With its first issue hitting Comixology this past Wednesday as part of their ‘Submit’ program, Zoe: Out of Time is a title that’s about to find itself exposed to a much wider audience.  We were given the opportunity to take a look at the first two issues of the four-part series by its co-creators J. Michalski and Alexander Lagos, and I have to say, the audience is in for an absolute treat.

As polished and professional-looking a comic as I’ve seen from the world of self-publishing, Zoe: Out of Time draws you in from the very first glance with its undeniably stunning visuals.  Artist Derlis Santacruz provides immaculately detailed, highly expressive characters while colourist Oren Kramek sets the whole thing off beautifully with his absolutely jaw-dropping palette. The whole thing has an almost hallucinogenic neon hue to it, which ties in perfectly to the futuristic setting.

I often find that in four-part series’, writers can struggle to balance the necessity for scene-setting exposition with, y’know, actually telling the story.  Thankfully that isn’t the case here at all, as Lagos and Michalski manage to establish the word, the premise and the key characters with relative ease, leaving us free to focus on the rebellious teenagers, the rock n’ roll and, oh yeah, the time travel.

The first issue serves as a brilliant set-up.  A pilot that lays out the series’ components in an easy-to-follow, enthralling way. The second issue takes us deeper into the story, and while I’m not going to give too much away here, the whole ‘time travel’ premise evolves beautifully as the rose-tinted world of Zoe’s dreams gives way to grimy, brutal reality.  The Rebel Lions are almost unbearably hip, and the writers capture perfectly the aura of the ‘iconic band who just haven’t been discovered yet’.

Honestly, while it seems that I’m being consistently overboard with my praise of the self-published titles we’ve had submitted lately, the fact is that they’re just that good.  Zoe: Out of Time is an incredibly imaginative, extremely well-polished book from a group of guys who are definitely going places.  Let’s just hope that the digital exposure they’re going to receive through both Amazon and Comixology help give them the attention they clearly deserve, and that we get to see much more from them in the future.  I’m definitely on board for the final two issues of this series, that’s for damn sure.

Rating: 9/10

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You can follow the guys on facebook, or on their website.

And you can pick up the first issue of Zoe: Out Of Time on ComiXology, as well as picking up both the first and second issues on Amazon.

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The Author of this piece was:

Craig Neilson aka (Ceej)
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