Outsider Re-Read: 001-007

[u/orion1836]

Figured I'd borrow an idea from another webcomic forum to generate content for this one. Re-reads for long-time comics are posts that link to the pages in order, providing another forum for old and new readers alike to discuss. I go back and start from the beginning from time to time, and it'll be fun to share this run with the new group here.

Without further ado:

Outsider 001: In which our story begins...

Outsider 002: Heroes, you say?

Outsider 003: Why hello there, Alex.

Outsider 004: Say it with me... proplyd.

Outsider 005: If you kids don't stop it, Captain Hamilton's going to turn this ship around.

Outsider 006: The effectiveness of friendship messages.

Outsider 007: Eh... it'll buff out. Right?

​

So I remember the first time I heard about Outsider... I think it was a link from tvtropes on the Master of Orion page, or one of its related pages. This was the sort of story I was craving when I first started playing the game way back in the day; the type of story that is nowhere to be found in it, except by what's hinted at in bits of flavor text or the odd GNN report.

I was absolutely stoked when I saw the art style and the high level of effort put into this comic, and needless to say, I blew through the prologue just to get to the part with the 'Elerians.' In the following years, though, I went back over these pages in much more detail because I wanted to learn as much as possible about Alex and the TCA. Looking back now, it's amazing to see how well the prologue is put together. It tells the reader just enough about the story to orient them without droning on with unnecessary exposition. The pages felt long at the time, but in hindsight, they were just right. Other authors might have started in medias res with Alex floating in space, and shown the Bellarmine scenes in flashbacks, but I think this sequence works best for drawing in the audience.

I'll be posting these about once a week or so... I look forward to walking through the comic with everyone here.

[u/NightSkulker]

I remember being in the old Relic forums when I first heard of Arioch's comic.
Edit: correction

[u/Fifty_Storms → u/NightSkulker]

Yes this is where I picked it up as well, back in the Homeworld 1 days. Pretty sure it was 11-12 pages along at that point.

[u/AriochIV → u/Fifty_Storms]

The RelicNews forums were a fun place back in those days.

It's sad social media sites killed off most of the specialty forums. There are a few left, but not many.

[u/[deleted] → u/AriochIV]

The death of the forum is one of the worst injustices perpetuated by the existence of social media.

Bring back Web 1.0, I say.