Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta Volume 1 - A Darkness Surrounds Him

Outcast follows a guy named Kyle who is battling/coming out of a deep depression. In this story, people seem to be randomly possessed by demons. A priest has been exorcising them with difficulty and when he meets up with Kyle (they knew each other several years prior) they discover that Kyle's touch irritates the demons and if he touches them long enough, the demons will leave the bodies they are possessing. This possession has happened to Kyle's mother and his ex-wife; he thinks whatever is happening to these people is following or seeking him out somehow. Most of the demons seem to recognize him and they call him out of the "outcast."

This volume is just issues 1-6 and it is written so well and so completely; it is a perfect story arc. I didn't discover until after I finished that it was written by the same guy who created The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman). I have only read a little of the Walking Dead comic but I do watch the show and I definitely see some similarities in how the stories are presented. I will definitely be keeping up with this comic!

Demons possess people. They go for darkness because sunshine damages demons. Light exposes those lies they whisper a tortured human being. Evil spirits sometimes stalk victim one's entire life, and it's hard work to get rid of them.

Seems like they've been trying to hunt me my whole life. I need to find out why.

Meet Kyle, an outcast. Darkness surrounds him. He experienced hardships in his childhood and for some reason, difficulties followed him far into adulthood. Now he's leading an isolated life until his small town's priest convinces him to try to help a demon possessed boy.

This experience finally wakes Kyle up. He and his friend, a liberal, gambling, smoking and drinking priest, try to find a reason what demons want from Kyle.

Volume 1 consists of issues 1-6 of 'Outcast' horror series. It's brutal, bloody and gloomy. Artwork is phenomenal, coloring creates cheerless, shadowy and bleak atmosphere. Storyline involves a lot of blood, heartache, and questions without answers. I am looking forward to reading next volume!

Source: I received a free digital review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kyle Barnes is an outcast exorcist. He exorcises demons - but he can’t exorcise his own personal demons! Ironyyyyyyy! In this book we’ll meet a kindly reverend who’ll team up with Kyle to rid West Virginia of as many possessed people (which turns out to be quite a few!) as they can in between moping sessions. Settle in, folks, this is volume one of probably several dozen if his other titles Invincible and The Walking Dead are anything to go by, because Kirkman’s more interested in setting up long-running franchises than telling tightly plotted stories, especially when he can sell these comics’ pitches to TV execs!

It sounds like I didn’t like Outcast Volume 1, and I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t that bad. Southern Gothic is a great subgenre that Kirkman nails and, while he’s not one of the best comics writers out there, he does know how to put together a comic. His years of experience in the industry shows and makes this book a smooth read.

The story switches from Kyle and his gloomy life to “possession of the week” where he and the reverend play dual Constantines, exorcising demons. This approach works fine for a single volume - but over who knows how many books? It’s gonna get very formulaic, real quick. For this one though, there’s enough variety to keep it from being a boring read.

Unlike The Walking Dead, Outcast is a fully-coloured comic and Elizabeth Breitweiser’s work wonderfully complements Paul Azaceta’s fine art in this volume. There are some lovely scenic shots of rural West Virginia and some of the horror panels of a leering possessed person were creepy. It didn’t hurt that Azaceta’s style reminded me of David Aja’s work on Hawkeye.

So while the art team produce great pages, Kirkman’s script is the only major stumbling block to this series. The thing with enormously successful writers - comics or otherwise - is that once they reach a certain level, they are untouchable. No editor can tell them to cut pages or tighten up a plotline - said writer can eschew any and all advice and do whatever the hell they like. Which is what Kirkman does here. And there’s a lot of bloat in this book.

From the numerous flashback sequences of Kyle remembering his abusive childhood where his possessed mother beat him, to the numerous scenes where he’s sat around his house sulking, to repeated scenes of the reverend trying to get Kyle to use his special exorcist powers (his touch burns the possessed while forcing the demons out), I just kept wishing it had less repetition to it. There’s too much setup and not enough story.

And, like a lot of Kirkman’s stories, Outcast’s is super, super miserable! Kyle’s depressed, his wife left with his daughter and won’t let him talk to her, everyone thinks he beat them which is why they left, and he also put his mother into a vegetative state! Meanwhile the reverend’s son won’t speak to him for some reason leading to many panels where characters are holding their head in their hands. Families are breaking up, people are punching other people, there’s plenty of gore. It’s so humourless and dark that it’s a very grim read.

At least with The Walking Dead there was excitement and tension to balance out the mopiness. Here, we’re not given much of a story and Kirkman really lays the misery on thickly. And, while the characters do seem real, they just aren’t interesting. I get that Kyle’s had a difficult life but I really don’t care - these aren’t characters you can feel close to.

Outcast’s horror is cliched Hollywood pap. Jump scares abound and the corny possessed routine plays out with no originality. Ever seen The Exorcist or any of its many ripoffs where a possessed person has contorted their body, spat blood and/or vomit at someone while swearing and laughing, and a priest or holy person has stood over them splashing holy water and waving a cross/rosary combo in their face? Get ready to see it again, many times in this book alone! And what about that creepy old guy with the weird eyes? Oh it’s Satan. Zzz....

What’s weird is that Kirkman actually BELIEVES demon possession is real. In the afterword to the first issue he writes:

“The scariest things are REAL. Ever seen… The Exorcist? … Very real, very scary. There is evidence that supports the possibility that demonic possession is very much real.”

...right. Sure it is, Kirkman.

The first volume of Outcast isn’t bad. Kyle’s not the most compelling protagonist but the story, while scattered, does hold the attention, and the art is pretty good too. But the formula of miseryguts main character exorcising yet another possessed person playing out in volume after volume? It’s fine for one book but I’m not sure this setup is enough to sustain readers’ attention over the long run.

