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Break Out
A crew of high school teenagers plan a near impossible heist-style prison break to rescue their friends and siblings captured by the sci-fi Cube Spaceships from another dimension, before it's too late.
Mysterious and massive Cube spaceships from another dimension materialize over our cities around the globe. They routinely abduct teenagers to be held inside their floating prison ships. And the world accepts it as inevitable. But not Liam Watts. His younger brother has been taken. And Liam is tired of "thoughts and prayers". Now, in a “take back our future” anthem, Liam must assemble a skilled team of ordinary high school students and in just a few weeks, they must plan a heist to infiltrate the hi-tech spaceship a mile in the sky. But what they’ll find there will throw their plans into turmoil and challenge their resolve. How do you break out of a prison that’s not even from this world?
Written by rising comics star, Zack Kaplan (Port of Earth, Join The Future), with kinetic art—buzzing with life—drawn by Wilton Santos (Excalibur, Dawn of X) and colored by Jason Wordie (God Country, Wasted Space), this volume collects Break Out comic issues #1–#4.
Mysterious and massive Cube spaceships from another dimension materialize over our cities around the globe. They routinely abduct teenagers to be held inside their floating prison ships. And the world accepts it as inevitable. But not Liam Watts. His younger brother has been taken. And Liam is tired of "thoughts and prayers". Now, in a “take back our future” anthem, Liam must assemble a skilled team of ordinary high school students and in just a few weeks, they must plan a heist to infiltrate the hi-tech spaceship a mile in the sky. But what they’ll find there will throw their plans into turmoil and challenge their resolve. How do you break out of a prison that’s not even from this world?
Written by rising comics star, Zack Kaplan (Port of Earth, Join The Future), with kinetic art—buzzing with life—drawn by Wilton Santos (Excalibur, Dawn of X) and colored by Jason Wordie (God Country, Wasted Space), this volume collects Break Out comic issues #1–#4.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2023
5 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 7, 2023
Mysterious, giant cubes in the sky are abducting young people, ages 11-20. They take 36 of them every few weeks. This has been going on for a while and the adults/leaders have become complacent - offering "thoughts and prayers" and that's about it. Saving the abducted and putting a stop to the abductions is gonna be up to the kids. When Liam's brother is taken, he decides that he's the man for the job. This Science Fiction / Heist story is a fun, action-packed read. The stakes are high and the heist team Liam puts together is kick-ass (and super diverse, which I LOVE). The art is vibrant and engaging. The changing reading order of the panels was so interesting and a little bit challenging (appropriately so). Middle & High School readers are going to eat it up.
February 10, 2023
Review being submitted for publication by School Library Journal. See them for full unveil.
October 9, 2024
i dont even want to say spoiler warning bc honestly let me spoil it for u so u dont waste ur time here. im sorry but SOOOO FUCKING STUPID. IM SORRY!!!! poor characterization, do the writers have a grudge against the mom bc WHY is she written like that, unbearable annoying main character, the brother dies so like what’s the fucking point, some of the formatting was so strange where panels like wrapped around the edge of the page and was so confusing, the cheesy-ass ending and ugly ass alien human guys….. why did the rich guy even go to space. them literally being recruited by the government at the end….. “we’reeee gonna need a few things☝️🤓"……!!!!! ur kidding. whatever. at least it was so dumb that it made me laugh but like. DAMN!
September 1, 2023
I ended up liking the idea of this more than the final product a little bit.
January 29, 2024
3.5, only because it felt a tad rushed
December 1, 2024
“Break Out” is a graphic novel focusing on Liam Watts as he and a group of his classmates attempt to rescue his younger brother Tommy and other teens from space detention center.
The graphic novel begins by showing typical high school students at a typical school, however it soon becomes atypical when it’s reveled that the students are performing a drill in which they run being abducted by robots housed in a floating space detention center. Though the owners of the floating detention centers are a mystery since they arrived unannounced, there are a total of two hundred and sixteen cubes floating in Earth’s atmosphere, and once a week, robots leave the floating cubes to abduct thirty-six young people ages eleven to twenty.
As the graphic novel progresses, the reader is introduced to main character Liam Watts and it is revealed that his younger brother Tommy was recently abducted by robots and taken to the floating cube. Additional background is provided on Liam and Tommy including that they live with their mom, their father was an engineer who died of unknown causes, and both the boys loved to build robots, look at the stars, and watch heist movies together.
After Liam’s father died four years ago and with Tommy being taken, Liam further withdraws from life and refuses to discuss his feelings to anyone. Despite Liam getting accepted into a prestigious college for engineering, he refuses to use money saved up for college which he says is for Tommy and instead tells his mom of his plans to work for a solar company like his father much to his mother’s disappointment.
