Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (2024)

Patrick

Author70 books238k followers

December 20, 2018

I really enjoyed Kirkman's Walking Dead back in the day, but quit around volume 10 because it got unremittingly bleak. I simply wasn't enjoying it any more.

This series deals with supernatural horror but it's more of a mystery as opposed to nihilistic apocalyptic horror. Still dark at times, but much more my speed.

Anne

4,398 reviews70.2k followers

October 4, 2017

I'd never heard of Kirkman's Outcast, but it was another of the Halloween Horror comics my friend sent to me in a goodie basket, and so far it's one of my top picks!

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (4)

I may have put off reading it because the art is less than appealing, but another friend dubbed it an R-rated Supernatural, so that pretty much bumped it up to the top of my list. And you know what? The kid was kind of right!
Now, I won't go so far as to compare it to Supernatural, but it does have a distinct Odd Couple hunting demons vibe to it that I really liked.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (5)

Now, I mentioned that I didn't care for the art. I apologize. What I meant to say is that it annoyed me because a lot of the faces tended to be indistinguishable from one another. Plus, there just wasn't much detail to the panels, which (at times) made it difficult to understand exactly what was happening. <--this sort of thing may not be an issue for everyone, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (6)

Ok. It opens with a boy who is (presumably) possessed by a demon.
And Kyle Barnes gets a call from his mother asking for him to come because she knows he's helped other people who've had this happen to them.
Ooooh! Sufficiently creepy, no?

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (7)

Then you get introduced to the small town preacher, who spends quite a bit of his time hunting down and casting out demons. He's not your usual stuffy pastor, and I really ended up liking his character quite a bit more than I thought I would.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (8)

Spoilery things happen and these two team up (ish) and take a road trip. Along the way, they find out there may be more to this demon thing than either of them first realized.
Oh, and Kyle's life has whole layers of secrets that you stumble across while the story plays out.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (9)

This may not be something that everyone enjoys, but it hooked me after ONE volume. I loved it, and I can't wait to read the next one to see where this story goes.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

    graphic-novels horror paranormal-schmaranormal

Jeff

912 reviews770 followers

June 12, 2015

Mysterious evil stranger to exorcist priest after being asked his name:

“You know me by many names for I am Legion, but you can call me Ray, or you can call me J, or you can call me Johnny, or you can call me Sonny, or you can call me Junie, or you can call me Junior; now you can call me Ray J, or you can call me RJ, or you can call me RJJ, or you can call me RJJ Jr but you doesn't hasta call me Johnson!".”

*sigh*

How about if I just call you,

Mitchell Satan?

Any graphic novel that can make this guy’s appearance rudimentary and formulaic won’t get me to pick up the next volume.

What else is wrong with this book?

Well for starters the small town this takes place in has to be the center of the universe for demonic possessions. Hey, this collection averages just about one per issue, and they’re all pretty much the same thing: a sprinkling of holy water, some words by the priest, some crazy grinning, some harsh language some fisticuffs, and Kyle (the Outcast) sort of sucks out the spirit like Luigi with his vacuum in the video game, Luigi’s Mansion.

Kyle’s the Outcast. Yes, he is. And…?

The possessive demons know it but what the hell (pun very much intended) does this mean? How many more times are we going to hear this introduction until this plot actually moves forward? A sophisticated comic book reader like myself (Shaddup! Stop laughing!) needs some sort of plot advancement to get past a growing sense of story line inertia.

Apologies to my buddy Kelly for teaming up for such crappy graphic novel. Read her review, it’s a thousand times better than the book.

    buddy-reads comix

Kelly (and the Book Boar)

2,679 reviews9,152 followers

May 22, 2015

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

WARNING: EVEN THOUGH NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS IN THIS VOLUME, SOME OF YOU MAY CONSIDER WHAT IS POSTED BELOW TO BE SPOILERS OF ALL THE NON-HAPPENINGS

Oh snap, I just gave something by Robert Kirkman a not-so-great rating. Hold on a sec so I can gear up . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (12)

Alright. Bring on the pain (and insults to my intelligence).

