Outcast #8
Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Paul Azaceta
Colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Published by Image Comics
It’s not easy to come back from failure. Revered Anderson is being haunted by his past mistakes and is trying to right his wrongs. Kyle is upset that Reverend Anderson thinks he may know what’s going on in this issue of Outcast. It’s easy to step into Kyle’s place and assume the Reverend is more of a hindrance than help. But once Reverend Anderson shows Kyle just how deeply he’s been cut the tone changes.
Outcast #8 deals with two past encounters Reverend Anderson has had in his fight against Satan. The Reverend and Kyle first visit an older gentleman who seems fine on the surface. It’s only when Kyle tries to shake his hand that he becomes agitated. Kyle instigates further and we see more black phlegm come out of his man’s coughing mouth, much like Mildred in the last issue. Kyle is taunting whatever is inside this man and only wants answers. Reverend Anderson hurries Kyle out and chides the younger man because he assaulted another man in his own home. Kyle is continuously trying to find answers whereas Reverend Anderson just wants to be reminded that he’s helped others. These dissecting roads between the characters will come to draw a wedge in their relationship. Kyle will want to walk in guns a-blazing, but Reverend Anderson will want to approach from a more analytical plateau.
Back on the road Kyle and Reverend Anderson meet a man named Roy whose daughter was exorcised by the Reverend. She has since run away and lives on the street but refuses to come home. Kyle sees this as another mistake in the Reverend’s past and throws it in his face. Reverend Anderson finally admits that he doesn’t know if he’s helping anyone but he must continue to try to do what is best for God. He also admits to having the pentagram cut above his heart by Satan. Kyle is initially admonished but asks if Reverend Anderson did it himself. It’s interesting to see Kyle’s reaction in this scene. Robert Kirkman is leading us to think that the Reverend may finally be cracking. Kyle was initially weaker than Reverend Anderson but he’s becoming stronger and more action-oriented as the issues continue. Kyle will not accept more failure, he wants to be reunited with his family and the Reverend may be holding him back. Perhaps Satan himself is orchestrating this divide to ultimately rid Kyle of a protector so he can be possessed.
Kirkman is in fine form in this issue teasing in the beginning with a birthday celebration and drawing to the close with a group on strangers gawking at Kyle. The two worlds Kyle is bounded by will continue to push and pull him until one wins out. The art by Paul Azaceta and colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser continue to be dark and depressing. There is never much light wherever Kyle and Reverend Anderson travel and this distinction makes the setting an utterly horrible place to be. It feels as if Satan is lurking around every single corner, not a safe place for man or cleric.