Liam refuses to give up hope that Tommy can be retrieved from the floating detention center and decides to seek help from his classmates with various skills including friend and former robotics club teammate Omar who has technological expertise, Nate Bergen who is a master at metal working, Rosa Rodriguez who is a high jumping cheerleader, whose sister Carla was also abducted, Alana Lin, a chemistry whiz who is Liam’s ex-girlfriend, and Pierce Miller who is Alana’s boyfriend, Hayes the space cubes and is rich.
After Liam assembles group of five teens, he shares his plan to break Tommy out of the floating detention center and although they are initially reluctant, they eventually decide to work with his considering that Rosa’s sister Crystal has also been abducted and taken to the floating detention center.
After weeks of perfecting their plan to board the floating detention center and free all the teens (including Tommy and Crystal,) Liam is surprised when the group receives a visit from a Homeland Security agent. Although Liam is completely against working with Homeland Security, his teammates feel that working with the government could provide them with information and other resources they couldn’t otherwise have access to.
Liam feels betrayed by his teammates and begins to concoct his own plan to complete the mission alone. As Liam prepares to execute his plan, Omar tries to get Liam to face how much he has given up since the death of his dad. As Liam and Omar argue, Omar is abducted by a detention center drone.
After Omar is abducted, Alana convinces Liam to share his true motives for getting on the floating detention center and the team agrees to help him. Although they are able to access the floating detention center, they are horrified when they learn the motives of the cube owners leading them to make desperate decisions in order to stay alive.
As I finished the graphic novels, I enjoyed the twist on a heist story as well as seeing how Liam transforms the loss of his dad and Tommy into action. Likewise, I felt that this graphic novel is timely considering that is shows the power of pushback from teens rather than quiet acceptance of various traumas they are currently living through such as school shootings, pandemics, and climate change. This graphic novel shows that it is wrong to underestimate the resourcefulness of younger generations and that they may have the ability to make global change if given an opportunity as well as access to resources.
The graphic novel begins by showing typical high school students at a typical school, however it soon becomes atypical when it’s reveled that the students are performing a drill in which they run being abducted by robots housed in a floating space detention center. Though the owners of the floating detention centers are a mystery since they arrived unannounced, there are a total of two hundred and sixteen cubes floating in Earth’s atmosphere, and once a week, robots leave the floating cubes to abduct thirty-six young people ages eleven to twenty.
As the graphic novel progresses, the reader is introduced to main character Liam Watts and it is revealed that his younger brother Tommy was recently abducted by robots and taken to the floating cube. Additional background is provided on Liam and Tommy including that they live with their mom, their father was an engineer who died of unknown causes, and both the boys loved to build robots, look at the stars, and watch heist movies together.
After Liam’s father died four years ago and with Tommy being taken, Liam further withdraws from life and refuses to discuss his feelings to anyone. Despite Liam getting accepted into a prestigious college for engineering, he refuses to use money saved up for college which he says is for Tommy and instead tells his mom of his plans to work for a solar company like his father much to his mother’s disappointment.
Liam refuses to give up hope that Tommy can be retrieved from the floating detention center and decides to seek help from his classmates with various skills including friend and former robotics club teammate Omar who has technological expertise, Nate Bergen who is a master at metal working, Rosa Rodriguez who is a high jumping cheerleader, whose sister Carla was also abducted, Alana Lin, a chemistry whiz who is Liam’s ex-girlfriend, and Pierce Miller who is Alana’s boyfriend, Hayes the space cubes and is rich.
After Liam assembles group of five teens, he shares his plan to break Tommy out of the floating detention center and although they are initially reluctant, they eventually decide to work with his considering that Rosa’s sister Crystal has also been abducted and taken to the floating detention center.
After weeks of perfecting their plan to board the floating detention center and free all the teens (including Tommy and Crystal,) Liam is surprised when the group receives a visit from a Homeland Security agent. Although Liam is completely against working with Homeland Security, his teammates feel that working with the government could provide them with information and other resources they couldn’t otherwise have access to.
Liam feels betrayed by his teammates and begins to concoct his own plan to complete the mission alone. As Liam prepares to execute his plan, Omar tries to get Liam to face how much he has given up since the death of his dad. As Liam and Omar argue, Omar is abducted by a detention center drone.
After Omar is abducted, Alana convinces Liam to share his true motives for getting on the floating detention center and the team agrees to help him. Although they are able to access the floating detention center, they are horrified when they learn the motives of the cube owners leading them to make desperate decisions in order to stay alive.