Is there anyone left on the planet who isn’t aware of who Kirkman is? For the three of you who need a refresher, he’s the guy who brought us this . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (13)

Yep. The Walking Dead. Making him a god amongst men – who also happens to be totes adorbs . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (14)

which makes the creepy concoctions his brain comes up with even more delightful.

Although Kirkman has made approximately forty gajillion dollars off of zombies, Outcast went in a different direction . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (15)

Sidenote: Kudos for one of the best tag lines ever . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (16)

This is the story of Kyle Barnes, a man who had to overcome being raised in a real hellhole and who lost everything dear to him as an adult. Kyle has been in a downward spiral ever since his wife and daughter left him, but has started to realize it’s time to face his past and deal with some harsh truths.

The local preacher . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (17)
(Ha! Just kidding, he’s totally old and not hot at all, but how many times will I have an excuse to post Colin O'Donoghue gifs????)

has always known demons surround us, as well being aware of Kyle’s personal history, and enlists Kyle to help with the heavy work of exorcism . . .

“You clearly have an ability. I don’t know what it is or how you got it, but you have a power over these things.”

The problem is, nothing really happens in this volume. You get some of Kyle’s backstory, you get some interaction with the possessed, you get a hint of what’s to come, but you’re left being obligated to invest in Volume 2 for any real action (maybe??? who even knows? maybe nothing will ever happen???). I know I’m no graphic novel aficionado, but nothing I’ve read so far has been the equivalent of ripping the first few chapters out of a novel and calling it “Volume 1” . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (18)

STFU, Carl! I’m trying to make a point. I don’t need you agreeing with me and making everyone even madder.

So anyway, all of you superfans may not have a problem with the way this one ends because you know you will read the entire collection from start to finish. But for me??? Well, my library has like JACK SQUAT when it comes to graphic novel selections, which means I have to drop my hard-earned cash on something that I may or may not like and that will only take me like an hour to read.

Although I’m aware I know zilch about art, I feel obligated to comment on it since this is a pitcherbook and all. Here’s a sample . . .

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (19)

Me no likey.

Many thanks to The Jeff for trusting me to not completely f*&^ up a graphic novel buddy read. Mitchell says many thanks for sending him back early and not keeping him for the duration of this read. He was afraid you’d get some bright ideas about holy water and its many uses.

    own-it-spent-my-food-money-on-it pitcherbooks read-in-2015

Sean Gibson

Author6 books6,003 followers

February 4, 2016

Picked this up on a whim and didn’t know what to expect, but it was solidly entertaining. Who doesn’t love a good possession story? I mean, I love reading about people who have marijuana and…

Wait, what? Different kind of possession story? DEMONIC possession? That’s creepy. Right. Got it.

So, yeah—this was appropriately creepy, and I like that it had a rural, set-in-the-past vibe even though it wasn’t really set in the past…it added to the creepy (everything seems creepier when you’re beset by the loneliness and ennui of rural suburbia).

Also creepy: reviewers who say pretentious things like “beset by the loneliness and ennui of rural suburbia.” Let’s kick those assholes in the shins.

We’ll call it 3.5 stars.

Jan Philipzig

Author1 book293 followers

February 7, 2016

Robert Kirkman has made a name for himself turning a horror sub-genre best known for its superficial shock value and gore, the zombie sub-genre, into something more sprawling, sustainable, and TV-friendly: a character-driven drama... with zombies, yes, but mostly just in the background. In his introduction to the first volume of The Walking Dead, Kirkman writes:
“For me the worst part of every zombie movie is the end. I always want to know what happens next… I just want to keep going… The Walking Dead will be the zombie movie that never ends. Well… not for a good long time at least.”
And it still has not ended, as you know, neither in comic-book nor in TV form.

