent on the FBP's payroll, is tasked with closing a troublesome Bubbleverse. Although it should have been a standard operation, Hardy's trip is made more complicated by his partner's hidden agenda. Hardy must escape the Bubbleverse, confront his partner, and solve the mystery of his famous physicist father's death, all while trying to keep both feet in earth's gravitational pull. Oliver may be new to the comic-book world, but his talent is loudly on display as he packs each issue with physics knowledge and creative world building. Rodriguez's art is a gorgeous complement, giving life to Oliver's new concepts and creatively showing movement on the page. Fans of Jonathan Hickman's Manhattan Projects should take a chance with this promising debut.--Spanner, Ben Copyright 2014 Booklist