I certainly called it last month, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less happy to see this happen — Resident Alien, Pete Hogan and Steve Parkhouse’s contribution to Dark Horse Presents, is getting its own series.
Starring an alien hiding in a small town under a stolen identity, “Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle” is called upon to take over as the town doctor of Patience, USA when the real doctor is murdered. Using his psychic abilities to mask his appearance, Harry uses this as an opportunity to study human life and have fun investigating a murder, taking up residence amongst the citizens for a very fun take on the classic fish out of water story.
Serialized through a few issues, Resident Alien has always been one of my favorite Dark Horse Presents shorts, but unfortunately due to not too many people I know reading DHP (which is silly), I’ve never been able to talk about it with anyone. This is, in so many words, the fix to that. All of the DHP shorts will be collected into a #0 issue in April, which covers the essentially everything I described above, with an ongoing to begin at #1 in May by Hogan and Parkhouse.
It is certainly a great new creator-owned title to follow from Dark Horse, and seeing it burst out of the pages of DHP is a great move on behalf of everyone involved. As of now, Harry’s story is wide open, both for his future and his past, but from what little I’ve been able to see in the shorts, the book has a lot of heart and will make a great addition to your pull.
For the full press release from Dark Horse as well as the cover to issue #0, check behind the cut.
Although, as a side note — as I’ve said before, this pretty much confirms that Dark Horse will be collecting the three shorts of The Massive from DHP into a #0 comic as well, for those of you who didn’t buy this week’s Dark Horse Presents #8 — but why wouldn’t you?
Dark Horse Press Release
Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse bring their epic Dark Horse Presents tale of an alien hero named Harry to a fully fledged series beginning with Resident Alien #0!
“I blame Steve Parkhouse. Having collaborated with him long ago on a couple of stories for The Dreaming, I was keen to do so again–and anyone who’s ever seen Steve’s work (on The Bojeffries Saga or The Milkman Murders, to name but two) already knows the reason why: he’s stunningly good,” stated Hogan. “We introduced our friendly alien to the world in the pages of Dark Horse Presents last year, and those installments have now been collected into Resident Alien #0. Over the next few months, you’ll learn a bit more about Harry and his supporting cast and watch as he attempts to catch a murderer–and that’s just for starters. This alien is here to stay.”
A stranded alien seeks refuge in the small town of Patience, USA, where he hides undercover as a semiretired doctor, masking his appearance using his unique mental abilities. Now known as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, all the alien wants is to be left alone until he’s rescued. However, when the town’s real doctor dies, “Dr. Harry” is pulled into medical service–and also finds himself smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery! He’d rather be fishing. Acclaimed creators Peter Hogan (2000 AD, Tom Strong) and Steve Parkhouse (Doctor Who) deliver a truly unique sci-fi adventure tale!
Resident Alien #0 is on sale April 18, 2012.
Resident Alien #1 is on sale May 23, 2012.
About Dark Horse Comics
Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Gerard Way, Will Eisner, and best-selling prose author Janet Evanovich, Dark Horse has developed such successful characters as the Mask, Timecop, and the Occultist. Additionally, its highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan the Barbarian, Mass Effect, Serenity, and Domo. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic-book publisher in the United States and is recognized as both an innovator in the cause of creator rights and the comics industry’s leading publisher of licensed material.
