Outpost Zero Series
by Sean McKeever, Alexandre Tefenkgi (Illustrator), Alexandre Tengfenki (Artist), Jean-François Beaulieu (Artist)
Series Rating: 4 Stars
Vol. 1: The Smallest Town in the Universe - 3 Stars
Vol. 2: Follow It Down - 3 Stars
Vol. 3: The Only Living Things - 4 Stars
| Outpost Zero is a biodome in the middle of a freezing planet. The residents have been surviving for generations but not much is known about how they got there, or where they came from. They have just always lived fearful of the outside that could freeze them all. The first volume introduces us to the group of people living in the Biome of a crashed spaceship. At 15 teenagers are given their purpose in the colony and start an internship to learn what they will do with their lives. Alea wants to be part of discovery team like her parents. Routinely going into the frozen wasteland outside of their dome to see if it can support life. On a routine mission they find that a giant storm is coming, a storm that threatens the colonies existence. After a brush with what could have been death for the colony they are buried under a mountain of ice, ice that threatens the life they live. In the second volume after the death of Alea's friend she confronts Sam the last person to be with him alive. Discovery team tries to find a way to remove the ice slowly crushing down on them, while the two realize their are more secrets than they know. They try to find a way down into the Stem of the ship to see if they can discover more about their ancestors. But find more secrets than they expected. In the finale of the series, which is the third volume. Sam and Alea have discovered a hidden robot in the Stem below the biodome. It has chosen to show them whatever it can since its primary purpose is no longer necessary. They find secrets hidden below that they decide to explore and they both find what they were searching for. But just barely. With the destruction of Discovery team, Alea's parents are looking for a new purpose. They all decide to explore the secrets together. I was slightly disappointed with this series, it ended so quickly and I feel like I barely had a chance to get to know the characters and really get invested. The entire concept of these graphic novels makes it entirely worth it, even if the storyline is a little jumbled and you often forget what's going on. A crashed space ship barely surviving on an alien planet? yes please. But the issue I had was I was always left wanting more, and the finale was no exception. I wanted more lore, more information. But I guess when the characters themselves don't know anything about their past why would the reader. And I feel like it ended just as it was getting good. |