The idea behind Kirkman’s new ongoing horror series, Outcast, is not all that different: take another horror sub-genre best known for its superficial shock value and gore, the demonic possession sub-genre, and develop its characters and mysteries until - fingers crossed - another lucrative TV deal becomes inevitable. This time around, the result is no post-apocalyptic wasteland populated with zombies but a rather quiet small town chock-full of dark secrets, dysfunctional families, and barely suppressed aggression - a small town overrun with demons, that is. I am not sure how many more exorcisms I will want to witness, but as an opening chapter this first volume was intriguing enough. Competently done by everyone involved. Oh, and by the way, I love the cover!

    childhood demonic-possession drugs-alcohol

Will M.

327 reviews656 followers

August 9, 2016

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This graphic novel was about exorcism and a guy who needed to conquer his personal demons. Interesting premise but it wasn't executed well. A huge disappointment considering this is a work of Kirkman. Not even close to how good Walking Dead is.

It started off quite good. The introduction seemed to offer a lot but while the novel progressed, it slowly lost its momentum. Nothing happened for the most part of this. A lot of jibber jabber here and there, and a little bit of action. The characters were not likable at all and really dull. The priest was terribly unlikable and would really help this series if Kirkman got rid of him. I'm not giving up yet on the series though, but hopefully the next one would be a lot more interesting than this.

My biggest problem would be the horrendous artwork. It was the most unappealing thing of this graphic novel. The only good thing I can say would be the fact that it's colored, but other than that, I hated the artwork. I didn't like the style, because the characters looked weird and the setting became dull too. If the artwork was a lot better I could've given this a 3.5.

3/5 stars. While no questions were answered by this first volume, hopefully the next one would be more enlightening. 3 stars from me depicts that I liked and hated the novel. I'm one the neutral side with this one because the premise for me can still turn out into something worth reading in the future. There are a lot of weak first volumes that improve along the way. I'm really hoping Kirkman can redeem himself.

    2015 arc graphic-novels

Sam Quixote

4,673 reviews13.2k followers

February 8, 2015

Kyle Barnes is an outcast exorcist. He exorcises demons - but he can’t exorcise his own personal demons! Ironyyyyyyy! In this book we’ll meet a kindly reverend who’ll team up with Kyle to rid West Virginia of as many possessed people (which turns out to be quite a few!) as they can in between moping sessions. Settle in, folks, this is volume one of probably several dozen if his other titles Invincible and The Walking Dead are anything to go by, because Kirkman’s more interested in setting up long-running franchises than telling tightly plotted stories, especially when he can sell these comics’ pitches to TV execs!

It sounds like I didn’t like Outcast Volume 1, and I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t that bad. Southern Gothic is a great subgenre that Kirkman nails and, while he’s not one of the best comics writers out there, he does know how to put together a comic. His years of experience in the industry shows and makes this book a smooth read.

The story switches from Kyle and his gloomy life to “possession of the week” where he and the reverend play dual Constantines, exorcising demons. This approach works fine for a single volume - but over who knows how many books? It’s gonna get very formulaic, real quick. For this one though, there’s enough variety to keep it from being a boring read.

Unlike The Walking Dead, Outcast is a fully-coloured comic and Elizabeth Breitweiser’s work wonderfully complements Paul Azaceta’s fine art in this volume. There are some lovely scenic shots of rural West Virginia and some of the horror panels of a leering possessed person were creepy. It didn’t hurt that Azaceta’s style reminded me of David Aja’s work on Hawkeye.

So while the art team produce great pages, Kirkman’s script is the only major stumbling block to this series. The thing with enormously successful writers - comics or otherwise - is that once they reach a certain level, they are untouchable. No editor can tell them to cut pages or tighten up a plotline - said writer can eschew any and all advice and do whatever the hell they like. Which is what Kirkman does here. And there’s a lot of bloat in this book.

