Opinion

Out There

Writer: Brian Augustyn, Artists: Humberto Ramos, Sandra Hope
Published by DC/Cliffhanger

El Dorado City, California, is on the surface a thriving, prosperous community, but the surface lies. Under the leadership of the mayor and sheriff, the city council has made a bargain with a demonic being called Draedalus in order to keep their city trouble free and stable. Increasingly, however, it is becoming apparent that the price Draedalus will demand for his help will be unimaginably high. As things come to a head, four high school students find themselves inexplicably able to see Draedalus and his minions when no one else can, and have to race to find a way to defeat the demon before his claims the entire city.

The creative team behind Out There first came to prominence collectively when they created the 24 issue Crimson, the tale of a reluctant vampire and his role as the Chosen One in an ultimate battle betweem good and evil. That summary might give some readers a momentary flicker of deja vu, because superficially it's the primary concept of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel. Beyond that superficial level, they're very different stories, but it's interesting that the similarity is there, because there's more than a hint of early Buffy about Out There too.

Initially, the high school scenes, disparate group of young heroes, and the supernatural nature of the threat look like the latest attempt to cash in on the Buffy phenomenon, but actually, if it's derivative at all, both series owe a certain amount (and in fairness, both acknowledge it) to none other than Scooby Doo...... Also in fairness, both series have rapidly outgrown comparisons to become something unique in their respective media.

Looking at Out There on its own merits, though: The story Augustyn tells is immediately gripping - the first issue setting up both characters and situation effectively and with the minimum of exposition. Some of the scenes, such as a murder in the school grounds observed through a window by the heroes are genuinely shocking, and the growth of the main characters over the first few chapters is well-enough handled that the shooting of one of them in the most recent issue, (#5) has real impact. It's also pleasantly unclear at this point how soon this main storyline will be over. (Pleasant because too many series these days seem to make a point of doing stories planned to be collected into trade paperbacks.) There are hints already planted that Draedalus may not be the worst thing that could threaten the town.

Ramos and Hope's art is lovely to look at too. It's slanted firmly towards the cartoonish end of comic art, which suits the tone of the story, itself slightly slanted away from the 'real world', very well. The large eyes and exaggerated stances also lend a manga influence to the series look that is as effective depicting school corridors as it is the imp-like demons and their pssession of the townsfolk.

It's great that DC, through their Cliffhanger and Wildstorm imprints, are willing to publish comics that aren't just more spandex-clad superfolk, without necessarily belonging in the maturer territory of their Vertigo (or Marvel's new MAX) line. Certainly, if the aged-past-its-prime hegemony of the superhero is ever going to be ended, it's in series like Crimson and Out There that the ability to attract a new generation of comic readers and wean them off spandex lies.

Out There is hard to fault, because it's a one-of-a-kind and so there's not much against which to judge it. Taken in isolation, it tells an engaing, intriguing tale, and illustrates it well, so as a comic it has to be judged successful. The irony will be if, even with a wider range of comic types on the shelves than for quite a few years, it proves to be just too 'out there' for the SpiderBatXSuper-man kids to take on board.

As mentioned above, Out There is only five issues old, so it should still be possible to track down the early issues and get on board. If the standard these guys set with Crimson is anything to go by (vampires, angels, the spirit of St George reincarnated in a black New York cop, dragons, werewolves, and outcasts from Eden, just for starters), it should be quite an interesting story by the time it's finished.

Eight out of ten.