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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 2:57:32 GMT
Newest issue, To Light Our Way, as always, was amazing. I still really have no clue who this "Sidney" guy is. He saved Holly(Was that her name? Megan's daughter), so, he can't be ALL bad. On the other hand, he was really ominous in Issue 2, and it would seem as if he killed Norvile(It's spelled close to that anyway), so...
Aside from that, the coughing up blood.... If he is a demon, maybe staying in a human body for so long is tearing him apart? Or, staying on Earth, at least. I'm not sure he's a demon, I'm really not sure who, or what, he is.
I actually am warming up to Mark, even though he's kind of an asshole, and I really like that we are getting many different angles on the story. So that's good.
More of Anderson, who is, so far, my favorite character That's good. All good, so far, the series as a whole is very well paced, and all the characters are well developed as well.
And as for Luke Masters(That was his name, right? Masters? Eh, whatever. I'll just call him Luke) and his possessed partner... First thought, this series is really fucking dark, which was to be expected, but still... There are just times when I'll turn a page and have chills because of Azceta's amazing creepy artwork, or Kirkman's incredibly dark writing, and often times, both. The last panel was one of those moments, and it has me both looking forward to, and dreading the next issue.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2014 0:39:18 GMT
I'm really liking doing these little "reviews" for each issue of Outcast, even though no one here reads it, and thus, no one reads my little reviews. But, regardless, I'm going to keep doing them! *Spoilers* "A Wrath Unseen" is the most action-packed issue since the first one, and the second proper exorcism in the series, though it goes a lot less swimmingly than the first one did. I'm really starting to get a "ghostbusters" sort of feel from Kyle and Anderson. Going around exorcising demons, minus the silly bits. The dynamic between Kyle and Anderson is awesome, and works really well. Anderson is still my favorite character by far. His outburst at Luke was brilliant, and we're starting to get a feeling that our lead characters are getting in way over their heads, their helpless to do anything now. Even though Anderson's usual tricks(Holy water, the Bible, Crucifix, though I suppose it's only a cross since protestants don't have Crucifixes?(Can someone confirm or deny this?)), we get to see a little of why Kyle is special, what makes him "Outcast". Merely touching the demon causes it to start to split from the guy he's possessed, and of course, this basically goes without saying now, Paul does everything in this issue in... Well, I'll use this gif to show what I think of the artwork this issue: This issue moves the plot forward, gives us more of Kyle and Anderson, and has a phenomenal exorcism scene. Probably the best one yet.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2014 13:33:38 GMT
I read them
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2014 13:45:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2014 13:46:29 GMT
no one reads my little reviews. i was referring to this
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2014 13:52:09 GMT
no one reads my little reviews. i was referring to this Ah, well thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 17:25:04 GMT
I just read the newest issue, and end to the first story arc, Receive Your Mark. Definitely one of the more disturbing issues to date. Also, Outcast doesn't return until March. q_q In this issue, Kyle and Anderson discuss what happened during the failed exorcism of Blake(that was his name, right?), and they seem to have figured out that Kyle's touch burns the demons. Remembering that the old woman, Mildred, was burned by his touch when he and the Reverend were delivering food, Kyle suggests going to follow up on that, since they obviously won't be able to get anywhere near Blake for a while.
Meanwhile, Sidney is listening in, but is caught by Anderson. He makes an excuse, though Anderson, remembering him from the church, doesn't trust him. The two of them then go to Mildred's house, and after she is burned by Kyle's touch, it's clear that Anderson's first exorcism only managed to weaken the demon, not cast it out of her. Disturbed by his failure, Anderson suggests that they wait, while Kyle wants to cast out the weakened demon, and try to get answers from it.
When Anderson gets home, Sidney is waiting for him, revealing himself to be some sort of demon, and he brands Anderson by carving a pentagram into his chest, warning him to stay away from Kyle.
Kyle, meanwhile, finally faces his own inner demons about what happened during his mother's "exorcism" in which he managed to cast the demon out of her, but also put her into a coma.
As always, the art in this issue is great, and so is the writing. Some questions about Kyle and Sidney are finally answered to be replaced by new ones. As of the first arc, I can safely say that this is one of my favorite comic book series, and I've enjoyed reading it more so than I ever enjoyed The Walking Dead, that's for sure.