From the numerous flashback sequences of Kyle remembering his abusive childhood where his possessed mother beat him, to the numerous scenes where he’s sat around his house sulking, to repeated scenes of the reverend trying to get Kyle to use his special exorcist powers (his touch burns the possessed while forcing the demons out), I just kept wishing it had less repetition to it. There’s too much setup and not enough story.

And, like a lot of Kirkman’s stories, Outcast’s is super, super miserable! Kyle’s depressed, his wife left with his daughter and won’t let him talk to her, everyone thinks he beat them which is why they left, and he also put his mother into a vegetative state! Meanwhile the reverend’s son won’t speak to him for some reason leading to many panels where characters are holding their head in their hands. Families are breaking up, people are punching other people, there’s plenty of gore. It’s so humourless and dark that it’s a very grim read.

At least with The Walking Dead there was excitement and tension to balance out the mopiness. Here, we’re not given much of a story and Kirkman really lays the misery on thickly. And, while the characters do seem real, they just aren’t interesting. I get that Kyle’s had a difficult life but I really don’t care - these aren’t characters you can feel close to.

Outcast’s horror is cliched Hollywood pap. Jump scares abound and the corny possessed routine plays out with no originality. Ever seen The Exorcist or any of its many ripoffs where a possessed person has contorted their body, spat blood and/or vomit at someone while swearing and laughing, and a priest or holy person has stood over them splashing holy water and waving a cross/rosary combo in their face? Get ready to see it again, many times in this book alone! And what about that creepy old guy with the weird eyes? Oh it’s Satan. Zzz....

What’s weird is that Kirkman actually BELIEVES demon possession is real. In the afterword to the first issue he writes:

“The scariest things are REAL. Ever seen… The Exorcist? … Very real, very scary. There is evidence that supports the possibility that demonic possession is very much real.”

...right. Sure it is, Kirkman.

The first volume of Outcast isn’t bad. Kyle’s not the most compelling protagonist but the story, while scattered, does hold the attention, and the art is pretty good too. But the formula of miseryguts main character exorcising yet another possessed person playing out in volume after volume? It’s fine for one book but I’m not sure this setup is enough to sustain readers’ attention over the long run.

One thing’s for sure: expect the Outcast TV show to be headed our way very soon!

The Lion's Share

530 reviews90 followers

August 13, 2016

I've never read a Kirkman book before and I really don't like zombies, they bore me.

I've seen the reviews on this from other members and I can see why it doesn't strike a chord with some, but IMO it was great. It just really worked for me.

Everyone thinks he beat his wife and kids because his mum beat him for years, but that's not the truth! There's something more sinister behind it and Kyle starts to understand this after years and years of horrible changes in the people around him.

The artwork captured me and so did the story. I can't fault it. I really hope this turns into a big series because I'm hooked!

Chad

9,172 reviews1,004 followers

April 25, 2021

The Walking Dead for the demonic possession set. Paul Azacleta's art fits the mood of the book. Robert Kirkman has cooked himself up another franchise. I could easily see this as a series on AMC. Well, I just googled it and it turns out it's going to be on Cinemax instead.

Dave Schaafsma

Author6 books31.9k followers

April 30, 2017

A set-up volume about what appears to be a long series about demon possession in a small town. Kyle, our (tortured) hero is the "outcast" who is good at exorcism. He teams up with preacher Anderson who also is good at exorcism, though in the more traditional religious way. Kyle and the preacher have their own "demons" from the past to work on. Kyle is estranged from his wife and daughter, for instance. Nothing surprising happens, really, but it's good, solid.

I'm not a big fan of Kirkman's writing, and while demon possession is pretty interesting, there are demon possessions in every single issue, everyone seems to be possessed in this little town, and the plot does not really seem to move forward. We just go from exorcism to exorcism. It's all questions and spinning wheels. The art is solid, though I should make a special mention of one of the great colorists out there who works with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, among others. Who knows, maybe it will really take off, but at this point I am not convinced.

    gn-horror

Alexander Peterhans

Author2 books267 followers

October 3, 2021

It's okay. Slow, but never gets tense. Not particularly scary.

    bought-digital buddy-read graphics

Greg

1,125 reviews2,030 followers

February 27, 2015

I read a handful of Walking Dead volumes, and I’ve never really loved them. It’s difficult to put my finger on what it is that just leaves me feeling kind of eh about them.

