Comic Review: Outpost Zero #2

Outpost Zero #2

Image Comics

Writer: Sean McKeever

Artist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu & Alexandre Tefenkgi

Issue #1 of Outpost Zero left us on quite the cliffhanger. We aren’t aware of exactly what happens, but it left off just as the storm was approaching the Outpost. Sam, somewhat of a troubled outcast, was about to step through the airlock and take on the ice and debris head on. Instead, for reasons currently unknown, Steven walks into it, and we get a glimpse of how terrifying nature can be through some awesomely drawn panels. The ending of the first issue was so ambiguous I was intrigued to dig into issue #2.

The opening of this second issue at Steven’s funeral service really caught me off guard. To me, it suggests a kind of finality to his actions in the first issue. I refuse to believe it’s over for Steven’s character. For one thing, there are so few characters as it is in this limited community. The driving force behind much of the conflict in OPZ is the teens’ unclear career choices and their drama with one another. Alea isn’t convinced Steven is gone either, which only justifies my belief.

From the start, this issue is pretty intense. Not only is everyone dealing with Steven’s disappearance, but they’re all looking for someone to blame. Because someone was able to open the airlock during a dangerous storm, their safety has been compromised. Naturally, they feel like they must do everything possible to make sure nothing like that happens again.

The first issue was oversized and covered almost all of its bases. This issue, on the other hand, lacks substance in several areas. While Alea gets some unwanted news, the situation between Sam and Mitchell escalates. So while there seems to be plenty of drama in this issue, one thing it lacks is characterization. The characters learn new things about the incident with Steven, but we don’t really learn many new things about them. The art, while it was adequate, didn’t quite meet my expectations. It was a little boring in that it showed many characters and not much of the setting, which is my next complaint. We still don’t know much about the biome, where exactly they are, or how life in the biome works. The story, while intriguing, seemed to be fragmented in some places, which was disappointing. There seems to be a lot more to tell here, which is I why I’m going to trudge through despite this issue not hitting all of my expectations.

So why keep reading? It’s not perfect, but so far it’s easy to follow. The characters, though hard to connect with, are intriguing and have plenty of drama to draw from. Besides the normal teen drama, there are tons of external conflicts they might be faced with, too. I hope Steven survived, and I hope Outpost Zero does, too. As long as McKeever and Tefenkgi keep adding to the foundation, I’ll be along for the ride.