Outlaw Country #1 is a comic written and drawn by Kylar Merrell. A group of friends hang out and go to work in rural Oklahoma. This is a dramatic tale that follows a group of guys as they deal with tragedy and different life choices. There are four main characters here: Chris, Eli, Noah, and Lee. They are all friends who work at the same company and oil well. While there isn’t much separating them at first we’ll later see the different personalities come out. This story starts off with these guys leaving their motel and heading to the job site while talking music, women, and who would play what instrument in a band. After arriving at work they go about their business when suddenly a tragedy occurs. The first part of this comic takes place in 2008 whereas the second jumps forward to 2019. The pacing is steady with a lighthearted tone initially with a more somber and reminiscent feel later on. The intensity spikes at certain points but it is low most of the time. The dialogue is very modern and conversational with jokes and back-and-forths. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is a debut issue that focuses on its characters in a story that’ll have you wondering about what happens next.

            The art here is drawn in a rough, sketch style with blue being the only color besides black and white. There is a decent amount of scenery here with some rolling hills and trees. The location for this story changes regularly with scenes taking place in a truck, at the oil well, in an open field, and at a home. The backgrounds most often show the surroundings but when they don’t it is probably white. The expression level here is a tick below average as it isn’t always clear what these characters are feeling. The range goes from happy and jovial to somber and sad. The faces are low in overall detail but they usually display expressions that are easy to decipher. There isn’t any violence and the action scenes are short and to the point.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like dramatic stories starring a group of friends in a rural location then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“So Chris, what’s on the disc today?”

 

Digital Link(Free): https://www.foreignpresscomics.com/outlawcountry

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 2, for 10% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 1

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 1

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”