When I first saw this volume of Robert Kirkman’s new venture I was excited. Not because it was Robert Kirkman but because for a moment I thought it was a new volume of Revival. The cover really looks like it could be in the same world as that interesting take on what would happen if the dead came back to life, but not as monsters. But then I decided to use my ability to read words and not just look at pictures and saw that this wasn’t in fact Revival.

I mentioned this blunder to a few people and one of those people said, they would lend me their volume of it so I could read it. I wasn’t expecting to ever actually read it, just to have some opinions on what the cover looked like but what the hell, I’ll read it.

So what did I think?

Well if you see my rating you might think I didn’t really like it. Three stars is a lot of times it’s fine but not for me. This time it was, I have no real idea what I think because this is like trying to decide what you think of an involved TV series by only seeing the first episode. But unlike the first episode of a TV show (I’m thinking for example Breaking Bad which started off really strong as a hook to get you into it) this doesn’t start off with a bang. It starts like a long story should probably start off, and not like a pilot designed to give the most bang possible.

It’s being written by a rock-star in the comic book world, so it’s not like he isn’t going to get a chance to tell the story he wants to tell, and there isn’t much need to hook you with some big explosive opening. The hook is who wrote it.

But the problem with the volume is I don’t know what to think of it. It’s the initial set up of a big story. It would be like having a big novel, let’s stay geeky and say Game of Thrones (as in the first volume of the series, not as in miscalling the whole series the name that HBO has attached to it). If you were given a book that had maybe the prologue and the first chapter you probably would have no idea what to make of it. Maybe you’d like some of the characters and be intrigued, but there would still be the feeling that I have no idea where this is going, I just don’t know what to think of this.

That’s what I felt about this.

Not much happens, and then there is some quick build up of momentum right near the end, but we are left not knowing where this momentum is heading. Which is fine, this is a longer story, it’s just difficult to figure out if this is a story I’m going to get invested in or to know what I really think of it. It was intriguing enough though that I’m curious to see where Kirkman decides to go with the possession genre of horror in the next volume.

I probably could have just summed up this review with, I don’t know what to think. But that wouldn't have been nearly as fun to write.

    graphic-novels horror

Crystal

129 reviews31 followers

January 18, 2018

Another reread
just because it was at the library and I like it

Jeannette

729 reviews191 followers

June 16, 2016

Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.

Hmm...

Hmmmmm...

I read this a couple of days ago and if I had rated this then, it might have gotten 4 stars. Writing the review now, I feel further away from the story and not that impressed by the memory of it.

I have had this for almost half a year, but my main motivation to finally read it, was the fact that I saw the TV show trailer and it looked very promising. I am still looking forward to the show and I do plan to continue reading this when the next volume comes out.

The art was pretty good in Outcast. I definitely enjoyed it. It was as dark as the story itself and at moments equally as confusing. There was also a large dose of the creep factor, even though not nearly as much as in Wytches which is still my favourite graphic novel.

The story itself was set very nicely, things were made to connect to each other in a way that made sense and the characters actually had a point to them, in terms of the events.

So then... what did I not like about it?

Well... for the most part, I simply could not get in line with the characters. I didn't have too much of sympathy for them, I wasn't too interested in them and I didn't feel a specific urge to find out what happens to them later on. I accepted them and their fates with a detached curiosity which is what makes me want to read the next volume too. Long story short, the narration and events fold out nicely but character-wise there is more to be desired.

