The prodigal son returns with the release of Section Zero, a comic book series that captures the sensibilities of the Silver Age of comic books along with the minimalism of the ’90s Extreme Age. Quintessentially, to quote from the creator, it’s “Jack Kirby doing The X-Files.” The series itself is about a secret generational United Nations charter that financially backs adventurers and explorers to navigate the unknown. Initially, it began its publication run in 2000 for Image Comics’ Gorilla Imprint but paused due to financial setbacks faced by Karl Kesel after only three issues. In 2017, both Kesel and Grummett created a Kickstarter project that managed to get successfully funded and fully realizing the incomplete story.

In essence, the narrative is in every way a return to “simpler times.”  Despite its original inception, the fidelity of this piece is solely timeless. In every part, this comic acts to exemplify a team book with each character serving a specific archetypal role of the story. These characters act more as people in an adventure book, purposeful in their sole goal to move into the adventure. Each issue provides a lens into a new character and tacks on more world-building for the Section Zero team.

From the 1940s (the group’s inception) to the 2000s (where our story begins), each dynamic of the group has exemplified a variation of the comic book medium. It’s an organization formed to protect people from the things that don’t exist. In its time span, the group has had a change in members who have left, aged out, been replaced, or died. In every way, this comic explores the simplicity of what it takes to grow. But no matter how much change and difference there is in something, we can always return to zero.

Creative Team: Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (artist), Richard Starkings (letterer), Jimmy Betancourt (letterer), Ben Dimagmaliw (colorist), Grace Allison (colorist), Jeremy Colwell (colorist)
Publisher: Image Comics
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