One thing’s for sure: expect the Outcast TV show to be headed our way very soon!

This is the first comic book outside of Kirkman's The Walking Dead series that I've read, and this first issue was very nice. I'm also not very educated in the comic book genre because as far as I ever got was the Archie comics, but trust me on this. I really like this first issue and I'll be getting the others.

Outcast deals with:
1.) Demonic possession.
2.) A moody main character (for very good reasons) named Kyle Barnes.
3.) An epic journey to find out just exactly why these darn pesky demons won't leave him and his loved ones alone.
4.) And don't forget the blood. SO much blood.

If you're one for blood and gore, then this series is most definitely for you.

This work reeks of poorly written, long-form dramatic television, meaning that the story is light and simple, so key details are purposefully hidden to add cheap, artificial suspense. The art is nice though plain. This series is only for exorcism fanatics who can endure a glacial pace in narrative, and don't mind all the tropes familiar of the genre.

Although I am familiar with The Walking Dead, I had not realized that Robert Kirkman released a new ongoing series until recently. Outcast was recommended to me with mixed emotions. "It's OK," and "I didn't like it," were the responses from the clerks behind the counter. I was surprised and decided that I'd do my own research so as to decide for myself whether or not Kirkman's new ongoing(?) series was worth the read.

My answer: It depends.

The Narrative:
One thing I was warned about was the pacing. Having read it, I'm not sure I agree. The pacing isn't comparable to something like Black Science (Rick Remender, Image Comics) where the characters are constantly being thrust into unusual situations. No, reading Outcast felt more like watching the film Winter's Bone (2010) which received both best picture as well as best screenplay from Sundance. It's dialogue heavy, reminiscent of The Walking Dead, and character driven. By the end of the 6th issue, I was very aware that I was alone in my apartment in dim lighting reading this. It kept me on edge until the last page and I liked that. Things just happened when it needed to happen and by the end of the story I was thankful for that.

However, the story is not without fault. It utilizes flashbacks to tell the protagonist's story in a way that becomes cliche by the end. In telling the story of a character who's haunted by his past, how do you tell their story best in a visual medium? It's a question that plagues every writer and I wish that the flashbacks were kept to a minimum or at least until the end of the sixth issue. Because of this I kept getting pulled out of the story as I jumped around from page to page rereading and attempting to figure out who was who and what happened when. It was frustrating and distracting.

Speaking of cliches, if you are easily frustrated by the atheistic overtones that seem to stem from a majority of writers who take on iconic church figures (ie. reverends, priests, pastors, etc.) then please be aware of that in this series. Everybody struggles and nobody is perfect but watching a reverend gamble and smoke in the back room of his church so he can earn money to cover a church picnic and roof repairs is, to say the least, obnoxious.

The Art:
Paul Azaceta is an accomplished illustrator who has worked with "the big two" as well as Image Comics and others. His work in this series is both complimentary of the story and seemingly reminiscent of Kirkman's The Walking Dead. It's not stylized or "super detailed" because that's just not this story. It's dark and brooding; things are hiding in the shadows of this narrative and the artwork reflects that. The colors? Elizabeth Breitweiser does well at creating a tension on the page in this color palette but her strength lies more in her ability to create contrast in events. For example, the protagonist in Outcast gets a reaction from the demon possessed whenever he touches them. Upon entering an old lady's house, he touches her and suddenly a bright red back ground stands out amongst what was once a blue and cool house; showing the pain and surprise experienced by the character and the audience. It's seemingly standard but effective. One comment from the clerks at the comic book store was that they didn't like the color palette. Fair enough, but it's secondary to the fact that it works well with this story. The Walking Dead may not have needed color, but this story does and benefits from Breitweiser's palette.

Conclusion:
If you enjoy a good supernatural story of exorcisms and suspense, you'll probably enjoy this one. Outcast is a decent story with a complimentary art and color palette that moves you to the edge of your seat and leaves you wondering what happens next by the end of issue 6. In light of some clunky dialogue and story cliches, this story is a different take on the exorcism story as they seem to act more like the walking possessed.. remind you of anything?

I recommend the read for $6 off the store.

Kirkman has made the horror jump from Zombies to possessions, in Outcast with Paul Azaceta on art. For starters I will clarify that I own the issues and will eventually buy this trade as to not wear them out. So this is a story review.

The premise is about Kyle Barnes, a man who is battling his own demons (literally). He had a very sketchy past that is shown throughout the arc, but not too much as it builds up the mystery of being a outcast.

While the art shines and the tone is set, Kirkman finds himself in some tripping points. The first issue is treated more like a television pilot, but the other issues have the standard comic book structure. It makes the reading feel a bit uneven at times, but not enough to bog you down.

The book has an overall hook to it and actually ends pretty suddenly, making it all the more better for you to decide if its worth the continuation.

For those saying its weak compared to the walking dead need to realize that this is a book that barele started walking. It's going to need some time before it gets in the deep of it. Much like other Kirkman tales.

This one is definitely one to keep an eye on.

The Walking Dead for the demonic possession set. Paul Azacleta's art fits the mood of the book. Robert Kirkman has cooked himself up another franchise. I could easily see this as a series on AMC. Well, I just googled it and it turns out it's going to be on Cinemax instead.

Starts out interesting and catches your attention, which is nice. The middle gets a bit tangled and you're not sure why you are reading this story,but then it picked up again. You really feel for the main character. I recommend it if you are into darker/horror graphic novels with deeper character emotional development.

The Outcast of the title has the power to exorcise the demons that are continually trying to invade human lives, especially those of people close to him.

Well-written and illustrated to a high standard, this was engaging and enjoyable work.

There is more to come but this is a good horror comic which I would recommend.