The two characters which actually interested me were the two villains, one of whom was barely shown and loosely described. The Devil character was obviously easier to figure out, but nonetheless, he was as creepy as was desired from him by the story so that was still a definite plus.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (31)

Ashley Cruzen

368 reviews598 followers

June 7, 2016

Well that was....dark.

    comics

Lashaan Balasingam

1,457 reviews4,619 followers

March 8, 2018

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

This is actually the first series I’ve started that’s written by Robert Kirkman. Don’t hurt me! I’m up to date with the Walking Dead TV show (who’s ready for season 7’s big reveal?) and I do plan on checking out the very comics that brought the show to life (in some twisted way). While Robert Kirkman is a tour de force in the comic sphere, it’s not far-fetched to wonder if he can continue strive in the business by delivering new and exciting stories. Outcast, instead of visiting zombies, is actually something unusual from his part. Here, he preferred checking out the upside-down world of exorcism. In a rather small village, quite a few (a lot more than one would wish in his own town) are possessed and end up doing some really nasty things. Nasty enough for Kyle Barnes to help understand. Why him? Because he was one of the first to actually fight off a demon who inhabited his close ones. After a huge period of seclusion, he finally decided that it was time to find answers to all this. Among others, one particular question drives this man. “Why him?”

As much as I’d like to say that these volumes are heavy on dialogue, this one is an exception. A lot of series nowadays do like to be short on words and grab people’s attention with the artwork. It’s not such a bad thing when the panels, even without words, are able to convey a 1000 words. But sometimes, when writers and artists want to drag out a moment (or the whole volume), little is said and that can be unsatisfying. Outcast manages only to tease us on what’s to come with the arrival of a potential antagonist, the declaration that Kyle Barnes is an Outcast (no one knows what the hell that means) and the discovery of Kyle Barnes’ secret weapon. While the tone of this volume succeeded in keeping a secluded and possessed vibe to this story, I felt like we could’ve gotten more in volume 1. It seemed like the focus was on setting up the story to come, rather than giving us real reasons to stick around. While the approach is interesting, this easily punishes Outcast since volume 1 didn’t dive deep into the ocean.

If we look at it through the lenses of a satisfied fan, Outcast does however find a unique essence to draw from. Saying less can also instigate a desire to learn more. A little like Kyle Barnes and his desire to find out more. With every event that occurs, we’re drawn into a world that no one in the story yet understands. I have to admit that I am curious of every little fish hooks that Kirkman throws at us. From shallow personas to world-building elements, Outcast is a smooth character-driven story. In fact, the protagonists evolution is curious and certainly shows someone disturbed, confused and isolated. His motives become clear and this very desire to escape the lifestyle he’s been condemned to is fascinating. The artwork isn’t the most mind-blowing, but it was good enough to maintain an eerie feel to the whole story and contribute to the plot’s direction. It mainly focuses on character expressions and keeps the color scheme limited to certain dusk-like colors; and that seemed like a recipe for success.

There is potential in this series, that’s a no-brainer. While the first volume doesn’t go deep into the plot and preferred to set up the characters and world for the volumes to come, Outcast is probably one of the rare stories revolving around exorcism that won’t just stick to creepy possessed character moments and unexpected jump-in-your-face scares. Outcast feels like a series that can dig deep into the psyche of troubled characters while keeping a much needed suspense around the whole exorcism world it’s trying to incorporate in every day life. With artist Paul Azaceta teamed up with Robert Kirkman, this volume can definitely continue to succeed in delivering a dangerous world where thing’s are more than what the eye sees. It’s not everyday that you get a series where each characters felt different. Outcast is definitely something for people to check out if you want to acquaint yourself with a man surrounded by darkness and world filled with possessed individuals. Don’t you want to find out what an Outcast is too?

