Resident Alien began as a series
in the anthology title Dark Horse Presents.
The three segments in Dark Horse Presents were reprinted as Resident
Alien #0, and the story continued in Resident Alien #1-3, completing the first
miniseries. I just loved the story and
art in this series! First, let me
discuss what the story is about. An
alien crash landed on Earth 3 years ago and has since been hiding out among
us. He has some mental powers that
allow him to mask his appearance to most humans, and he’s living life in a
small town as a semi-retired doctor named Harry Vanderspeigle. He ends up getting involved in a local
murder case, risking discovery to help people and also to satisfy his curiosity
about the case. This concept is sort of
familiar to other aliens-among-us stories, but the alien’s empathic powers and
detective work make for an excellent twist on the idea. In fact, I’d say this is the most original
sci-fi concept I’ve seen in years.
Writer Peter Hogan does a great job introducing the reader to a cast of
characters who populate the town of Patience.
The dialogue and interactions between the characters are very realistic,
and there are plenty of characters introduced that may be the murderer. Also, there comes the chance that one of the
residents has realized Harry is more than what he appears! This comic had me anxiously turning pages to
find out what would happen next!
The art by Steve Parkhouse fits
the story perfectly. Steve has a
realistic style with storytelling that is incredibly clear to the reader. The situations and environments look
great. The characters each have a
unique look without being cartoony. In
the comic, the reader always sees our alien protagonist in his alien form,
thought he other characters see him as human, this storytelling mechanism is
one of those things that is just perfect in comics and shows the strength of
the format.
I cannot recommend Resident Alien
enough. I hope everyone reading this
goes to a comic shop or http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/19-669/Resident-Alien-0
and buys or orders a copy! There will
be more Resident Alien in upcoming Dark Horse Presents issues too. I’m hoping there’s a trade paperback
collection soon so my local shop can keep a copy on their shelf for
recommendation!
The second alien comic I’d like to
discuss today is Homegrown Alien by Joe Davidson, found on its own website. I’ve done some reviews of individual stories of Homegrown Alien
before, but I just finished reading all the strips on the website and I’d like
to discuss them. The paper comics deal
with Max’s past travels with Old Max, while the webcomic has stories from a
time period after Old Max has died. Our
Homegrown Alien has taken a job selling corndogs at an amusement park called
Wonder World, where he and his co-worker Tom have to solve the mystery of the
Phantom who is killing other employees.
Max’s interactions with human are very well handled. He’s very unemotional and practical in the
face of danger but helpful to those who are in need, also. The art is well done, with clear
storytelling, and is cute and cartoony.
Joe does a very nice effect going to black and white when the action
goes underground also. You can read the
Homegrown Alien webcomic for free, so go take a look! (Note: the story contains some adult language and violence.)
And you can also read my
webcomic, Mutant
Elf for free. Please check it out,
too!
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