Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Outcast #2
Image Comics
Kirkman & Azaceta
The second issue of Outcast is a much different comic book from the first issue. This issue is much more world-building and a slow-burn type of story. It’s an okay comic but it doesn’t have any of the extra power that the first issue had. This slower kind of pace could be a dip in the arc or it could be the real direction of the series where the first issue was the outlier. While an entertaining read this is a large step down from the first issue. We will have to wait and see where this is going.
Kyle is the primary character that is tracked in this issue. We see him visit his apparent vegetative mother, we see him get visited by the preacher and we watch him interact with an old acquaintance, which leads him to interacting with another old acquaintance (a cop friend). It’s not a terribly fast moving comic book and that’s okay. What seems a little overwhelming is the amount of gear changing the comic does in terms of background story.
When he visits his mother we get a glimpse into that relationship and how she mistreated Kyle. Then, when he meets his old acquaintance there is a fist fight that implies bad blood between them that is only explored when the second acquaintance enters the fray. Then we dive into how he was apparently adopted and his sister was apparently sexually abused by the guy he just jumped in the parking lot. Finally, the cop brings up how Kyle beat up his own daughter among others. It’s a lot to take in and there isn’t a ton of connecting the dots within this issue.
Fortunately, the artwork makes the story feel alive. The tone is consistent with the previous issue with the dark colors and sad looking characters. The comic also contains some very dramatic scenes that capture the general depression that Kyle seems to be submerged in. Overall, the artwork tells a faster paced and more compelling story than the narrative. In some ways it really saves the issue.
Outcast is definitely a horror comic book. While this issue feels almost like a depressing, slice-of-life kind of comic book the tone set by the art makes the reader understand that this is a dark and scary series. This issue is a much slower read than the previous issue. While setting up plot lines for future issues seems like a great idea, does it come at the expense of this issue? Is it too much? We’ll have to see how the threads connect in future issues to determine the answers.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
