Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Outpost Zero #1
Skybound Entertainment / Image Comics
Written by Sean Kelley McKeever
Art by Alexandre Tefenkgi
Colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letters by Ariana Maher
The first issue of Outpost Zero grabbed my attention with both an intense story and great art. The story of a group fo young people dealing with personal issues like love and loss in an environment that is brutal as well as beautiful captured my imagination from the first few pages. The story takes place on an unknown planet at an indeterminate time in the future where the members of a generational ship have created a thriving colony on an unforgiving ice planet. As most people try to find a way to survive in their domed city, some of the young people question their place in the colony and what their futures will look like.
One of the young people, a girl named Alea has plans to join her parents on the Discovery Team and venture out onto the ice to discover what’s there. Her fascination with discovery leads her to some pretty dangerous undertakings and her friend Steven tries to keep her safe. Meanwhile, her parents have left the dome to explore and they find something that prompts the entire colony to go on alert. An event that is reminiscent of something that almost devastated the colony years before. As the young people at the center of this story deal with their lives, their potential destinies and their feelings for each other, something is coming on the horizon that not only threatens the colony itself, but just might change these young people forever.
There is so much in this story that I want to talk about, but it’s worth reading for your self in order to experience it the way it should be. McKeever has created some pretty compelling characters and a narrative that is both ominous and hopeful. The characters really drive this story and you find yourself engaged with all of them on certain levels. It’s great storytelling that has hooked me. I want to know what happens next for these characters and their colony.
The art is amazing with some brilliant use of light and shadow. Tefenkgi is really able to capture a sense of both scale and feeling with the art in this story. Portions of the dome felt really claustrophobic and made me want to escape as much as Alea wants to and the outside environments and snow effects definitely convey a sense of cold and impending doom.
Outpost Zero #1
