It’s a new mini-series from Dark Horse, this Resident Alien: The Book Of Love. The first issue of the series brings us back to that stranded, ‘resident’ alien who has taken a human form in Doctor Harry Vanderspiegle.
By now, with the TV show having aired for two seasons, we are quite familiar with the Resident Alien setup: the alien, stranded on earth, trying to get home. It’s a wonderful TV show, and it’s based upon the comic book. But unlike ET, this alien can walk and talk, and fish for trout. Okay then.
The comic book is much slower in pace than the TV show. It has a much more gentle feel, decidedly more ‘humane’ than the show. Writer Peter Hogan gives us the banal conversations, the full scene dialogue, fleshed out and natural. And I am of two minds about this approach. Yes, it allows us to breathe, allows the atmosphere and characters to interact, and inform the reader. But it feels a little slow. Am I too caffeinated? Have I become accustomed to the frequent jolts and twists of the TV show? Perhaps and maybe!
Steve Parkhouse’s art (line art and colouring and lettering!) is solid. Parkhouse designs his pages for optimum story flow: the panels lead the eye along, the dark areas add mystery and density to the page. It’s all good. His lines are light to medium weight, giving substance without making things look ‘heavy’. The calm colouring is mostly flat toned, in a cheerful (ie: not all grey or dayglo either) way, which performs a nice counterpoint to the overall obvious thing: this is a story of a stranded alien.
It’s all good, a slowly percolating, semi-caffeinated read. Sip slowly and enjoy.
Dark Horse, Resident Alien: The Book Of Love #1. $3.99 for 24 pages of content.
Newsdesk