Do you ever get the feeling that you forgot something very important?
Not like forgetting where you put the car keys. Or the name of that show you watched as a kid. No. That you’ve forgotten something that fills you with dread. That maybe you forgot to do something. Or that you forgot someone. And now you feel like it’s much too late. That something horrible has happened.
Like a child sleeping in a hot car or turning off the gas on the stove. But imagine for a moment that the terrible event still hasn’t happened yet, you’re still just locked in the feeling, the inescapable thought of that elusive memory.
That’s what Outcast by Robert Kirkman, Paul Azaceta, Elizabeth Breitweiser, and Rus Wooton feels like. A nightmarish hole where action should be, but it’s far too long past to do anything about it. It’s pretty incredible for any kind of fiction to make you feel that.
“C’mon, pal. A little light never hurt anybody.”
The first volume of the series, A Darkness Surrounds Him, hits the ground running when it comes to the horror and supernatural aspects. The story introduces us to Kyle Barnes, a man with a troubled history of an abusive mother and a cycle that repeated itself with his own daughter. Or so it seems. There’s much more to it when it comes to demonic possession. A fact that the story doesn’t skirt around. In the very first issue it presents that possession, demonic or otherwise, is very real.
There’s an interesting interplay between guilt and responsibility through the initial chapters. Both in the religious aspect represented by Reverend Anderson and in Kyle’s own guilt in what happened with his family. Shouldering blame for something that may be only indirectly his fault. Despite not being steeped in Catholicism at all, I think it’s somewhat funny that guilt is one of the primary themes here. And that all around, despite initially being sure in their convictions, that maybe the methods of exorcism and the nature of the possession are wrong. With it manifesting through Kyle’s family in intriguing ways.
Paul Azaceta’s artwork feels tailor made for horror. Thick dark lines, simple shapes, and thick shadows give form to darkness. His style here reminds me of Sean Phillips and Michael Lark. I really quite like his often use of inset character reaction shots. Nice expressions really conveying character emotion. The darkness of mood is enhanced through the muted colour choices from Elizabeth Breitweiser. Everything is in a wash of blues, purples, and faded reds. It feels like there’s a haze fallen across this world.
I also love Rus Wooton’s lettering here. The proportions to the font utilized here are intriguing. The individual characters are top heavy. Such as the enclosure of an “R” takes up two-thirds spacing compared to the the angular foot. It gives the story a very singular feel and a kind of vulnerability to the dialogue.
“You’re not allergic to helping people, right?”
But the feeling persists.
That sense of dread is ever-present throughout Outcast from Kirkman, Azaceta, Breitweiser, and Wooton. Even as Kyle and the Reverend exorcise demons and try to uncover the source and reasoning behind what’s going on, it all feels off. Like there’s an inevitability of ruin. Of failure. And also that they’ve missed something very important. And it’s that striving to figure out what that missing piece is that further fuels the horror.
Classic Comic Compendium: Outcast – Volume 1
Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta – Volume 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Paul Azaceta
Colourist: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics – Skybound
Release Date: January 28 2015
Also available collected in Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta: Book One and Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta Compendium
Read past entries in the Classic Comic Compendium!
English (US) · 