OUTCAST #1

Robert Kirkman, the king of comics and TV these days, is back with a new original series. That's kinda sorta a big deal. If that wasn't enough, the book is $2.99 for 44 pages. A fucking steal! Batman #32, also out today, is $3.99 for 19 pages of art. So you can see why a lot of people look down at the big two publishers. Anyway, Kirkman's latest, drawn in spare, subtle detail by the impressive Paul Azaceta, is basically an exorcist story. The main character, Kyle, previously had to deal with his mother and wife being possessed by a demon. Now he's pulled back into the fray by a preacher friend who needs help exorcising a demon out of a boy. The catch? Why are all these demon attacks happened around Kyle? What's so special about him? I guess we'll find out...but it wouldn't surprise me if this turns into a heaven vs. hell type showdown with Kyle being the savior. That's a cliche, right? And that's the problem with the book. Kirkman, obviously, made his bones with two books that are pretty far from being original: a zombie book and a super-hero book. He has, to his credit, made them entertaining, wild, and fun. So far this book, Outcast, isn't "fun," but it is fairly compelling (and, unfortunately, it's not scary or creepy at all). We'll have to see where he goes from here, but so far it's kind of average. **1/2