Last year, “Resident Alien” came out of nowhere to be one of our favorite miniseries of the year. It was a small town mystery story that just happened to have an alien at the center of it. With “The Suicide Blonde”, Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse look to bring back the charm of the original series, but perhaps make things a little tougher for our extraterrestrial protagonist.
Written by Peter Hogan
Illustrated by Steve ParkhouseStranded on Earth, the alien living undercover as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle continues his practice in the small town of Patience, USA! Assisted by Native American nurse Asta—the only person who suspects that he’s from another planet—Harry finds himself enmeshed in another murder mystery. Also: the feds are on to Harry!
If you’ve ever been the least bit upset over the fact that no one can tell that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person, then you might have some trouble with “Resident Alien” – a comic where the titular alien spends the majority of time completely out in the open, with no one giving his strange appearance any sort of mention. For the rest you, there won’t be any hang-ups to keep you from enjoying a series that I have been describing as “the most pleasant murder mystery you’ll ever read.” Why let a little something like that technicality bother you? After all, a lot of the charm of “Resident Alien” rests on the fact that either nobody can tell or nobody gives a crap.
Hogan and Parkhouse bring a straightforward sensibility and a veteran storytelling sense to the comic that befits its small town scope. You know how episodes of the Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside would so often be set in creepy little midwestern or Southern towns? There’s something about the “Anytown, USA” that somehow adds to eccentricities even while purporting to be as plain and boring as can be. Whether it’s the fact that everyone in the town knows the “good doctor Harry Vanderspeigle” and that the local authorities pull him away from his meatloaf dinner at the town diner to come take a look at a crime scene, there’s a quaintness to the proceedings and we get the distinct impression that that’s just the way “Harry” likes things. He gets to play detective (another pleasant aspect is his quiet enthusiasm for crime stories) and use his intellect, but he also gets to fly under the radar in such an unassuming town. Well, at least for a little while.
Parkhouse plasters Harry’s face over the projection screen at FBI headquarters – this could be their first evidence of alien life. Parkhouse’s design for Harry has always been one of the properties strengths – he’s alien, no doubt about it. But he’s also so humanoid, with the ability to project kindness and emotion through facial ticks and body language. He has always come off as a very pleasant, if not a bit (understandably) distant as a character. There’s such a normality to his look (even a handsomeness, I guess) that it’s to see why he would be so endeared to the town. For much of the first series, Harry hid his visage under a hat. Here, he takes no such precautions: and truth be told, he visibly seems more comfortable with the world around him.
The sense of quaintness in the small town owes most of its success to Parkhouse’s work on the environments and the details among them. That said, the most interesting moments of the book take place in the teased supernatural or mystical aspects of the Native American characters. The issue begins in a dreamscape that presents fascinating character design-work and a symbolic blend of colors. The scenes visually represent Harry’s ties to his new world, while Hogan drops teases as to what might lie ahead for our protagonist.
I had to ask myself: if you were an alien would it be easier assimilating into a small town? Or would it actually be easier to blend in and disappear in a city of tens or hundreds-of-thousands? I don’t know what the answer is and I guess it ultimately doesn’t matter, but I found myself asking questions like that while reading the issue – its patient pace allowing me to stop and wonder as I rediscovered the world and art of “Resident Alien.” The story doesn’t grip you with any details on the mystery yet. It would have been nice to give some context for what ultimately lies ahead in this miniseries, but taking its time to reintroduce you (or introduce new readers) isn’t a bad move either. As such, issue #0 was a pleasant, slow dip back into the hot tub. But it isn’t until the end that Harry perks up at the prospect of a new case: “…the game’s afoot,” he thinks. And so do we perk up, as well.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