It's nice to finally see more of Kyle as he struggles with his own demons, and the Reverend is still my favorite character. Things are definitely taking a darker turn though as Sidney gets involved... Can't wait for the next arc.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 16:32:58 GMT
Yes, it finally returns this month! I can't wait for the next issue.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2015 13:31:45 GMT
Finally managed to get my hands on Outcast Issue 7: The Road Before Us(I think the cover for this issue is one of the best so far), and, as was expected, it was incredible. New questions are being asked, and in the start of this new arc, we've been promised answers. First off, the art, as usual, is fantastic. I cannot stress how incredible this book looks. Comics usually have a problem displaying emotions and little details, and Kirkman's use of the smaller panels is brilliant, and of course, Paul and Elizabeth deserve mountains of praise for the excellent art and coloring. It really should go without saying, but I feel like I need to say how amazing the art is. Secondly, I love how these issues are paced. A big issue with other comics in terms of pacing is finding a balance. They need to progress the story in the few pages they have, but they also need to make time to develop the characters, and I think Outcast had found that balance. I never feel like one is being sacrificed for the other, and the characters are incredibly well developed. I feel like I actually know these characters more than most from Walking Dead, which is on issue 138 or so now. And the story is moving along at a good pace. Right, I think I'll actually go back to spoilers tags for now to discuss what happens in the issue: Reverend Anderson is still my favorite character by far, and I love the dynamic between him and Kyle. It seems like things are going to be ramping up for them as they go back and visit any of the previous victims Anderson saw to see just how many times he failed, and this is a great opportunity to explore both of those characters further, and especially the relationship they have with each other.
I'm curious as to why he's staying quiet about Sidney, but I can only assume it's for Kyle's safety. Assuming that Kyle will be safer if he doesn't know Sidney's true nature, especially since Sid is living right next-door to him.
And speaking of Sidney's true nature, obviously he's not a good guy, but I'm still not sure exactly what he is. He doesn't appear to be possessed, and I'm not sure he's human, either. He could be a demon, and perhaps the reason why he's constantly coughing up blood is because he can't stay on Earth or something? I just don't know....
We also finally saw Allison this issue, which is nice. The conversation between her and Megan didn't necessarily reveal anything new... Maybe confirmed a few things that before had only been assumed(she was possessed by a demon and was hurting Amber, Kyle exorcised the demon. but to everyone it appeared as if he had been beating his wife and daughter). It's interesting that she says she kind of enjoys the calls form Kyle.... Maybe she knows that something is wrong?
One thing I do want to point out.... Two editors working on this, and neither of them caught when Allison says Holly(who is Megan's daughter) when talking about Amber(her daughter), huh? Kirkman said they're bringing in a new assistant editor since the old one is going to work on the Outcast TV Show, so hopefully he does a better job.
Finally, Megan and Donnie.... Again, confirming what was assumed, that Donnie raped Megan(Man, Megan and Kyle had it tough as kids, huh?). I get the feeling that Donnie, having been confronted by his past form Kyle, Mark, and now Megan, will be in a very dark place... Ripe for possession, and in a posiion to hurt more of the people Kyle cares about(Megan and Holly). So.... that's not good. I'm really looking forward to what happens next, and also kind of dreading it...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2015 13:41:54 GMT
God, the artwork is incredible.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 1:56:32 GMT
The cover for Issue 8: A Vast and Unending Ruing (obviously the title refers to the extent of Anderson's failure), as always, is incredible: Really looking forward to seeing Kyle and Anderson going on the road and visiting all the people that Anderson helped to see if the exorcisms took. Also, I went back and quickly re-read Issues 1-7. They're about as good as I remember them, which is to say, incredible in every single aspect. I still really respect this series for it's tone, pacing, characters(specifically character development), and intrigue(this is purely my own opinion. I know @aldimon92 said that the series didn't "grab him", but for me, it's the exact opposite). It really feels like Kirkman is the expert of taking fairly unoriginal concepts and attaching an incredible story and characters to it. Demons and Exorcism with Outcast, Zombies with Walking Dead, Super Heroes with Invincible, and while it's not a specific genre, Thief of Thieves may as well be the Ocean's movies. His two very original series that I know about seem to be nowhere near as good. That being Super Pope and Brit.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 1:59:17 GMT
The collected edition, A Darkness Surrounds Him, also has an incredible cover:
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2015 17:45:12 GMT
