After many attempts to breach the cubes and rescue the kids, the world seemed to accept the loss and moved on. Liam Watt won't accept the loss of his younger brother and is determined to get him back especially since cellphone footage appears to show their imprisonment, not death. Liam thinks he's found a way to get his brother back so he assembles a team of classmates to help with this risky impossible mission. Kaplan has tapped into something reminiscent of movies from the late 20th century when plucky and smart teenagers band together to fight for a cause. Think 'Red Dawn' meets 'Hackers' but with a 'Saving Private Ryan' type of mission. It's a rather invigorating premise having grown up on those movies and I love when teen stereotypes are subverted as they are here. They may be a mix of traditionally one-note depictions of jocks, nerds, and cheerleaders but they're not depicted as superficially hollow characters. Kaplan wants to give readers a team of kids worth rooting for and so far he's got the right tone.
Bringing this alt-reality to life where politics, pandemics, shootings, and climate change are painfully familiar with the added phenomenon of alien ships, is Wilton Santos' wonderful grounded designs. 'Break Out' looks like our world with kids trying to live their lives amid a tragedy similar to the days that followed 9/11. Walls full of photos and messages regarding the missing kids, the political discourse among students, and the panic of uncertainty if a school drill is just a drill are depicted with great accuracy adding credence to this world. While the more fantastical elements of the alien cubes may seem outlandish in truth, would anyone blink if this happened in real life? We've already been through so much an alien invasion would be almost welcomed and unsurprising at this point.
Some of the more outstanding pages in 'Break Out' are from the timeline of events Santos composes with a collage of what happened since the cubes appeared. It's a great summary that provides context and a back story for readers without dealing with too much exposition. The colors throughout by Jason Wordie are varied and rich. Some scenes have a color palette all their own creating a distinct mood and emotional connection. The nighttime scenes are exceptionally bold and add so much depth to the story.
'Break Out' is poised to be an exciting throwback to the time of 'War Games,' 'Hackers,' and 'Red Dawn,' when teens were tasked to save the world in a thrilling adventure. Kaplan treats his characters with intelligence while Santos and Wordie bring it all to vivid life. This is off to a great start, a modern-day sci-fi story and an impossible rescue mission that promises to be a thrill.
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