The article title says “of the Week”, but don’t expect to see this again anytime soon. This is more of a one-time last second push for a comic book I really enjoy, considering this week’s Pick of the Week is “Fear Agent” vol. 6 (an excellent buy, if I do say so myself) and I used up my CSBC pick talking about — well, you get it. Hopefully Walt, the CSBC runner, will forgive me this once.
I’ve written about Pete Hogan and Steve Parkhouse’s “Resident Alien” multiple times on the site already (see: here, here, here, here, here), so I’d like to imagine I’ve made myself very known about my enjoyment of the book. It’s charming, it’s intriguing and it is a damn well put-together comic book. The book stars an alien named Henry who crash-landed on Earth and has been hiding out in a small rural town with the stolen identity of a doctor. However, when the town doctor is murdered, he is accidentally called in to serve until a suitable replacement can be found, and he uses this both as an opportunity to study human life as well as a chance to solve the mystery of who killed the doctor.
I’ve read “Resident Alien” a couple times now, when it was first in “DHP,” when I wrote about “DHP” and re-read all of the stories I wanted to talk about and when Dark Horse sent out advances for this week’s books. Every time I see the book, it always stands out to me; while I’m both a sucker for mystery and science-fiction stories, this book blends the two incredibly well in a wonderfully subtle fashion. The book wears its Hitchcock-ian influences on its sleeves and doesn’t bash you over the head with it’s sci-fi either. Rather, it mixes the two gradually, as if in a boiling pot or a slow cooker. In terms of new content coming out from Dark Horse this year, this is one of the best (and with things like “Alabastor” last week and “Mind MGMT” soon, Dark Horse is looking to have a bright 2012).
I have no stake in this game; I have not in any way participated in the creation of the comic, nor do I know the creators or anything like that. My only real holding in this situation is that I want to read more of this comic. That’s it. It’s completely selfish, but I want to see where this damn thing goes, and I want it to go for a while. I want Hogan and Parkhouse’s creation here to succeed. The book is currently solicited as a three-issue mini, but it is the first in a series of planned minis a la the “Hellboy” methodology. While that might at first say to you “wait for trade,” I would instead counter that thought with: No. Don’t. Come on.
To that end, I only ask that this week if you never bought “Dark Horse Presents” (or, really, even if you did!), pick up “Resident Alien” #0. It’s a great start to what I hope will be a great series from Dark Horse, and I couldn’t be more excited to read issue #1 next month (May 23rd, specifically). While “big” books like “Justice League” and “Avengers vs X-Men” are coming out this week, I would hope that somewhere in your wallet you have an extra $3.50 for a comic that will earn your respect and foster a relationship with you.
If that recommendation is not enough, check out a six-page preview of the comic after the cut to help whet your appetite, and then come back here and tell me if I’m right on Wednesday.
