Story Synopsis: Blackout Vol. 1: Into the Dark

A man is delivered a mysterious, powered suit, and asked to find his mentor. But where did it come from and why did someone give it to him?  Find out in this week’s Comic Rewind, Blackout Vol. 1: Into the Dark by Dark Horse Comics.

Scott Travers worked at Avenir Microanalytics as a sort of scientist.  His mentor and father figure, Robert Marshall, got him the job and was a big wig in the company.  However, one day Marshall disappeared. Shortly after a box with a powered suit arrived at Travers’ doorstep.  The box had a note saying “find me” on it, but didn’t say who it was from.

When Travers put on the suit he found he could create wormholes and travel into another dimension and become a ghost.  Travers decided the note must be from Marshall and it was his responsibility to find his mentor. 

Comic Blackout

The first place Travers looked is the lab of a rival company and while there he finds a scientist, Alexis Luca, who knew something.  She knew Marshall and knew this powered suit to be Blackout. However, could she help Travers find Marshall and use Blackout to its full potential?

Frank J. Barbiere writes Blackout Vol. 1: Into the Dark with art by Micah Kaneshiro and Colin Lorimer.  Dark Horse Comics published the volume in 2014.

Blackout Got Cancelled Before Its Story Could Finish

I really enjoy having a mystery slowly unravel in front of me.  This story did that and started to get interesting. And then… it just ended.  This is the only volume of the comic. It was pretty obvious there was supposed to be more volumes.  However, I guess the publisher cancelled it before they writers could complete the full story.

The ending did not resolve any issues at all and didn’t give me any kind of closure.  Ideally the end of a volume will have a problem solved and set up the next act of the story.  This volume’s ending set up the next arc, but did not resolve anything.

The Reader Needs More Context As To Who The Hell These People Are

The narrative places the reader right in the middle of a story, but the volume does not give very much detail as to what is happening or where we are in the story.  It introduces characters and I am pretty sure I am supposed to feel a certain way about them. But… I have no idea who they are. I have no idea what people’s relationships with each other are.  A perfect example is that Travers is always hanging around a woman named Ash. Is she his girlfriend, his wife, his sister or just a friend? Who the hell knows, because we are never told!

Comic Blackout

Blackout Has A Good Story Buried In There

There is a framework for a really cool story buried in this volume.  If this story had more volumes and explained more, I think this could have been an excellent story.  All the little problems could have been sorted out and problems fixed in subsequent volumes. It seemed like they rushed the comic and perhaps made a “pilot” volume very quickly.  

I liked parts of the comic and I really wish I could have seen what this comic could have become.  However, I can only judge what I read. This one volume was just ok. I therefore can’t really recommend it to anyone.

Rating:

3/5

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