Finally got my hands on Issue 8: A Vast and Unending Ruin. As usual, I'll do a short little spoiler-free review, and then go ind-depth with the story within a spoiler tag. Now, I've ranted and raved about how great the artwork is in this series for pretty much every review, and by this time, it shouldn't really be necessary, it should just be assumed. But, i'm going to do it again. Because the spread near the end of the issue, and in fact the whole end of the issue, blows everything out of the water. Azaceta's subtly creepy way of drawing the characters, of hiding their actions in the small panels you might overlook, is brilliant. And man, reading this series just all the time sends chills down your spine. Azaceta's art-work is really creepy, and brilliant. And Breitweiser's coloring, especially in the scene near the end and in the aforementioned spread, it just blows other stuff out of the way. I mean, Charlie Adlard is decent, right? Well.... Okay, I'll admit, I'm not a fan of his artwork. Never really have been. He got better, but still, he sucks at displaying emotion, at drawing actions, at any kind of subtleties in his artwork.... He's not the best. The first issue of Outcast outdoes anything he ever did with TWD. Guadiano is great with the inks, though. All Out War looked pretty awesome at times thanks to him. But still, Outcast blows that stuff out of the water. It's leagues above Thief of Thieves, Invincible's crisp and clear style, Fables, Y: The Last Man, or anything else I've read. The artwork can be creepy, it has a level of subtly that's brilliant, it displays emotions and has a weight to the actions it illustrates. It sets a scene fantastically, and it's just fucking gorgeous. This issue sets that in stone. Now, as for the writing, this issue is set-up more than anything else. It's putting us on a path for the rest of this second arc, and I can't wait to see where things go from here. We got more between Kyle and Anderson, and I got to say again, I love their dynamic. They're in over their heads, barely staying afloat among all the fucked up shit that's going on around them, they've got no one to rely on but each other... but there's a distinct distrust between them that becomes much clearer this issue. Honestly, the artwork deserves more praise than the story content this issue. It's slow, even for Outcast, but it's also really ominous, and I get the feeling that we'll start to see the real scope of this series sometime soon. Now, entering spoiler territory, proceed at your own risk: This issue mainly deals with what Kyle and Anderson talked about last issue, going to visit all the people that Anderson exorcised to see how far his failure goes. As the title might suggest, things don't look too promising. It seems as if Anderson never really had to the power to fight the demons in these people, only weaken them. For most, the demons now lie dormat, but for others, his failure was complete, and they're still strong.
There was a really creepy moment with one guy, Brian, who is clearly possessed, and Kyle freaks out on him. The scene itself doesn't lead to anything too much, but the aftermath is interesting for Kyle and Anderson. Kyle is getting desperate to find answers and find out what's going on, while the Reverend suggests a slower approach, still horrified that he failed to save anyone.
There's an air of distrust between the two of them, and they're both struggling to deal with this in their own ways. The characters in this whole series feel very human and real(something that The Walking Dead fails at).
Only one person can't be found. A girl that Anderson "exorcised" that ran away from her parents to Charleston. So, now knowing the location of all the others, Kyle and Anderson prepare to go to Charleston and find this girl.
The last moment is a bit of a weird one for me... I'm not sure what to make of it, and I'm actually going to write in to the Letter Hacks about it, to present some of my theories and see what Kirkman and Sean say. Also, to give some praise, because.. .this series is truly amazing.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2015 23:01:55 GMT
More Outcast art! The cover for Issue 9: What Lurks within I'm assuming the girl is the one they're looking for, Sherry. Issue 10: A Weakness Exposed The demons(And Sidney) are trying to attack... That could either be Amber or... maybe Holly? Issue 11: A Line is Crossed Huh, as if they weren't crossed before. Kyle is becoming more and more unstable... Obviously Kyle is attacking a little girl(the one from the previous cover?), probably because she's possessed like Joshua was... though, it seems like things won't go so smoothly this time around.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2015 23:09:33 GMT
So, re-reading A Darkness Surrounds Him(the Issue, not the TPB, which I'm actually going to get since I have first prints of all the Outcast issue, and the first few a becoming very valuable), I realized something... It's pretty much been established that a demon's way in is when the person is at a low point, has some serious troubles in their life. This is revealed when Anderson says he could feel himself being possessed when he was struggling with raising his son, Matthew. It's also made pretty clear by the others we've seen. For instance, Blake was in love with his best friend's wife, which gave the demon a way in.
This got me wondering about everyone who's been possessed so far in the series. Obviously, we don't know what happened with people like Brian, Sherry, or Mildred yet, as we don't know much about them.
With Joshua, it seems pretty obvious that he had a fairly poor home life, what with the opening scene being his mother screaming at his sister.
It's possible, I suppose, that Kyle mother could have been possessed the way Anderson was almost possessed... Also could have something to do with Sidney and Kyle.
I'm not sure about Allison.... It could be that it has something to do with Kyle being Outcast, but assuming it isn't... maybe their marriage wasn't as perfect as Kyle makes it out to be in his flashbacks and what not.
Just speculating some stuff.
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