Outlast: The Murkoff Account
is a six-issue webcomic set in the background of Outlast and Outlast II, following the recollections of the Pauls, a couple of Murkoff Corporation insurance officers.
The first two issues provide an origin for Chris Walker and Dr. Trager from Outlast, where the Pauls confront and apprehend them for messing with Murkoff. The third issue explains the whereabouts of our former protagonists, Miles Upshur and Waylon Park, as the Pauls attempt to trail them but to no avail, as Miles is a transient superhuman and Waylon and his family long took off to hide from Murkoff's wrath. They also get in a scuffle with the remains of Billy Hope, with traces of the Walrider still keeping him a vengeful Physical God. The forth issue reveals that, in their investigation, they caught the attention of Simon Peacock, a former Murkoff agent and the one who helped Waylon in the leak from Whistleblower. The fifth issue sets up Outlast II, and the final issue, an epilogue, clears up its ending.
The webcomic provides examples of:
- Action Duo: Our heroes, Paul Marion and Pauline Glick, nicknamed "The Pauls". Though they split up after Marion's Heel–Face Turn.
- Adaptational Villainy: In Outlast, we learn that Billy's mother had a lawsuit against Murkoff and the asylum, presumably because they've left her unable to see or retrieve her son, and Murkoff kills her with a guided heart attack in order to keep using Billy as a test subject (though the timelines of the documents contradict themselves). The comics retcon this and state that Billy was never mentally ill, his mother turned him over for a large sum of money, and she is alive after Murkoff bought her silence.
- Almighty Janitor: The Pauls are Murkoff insurance officers but they see just as much action as the Tactical Division.
- Ambiguously Bi: Glick definitely likes girls, but shoots down Blaire's flirts, not because he's a man but because she doesn't date coworkers.
- Anti-Hero: Marion is a bit more empathetic than his Villain Protagonist partner Glick.
- Dark Action Girl: Glick might just be an insurance officer, but she's packing heat and knows how to use it. She's also gone up against and beaten Walker, Trager, and the Walrider.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Marion goes from Villain Protagonist to unwilling Anti-Hero when Simon Peacock holds his daughter ransom.
- Hate Sink: If you needed any more reason to hate Dr. Trager, the second issue reveals he roofies and rapes his female underlings.
- Heel–Face Turn: Marion is forced into one when Simon kidnaps his daughter.
- I Have Your Wife: Simon Has Your Daughter, Marion. This is also how Murkoff makes Paul work for them - withholding Alice's treatment for her terminal illness.
- The Men in Black: The Pauls, as the amoral, dressed-in-all-black insurance thugs of Murkoff. Murkoff isn't quite the government, but it's so well-funded and untouchable that it might as well be.
- Origins Episode: The series provides ones for Chris Walker and Dr. Trager, explaining how they went from normal men to the hellish monsters you see in Outlast.
- Pink Is Erotic: In the second comic, Pauline Glick and Paul Marion are investigating a HR Complaint and meet Richard "Rick" Trager. They immediately suspect him and he repeatedly hits on Pauline and later tries to rape her by spiking her drink. The complaint to HR was that Rick raped his assistant, Michelle, got her pregnant and threatened to fire her if she didn't get an abortion. In the comic, Rick wears a pink dress shirt with his collar popped and his sleeves rolled up just below his elbow.
- Psycho Lesbian: Glick, a lesbian who's so Trigger-Happy she's a damn near Ax-Crazy Blood Knight.
- Seen It All: The Pauls are long, long jaded to the bizarre abominations they have to deal with whilst working under Murkoff.
- Serial Killer: Chris killed 4 people before being apprehended by the Pauls.
- The Swarm: After the Pauls kill Billy Hope, the Walrider, which is already a swarm of nanomachines, possesses a black ant colony, doubling this trope.
- Trigger-Happy: Glick, so much that she almost qualifies as Ax-Crazy or Blood Knight.
- Villain Protagonist: Glick, to contrast with Marion's Anti-Hero.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wanting to take down Murkoff is very noble, but Simon cutting off a fifteen year-old girl's finger to do so isn't.