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com
____________________________

This is actually the first series I've started by Robert Kirkman. Don't hurt me! I'm up to date with the Walking Dead show and I do plan on checking out the very comics that brought the show to life (in some way). Outcast, instead of visiting the zombies, preferred checking out the possession, exorcist world. In the rather small village that the story is set in, quite a few (a lot more than one would wish in his own town) are possessed and end up doing something quite nasty. Nasty enough for Kyle Barnes to help understand. Why him? Because he was one of the first to actually fight off a demon who inhabited his close ones. After a huge period of seclusion, he finally decided that it was time to find answers to all this. Why him? The story manages only to tease us on what's to come with the arrival of a potential antagonist, the declaration that Kyle Barnes is an Outcast (no one knows what the hell that means) and the discovery of Kyle Barnes secret weapon. While the tone of this volume succeeded in keeping a nice vibe for this story, I felt like we could've gotten more in volume 1. It felt like the focus was on setting up the story to come, rather than giving us real reasons to stick around. The artwork isn't the most mind-blowing, but it was good enough to keep an eerie feel to the whole story.

P.S. A full review to come.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com

    comic-books horror read-in-2016

James

2,474 reviews70 followers

October 5, 2021

3.5 stars. So this book deals with possession. Our main character, Kyle, dealt with people being possessed around him growing up. His mom, wife and kid. He never knew what was happening. Then a reverend who deals with possession brings Kyle along with him one time and the both realize Kyle has the ability to burn demons out of people. So now they want to try it with other people. Cool idea. However the story does build up really slow but I still found myself interested in what was going to happen. Not really scary but it did build up a bit of suspense. Especially towards them end. Pretty solid.

11811 (Eleven)

663 reviews156 followers

March 12, 2016

I was excited when I started, disappointed by the time I finished. Not bad, not great, not recommended. There are better choices available in the graphic novel market. Maybe it's better if going in with lower expectations. I have no plans to read volume two.

Steve

962 reviews107 followers

February 5, 2015

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

Here's the blurb: "Kyle Barnes has been plagued by demonic possession all his life and now he needs answers. Unfortunately, what he uncovers along the way could bring about the end of life on Earth as we know it."

This first volume was a good introduction, but I'm left with a whole lot more questions than answers, and there wasn't anything revealed that seemed to threaten the end of life on Earth.

The artwork was good, appropriate for the story's creepiness. If I see the next volume, I'll probably pick it up.

    early-review-netgalley horror read-in-2015

Ryan Michael

100 reviews32 followers

July 26, 2017

A very strong 4 stars here. I love the way the art is simple but also shifts color schemes so well depending on the mood of the scene. The story is intriguing and I like how open it seems to go in various directions. I am excited to get into volume 2 soon and see what else Kirkman has in store.

Gavin

1,220 reviews89 followers

December 1, 2015

This book is lame.

    comics this-book-is-stupid

Kate

489 reviews17 followers

March 13, 2015

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kyle is a loner, estranged from his wife and daughter, despised by people he knows, only his sister seems to be concerned for his welfare. When the town preacher calls upon him to assist him in an exorcism, Kyle's past must be confronted as this won't be the first time he has performed an exorcism having also seen his mother, wife and child succumb to possession. Kyle battles not only with the demon from his past but also his personal demons.

The art perfectly suited the story, brooding and dark with great use of shadow and colour. The panels are consistent and nicely detailed, while I enjoyed the artwork overall, it took a couple of issues before I felt it hit it's stride.

The story itself felt on lightly touched upon after 6 issues but it does a good job in setting up what looks like an interesting series. For me, the characters are what make this read worthwhile. There are several complex characters that are set up very well in these first few issues. Kyle is someone who feels a lot of guilt about his past, his involvement in his mothers vegetative state and the domestic violence rumours that surround his estranged family and why he can't see his daughter anymore. The reverend is not your atypical preacher, he also has family issues as he seems to be estranged from his family too, he appears to be a devout man of faith but uses gambling to subsidise the church funds, smokes, drinks and swears like a trooper when the mood hits. Yet, he is a sympathetic character in a lot of ways and someone who seems to have pushed Kyle back to the world of the living, something his sister was failing to do.

