Skybound/Image Comics 2018
Created & Written by Sean Kelley McKeever
Created & Illustrated by Alexandre Tefenkgi
Coloured by Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Lettered by Ariana Maher
Welcome to Outpost Zero, the smallest town in the universe. The people there work the land, go to the fights every Friday night, and tuck their children into bed—but the Outpost is no place for dreams or aspirations. To survive is ambitious enough. As Alea and her friends graduate to adulthood on a frozen world never meant to support human life, something stirs. Something sees…
There will always be coming of age stories and there are some who seem destined to tell them and personally I am so glad that Sean is one of those individuals. While his work remains tied into coming of age stories he manages to make them so incredibly universal. No matter what age you happen to be, or claim to be, life should be all about learning, changing, growing and becoming the best version of you possible. Yes these are kids and yes they are finding who they are for the first time and that is a magical thing to witness and brings back so many wonderful memories of my own adolescence which is lovely.
I like the way that this is structured. The opening feels like we are being introduced somewhat midstream and that the events prior and post are the things we’ll see but it’s the here and now that is the meaty portion and what we need. So we get glimpses into how the kids know each other, relate to each other and their behaviour which is something that most fourteen year old’s prescribe to. There are few authors who are able to write this age zone well and I think Sean takes his place alongside Markus Zusak, S.E. Hinton and James Patterson and if you question those choices then you aren’t reading this very issue.
The ebb & flow of the story is fabulous even all the transitions from segment to segment feel natural, not forced or awkward in any way and that is really how you spot the talented writers through their transitions. The slice of life way we meet the kids then are introduced to the current catalyst that will test them and change them forever is being done in a way that not only pushes the story but it also helps their characterisation become more familiar to us. I like how they come across, the unrequited love and good guy behind that mean and sarcastic demeanour not to mention to lonely boy, your the one they’d talk about around town as they put you down. (wow Smalltown Boy from Bronski Beat we are talking my adolescence)
I like the interior artwork here. The way that backgrounds are being utilised in this manner really makes this domed city as much a character as the people do and that is an unexpected treat. The faces and facial expressions here are magnificent in how much emotion they are able to display in these pages. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective we see in the panels shows a very strong eye for storytelling. Plus I like the way the weight of the linework feels throughout it really makes the feel of what we see from structural to human. The colouring needs mentioning here because those broken done window panes are sensational and he also manages to capture inside and outside in ways that make a huge statement.
There are moments where the story within a story feels like it wants to take over and that is sensational. I mean it gives us something to look forward to when the time is appropriate and it keeps the readers mind working trying to come up with some scenarios. Again another feature of a good writer is their ability to get the reader to go beyond what’s on the page and Sean is definitely good at that.
In the three ring circus that we call life there are few things you can count on, fortunately Sean and company are folks that you can. This is exceptionally well written and illustrated and brings us a new take on growing and finding out where your passions lie.