After building anticipation for weeks after the release of their debut release The Devil’s Cut, this week marks the debut issue for DSTLRY’s first limited series. It’s definitely a momentous occasion and marks a turning point in the shift towards creator-owned projects, but while The Devil’s Cut showed the publisher could put out a high quality one-shot there were still questions on if that could translate into engaging and entertaining stories which continuously delivered the same level of intensity issue-after-issue. It may only be one issue, but Jock’s Gone #1 will definitely quiet some critics by giving readers an encouraging sign of what they can expect from DSTLRY series.

Gone was initially teased back in August in “Stowaway,” Jock’s addition to The Devil’s Cut and now we get to see more of 13-year old Abi’s life as a member of the have-nots in a not-too distant future society. While she narrowly escaped becoming an unwelcome passenger aboard a mysterious galactic cruise-ship for the ultra-wealthy while trying to steal food to feed her family in “Stowaway,” she’s not so lucky this time. The limited series format allows Jock to introduce readers to a more complex world in Gone than what was shown in “Stowaway.” We start to see how deep the schism is between the people at the top and bottom of the food chain and learn that there is more than meets the eye to what’s happening aboard the luxury star-liners sucking up all the resources.

It’s an impressive debut issue from Jock, who wrote, illustrated, and provided shared color duties with Lee Loughridge. No one would question Jock’s artistry when it comes to craft visual tales. Gone #1 is very much in the creator’s wheelhouse of dark, brooding, and gritty panels that radiate a sense of dreariness and despair. There are some truly wonderful pages where Jock’s skills are on full display, including any page when Jock zooms out and we see the depths of space and the scale of the ship from outside. There’s also a page where we see Abi traversing through the vents of the ship where Jock presents the scene in a fun and inventive way.

However, after making his mainstream writing debut in the DC Black Label limited series Batman: One Dark Knight, Jock is still a novice with written story-telling and his unrefined skills were noticeable here. The issue is sparse on exposition, leaning heavily on Abi’s narration to fill in the gaps between “Stowaway” and Gone and it’s not always enough. There are some major gaps missing in how we got to where we are in the story and who some of the players are beyond Abi. This all may come in future issues, but would have been helpful to have upfront to establish a stronger foundation for the plot moving forward. While things are teased and alluded to, the lack of concrete details creates some clunky story moments and makes for an uneven structure which holds the issue back from reaching it’s full potential

There are a million directions I could envision this story going down and even with some of the structural issues, the promise of Gone is almost limitless. It has the feel of a story waiting to be told that would make Stanley Kubrick proud. We just need Jock to tell us a story as detailed and captivating as he’s showing us.

Rating: 7.5/10