This volume is all about setting up a series and there are no answers to any of the questions this volume brings up, this is pretty frustrating as I'm sure I'm not the only one that doesn't necessarily want to commit to a never ending series with issues running into the 100's. Even with this I still thought it was entertaining and I'd be interested in seeing where the series goes.

Recommended.

    graphic-novels-read znetgalley-read-and-reviewed zpersonal-reading-goals-2015

CS

1,224 reviews

February 6, 2017

Bullet Review:

No this isn't the best and the brightest. This story has been done approx 16 gajillion times before. But you know what? At least I could effing follow the effing story. Unlike some *cough*Clean Room*cough*.

Kirkman, please add a few more women who don't get shoved in refrigerators and we'll be good. Also don't make me hate Kyle like I do Rick Grimes, mmmmkay?

    graphic-novel horror image

Darien

862 reviews322 followers

March 9, 2020


2.5

This didn’t quite grab the way I hoped but I’m thinking it’s just a slow beginning. I know to expect crazy from Kirkman so I’ll continue to see where it takes me, but for right now this was a little of a miss.

    2020-reads demon graphic-novel-comic-manga

Merve Akıncı

70 reviews41 followers

August 17, 2016

Dizisinde olmayan birçok detay vardı. Aman Allah'ım, o çizimler... Efsane çizimler! Bayıldım.

Donovan

725 reviews81 followers

August 7, 2015


I'm just writhing with excitement over this one.

Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (44)

How is it that Kirkman takes well worn tropes and somehow turns them into something new and fresh? First zombies, now demonic possession. I burned through this in about an hour. Everything is quite stark and spare much like Walking Dead, and the artwork is just perfect. It's dark, crawls under your skin. Can't wait for Volume 2.

    all-time-classic-comics

Jesse A

1,537 reviews98 followers

April 25, 2017

Ok, if not totally satisfying start.

    graphic-novels library-it-up

Nelson Zagalo

Author12 books416 followers

July 24, 2017

Definitivamente gosto muito de Robert Kirkman, da forma como ele desenha a narrativa no sentido de nos prender aos personagens, de nos levar a compreender e querer saber mais sobre os seus conflitos internos. Ajuda imenso o modo como ele trabalha as inserções de grandes planos, em ponto pequeno, espalhadas pelas pranchas, já que ampliam a emocionalidade do fluxo narrativo.

Contudo, e apesar de interessante, este "Outcast" não traz nada que já não tivesse visto em "The Walking Dead", é apenas mais uma série de possuídos e excluídos, desta vez com um aparente sistema centralizado de comando, uma qualquer força maléfica.

    graphic_novel

Subham

2,967 reviews83 followers

February 1, 2021

This was a good one. We pick up with a guy named Kyle Barnes whose been haunted by Demonic possession all his life. First his mother, then his wife Allison and then others around him. There is also his sister Megan and her husband (police guy). He teams up with a reverend to exorcise some demon in a child and the demon calls him outcast and the moment Kyle's blood comes in contact with them they are kinda exorcised. There is some big mystery afoot. Next they have to exorcise a friend of a FBI guy Luke whose friend Blake killed his wife and when they do, the same stuff is spoken by that demon. Kyle is something special. An "Outcast". There is also a guy named Sidney a neighbor who has some connection to this whole mystery. And then the ending was..something. This book makes you feel a lot, a small town setting which I love, mystery, questioning MC, nothing is as it seems, possessions, demons, evil people behind the scenes and all and makes this book very compelling to read.

    comics-2020 comics-2021 indie-comics
Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Laurine Ryan

Last Updated:

Views: 5887

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (77 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Laurine Ryan

Birthday: 1994-12-23

Address: Suite 751 871 Lissette Throughway, West Kittie, NH 41603

Phone: +2366831109631

Job: Sales Producer

Hobby: Creative writing, Motor sports, Do it yourself, Skateboarding, Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Stand-up comedy

Introduction: My name is Laurine Ryan, I am a adorable, fair, graceful, spotless, gorgeous, homely, cooperative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.