Pariah #2 picks up 43 days after the first issue where one of the vitros was able to use explosives to get the space station back on track in orbit but all of the problems haven’t been fixed. So the vitros have been searching for parts in space by taking parts from old satellites and anything else they can find to make all the necessary improvements to the station. Despite finding a lot of good materials the list of items they need to keep the station running just gets longer, and Sam, the lead scientist, always makes that clear. And since it’s been 45 days total they’ve been on the space station some of them have all but forgotten about living on Earth while a few others are still holding on to it. Brandon is one who can’t ignore Earth and so he’s somewhat in between as he’s become more and more attracted to Sam even though Lila, the self-proclaimed leader of the vitros, is his girlfriend. And part of the reason is Lila has been obsessed with Earth and has been working on a plan to “deal with Earth”  and won’t share the details of it with Brandon and as a result the two have grown apart. But when news reaches the space station about the Asian economies being in turmoil because of an orchestrated attack with fears of it spreading the natural question is if this is all part of Lila and Hyde’s secret plan to deal with Earth. But when Lila confirms that it wasn’t her and wants Brandon to discover who’s behind it before it causes even more problems for the vitros on the space station, he has his work cut out for him because he doesn’t know where to start. So can he enlist help to put a stop to these attacks in time?

I wasn’t really feeling the first issue because there was too much going on with very little explanation about how the situation was originally created or the issue with vitros, and so I didn’t feel invested in the story or the characters. However I did feel, and still do, that there was a lot of potential in the premise and so I wanted to see how things unfolded with the hope that these things would eventually be explained. This issue starts off in a similar fashion as the first one in the sense that we’re thrown into the middle of a story but it’s slightly easier to follow because of the fact that the first issue established the need for the space station to be upgraded. It doesn’t help that we’re then introduced to a love triangle especially on top of the fact that characters haven’t been established nor has the nature of vitros been fully explained. Unfortunately it says a lot that Sam comes off as one of the more developed characters in just 2 pages. The introduction of an orchestrated attack on the Earth’s economies was intriguing as well as the fact that Lila would be working on a plan to achieve some kind of victory over Earth because it touched on the original premise, and of course with the sheer number of vitros on the station it would make sense that at least a few of them would harbor ill will towards Earth. Brandon’s search for the culprit(s) once it’s confirmed that the attack originated from the space station serves as a mechanism to introduce other vitros and show their activities on the station but the problem is it’s still hard to grasp the nature of the vitros. And I don’t mean the different personalities but what would create the situation where they would be rounded up and sent to live on a space station in the first place. To me they come off as teenagers going through a phase with a few being highly intelligent. The attack on Earth’s economies becomes more interesting with the threat of the Earth retaliating against the space station but the story fizzles as it turns into just a personal vendetta and goes on too long. And it doesn’t have a greater context because there’s still no backstory relating to the vitros origins. A few characters standing out does help this issue and the development at the end creates some suspense for next issue. But without the greater context the story isn’t engrossing to me and I hope that changes next issue.

SUMMARY

Pariah #3 suffers from the same problems as the first issue with the lack of explanation of how this situation originated and the nature of the vitros. A few characters do stand out this time around as they work to solve the immediate dilemma of someone attacking the world economies and putting everyone on the station in danger due to retaliation. It’s still not enough to make this series engrossing so I’m hoping the final development this issue opens the door to the explanations that are sorely needed by the next issue.

 
Release Date: 3/26/14

Writer: Aron Warner, Philip Gelatt

Artist: Brett Weldele