As I finished the graphic novels, I enjoyed the twist on a heist story as well as seeing how Liam transforms the loss of his dad and Tommy into action. Likewise, I felt that this graphic novel is timely considering that is shows the power of pushback from teens rather than quiet acceptance of various traumas they are currently living through such as school shootings, pandemics, and climate change. This graphic novel shows that it is wrong to underestimate the resourcefulness of younger generations and that they may have the ability to make global change if given an opportunity as well as access to resources.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2026
Giant cubes in the sky appeared around the globe, and began abducting youth age 11-20. No successful efforts at contact or rescue. Adults have shifted to a new normal instituting abduction raids for youth to take cover. Then Liam's brother, Tommy, is taken and he decides to plan a prison heist. All he needs is a crew.
The sci-fi heist story was well done. Interesting concept for a plot where adults (aka older generations) keep accepting problems rather than finding solutions leaving youth to take action or continue suffering the consequences. The opening pages make the connection to lockdown drills and school shootings, with later reiterations that adults have given up and it is up to the youth to make change.
The diversity of the heist crew and why they were chosen worked with the plan, mostly. At times, it felt like there should be more substance to fill in some of the story. The use of panels was fascinating, especially the escape plan in action with a boardgame-like format panel spread (don't know how else to describe it but see for yourself). Having read the print version it was not always easy to follow the direction of panels because of the spine binding, and may be easier digitally. Never thought I'd say this, but I missed white gutters. There was so much going on in some pages that dark gutters made it too much.
The sci-fi heist story was well done. Interesting concept for a plot where adults (aka older generations) keep accepting problems rather than finding solutions leaving youth to take action or continue suffering the consequences. The opening pages make the connection to lockdown drills and school shootings, with later reiterations that adults have given up and it is up to the youth to make change.
The diversity of the heist crew and why they were chosen worked with the plan, mostly. At times, it felt like there should be more substance to fill in some of the story. The use of panels was fascinating, especially the escape plan in action with a boardgame-like format panel spread (don't know how else to describe it but see for yourself). Having read the print version it was not always easy to follow the direction of panels because of the spine binding, and may be easier digitally. Never thought I'd say this, but I missed white gutters. There was so much going on in some pages that dark gutters made it too much.
February 21, 2023
I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Liam Watts is planning a heist/prison break into the mysterious cubes that have been abducting kids, including his brother. His goal is to let himself and his team be taken so that they can then rescue his brother. To do this he recruits five classmates. If they succeed, they will have done something that not even the adults around them have been able to do.
This felt like a sci-fi heist story that drew heavily on films like Ocean's 11 for inspiration for the planning portion. The science fiction elements blended in nicely with it. This is a great read for fans of action-based science fiction.
Liam Watts is planning a heist/prison break into the mysterious cubes that have been abducting kids, including his brother. His goal is to let himself and his team be taken so that they can then rescue his brother. To do this he recruits five classmates. If they succeed, they will have done something that not even the adults around them have been able to do.
This felt like a sci-fi heist story that drew heavily on films like Ocean's 11 for inspiration for the planning portion. The science fiction elements blended in nicely with it. This is a great read for fans of action-based science fiction.
December 16, 2024
My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.
July 24, 2023
A heist story about an Earth where flying cubes have arrived that abduct kids between the ages of 10 and 20. They can't be reasoned with. They don't even respond at all. They just show up and abduct children. After awhile adults just learn to live with it as it doesn't really affect them. When the main character's little brother gets abducted, he decides to do something about it and puts together a team of kids from his high school to get him back. This was cool. Another issue or 2 would have fleshed it out into a 5 star book. Some things are a little rushed at 4 issues dropping it to a 4. Plus the coloring was wonky at times.
July 21, 2023
Bumped to 4 stars from 3 after reading the afterword. I love some social commentary. And this wasn't too aggressive or on the nose, in my opinion.
August 8, 2023
Love me a good heist. The beginning was ok, but the rest of the book was great.
January 12, 2025
fun harmless little heist comic. all story beats predictable and pacing crazy fast but some cool gutter and panel stuff so
June 17, 2025
Aliens vs. tech-savvy teenagers! When I put it like that, it doesn't sound that good, but I liked it.
Final rating = 3.5 stars
Final rating = 3.5 stars
September 28, 2025
So we just gonna ignore what happened to the kids in the other cubes or....?
February 29, 2024
A quick and generally enjoyable read, with a cool premise, that lacks a bit in execution. The story is light and focuses mostly on the break out. There is little in the sense of world building, except for the bare necessities, which keeps the story from becoming more than just an entertaining actioner, and keeps the underlying message from shining through.
October 20, 2023
This was a fun, quick graphic novel with an interesting premise. If you like science fiction, this is going to be right up your alley. Fast paced, intriguing artwork, and a lot of action propel this story to the end. Recommended for students that are fans of the graphic novel Spill Zone. Or if you like this one, you'll love Spill Zone.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews