Review: Zoë: Out of Time

The CBN Offices are consistently flooded with with comics for review, every so often something special comes across my desk.  In the weekly “pile” CBN was fortunate enough to be provided preview copies of the first two issues of the new digital comic Zoë: Out of Time … this is one of those times where I found something special. Something special enough to bring me back to CBN after a nearly 8 month hiatus…

Creators Plot Summary

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“It is the year 2050, and sixteen year old Zoë Black is obsessed with one thing: legendary lead singer of Rebel Lions, Trent Darrow, whose untimely death sixty years ago at the tender age of seventeen launched him into the stratosphere of rock legend with the likes of Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

To Zoë, Trent Darrow and the Rebel Lions are the center of her teenage universe- an escape from the loneliness and alienation of growing up as the only child of widowed physicist, Corbin Black, who is on thebrink of a major breakthrough in the study of time travel. A discovery that offers her the opportunity to make the most fantastic of dreams a reality.

And so, late one night, Zoë steals her father’s new prototype time travel device- the Kronos Traveller– sending her sixty years into the past to 1990- and into a gritty and dangerous world, much different from her own. But when she finally makes her way into Trent Darrow’s life, is he all that she imagined he would be? And what happens when she discovers that his death was no “accident”?

Will a young woman’s obsession to cross time interfere with a rock stars’ fate? Will he still die a legend, or will Zoë unknowingly alter his future… and her own?”

Story

This story leverages a lot of tropes we frequently see in modern sci-fi storytelling…..time travel….angsty rebellious teens…. busy career driven single parent conflict…  But to the creators credit, it takes these ideas, leverages them as tools to tell a compelling story and quietly let’s them fade into the background so that the reader can appreciate the characters and the plot itself.  Seeing that this is a 4 part mini-series, there is not a lot of room for filler and the creators use some very fresh storytelling techniques to establish the characters and continuity.  For example (without spoiling much), using a full page newspaper story to establish the background and core plot points around Zoë’s dead teen obsession Trent Darrow.  That simple page front and center at the beginning of issue #1 also sets the stage for ultimately what Zoë’s goal may end up being…will she accomplish that?  Will she choose to change the past at the cost of future consequences? Only time will tell..

Art

The art on this book is top notch. You would be hard pressed to find anything else of this quality from any publisher these days. For the art alone, this book is worth every penny.  From the digital coloring and effects to the sheer consistency of human form throughout, this is really well done.  Page layouts are fresh and used to tell the story.  Lettering enhances the experience without distracting.  The big 2 could learn from this book..

Wrap Up

Issue #1 debuts on Comixology today 8/7 for .99 cents and this book is worth every penny.  I may have gotten review copies, but I’ve purchased all issues on both Comixology and Amazon’s digital platforms as my show of support and endorsement.

Bottom line…it’s about time, you made time for, Zoe: Out of Time…

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