Saucer Country Vol. 1 : Run (TPB)
Governor of New Mexico Arcadia Alvarado has a great life, good health, a great career and a promising chance as the country’s very first female President. But when an alleged alien abduction threatens her life and national security, screaming little green men could be the end of her presidential run. With the help of her ex-husband Michael, the governor’s chief of staff Harry Brooks & Chloe Saunders and the newly hired professor Joshua Kidd, an expert on the myths of U.F.O.s, Governor Alvarado will have to dig up old records & archives of Roswell, at the same time deal with people who would love nothing more than discredit her name with the information that they’ve acquired. Welcome to America a.k.a. Saucer Country.
But a political/presidential drama wouldn’t be complete without an opposition or an enemy digging up dirt on a candidate and this story has a doozy. What better way to drag a candidate’s name into the mud than to reveal to the media that such candidate claims to have been abducted by aliens? I’m not gonna spoil plot details, but how the Governor and her staff counteract is a stroke of genius.
Illustrator Ryan Kelly’s drawings offers a straight forward look to this series, not to say that it doesn’t look good. The moments of aliens & alien abductions are when the illustrations really shine. Dream like and nightmarish images of creepy little grey men & eerie blue rabbits gave me the heebie jeebies.
I’m also hopeful that the series will conclude nicely, but who could blame the creative team if it didn’t? If you’re a writer of a series and you have a general idea on how it will end and how long it will go (40 or 50 issues let’s say) and you have to cram them into 14 issues because your beloved series got the axe, then that’s one hell of a task.
The Team
Written by Paul Cornell (Demon Knights Vol. 1 : Seven Against The Dark, Dark X-Men), illustrated by Ryan Kelly (DMZ Vol. 8 : No Future, Northlanders Vol. 2 : The Cross and the Hammer) Jimmy Braxton & Goran Sudzuka. Originally published as Saucer Country #1-#6 from Vertigo.The Pros & Cons
The X-Files meets West Wing in this collected first volume of Vertigo’s sleeper hit. Having heard about how DC will give the axe to this series and with an ending that could end prematurely, it made question if I should read this title at all. But having heard nothing but positive feedback on this series and being a fan of alien movies & political dramas, I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. This is a smart & captivating story about a man & woman’s terrifying experience at being abducted by aliens. Or have they? There could be more than meets the eye here, but the writer perfectly balances the information for the reader. Sure the prospect of real alien abductions by little green men is heavy handed, but I think there’s more to it than that.But a political/presidential drama wouldn’t be complete without an opposition or an enemy digging up dirt on a candidate and this story has a doozy. What better way to drag a candidate’s name into the mud than to reveal to the media that such candidate claims to have been abducted by aliens? I’m not gonna spoil plot details, but how the Governor and her staff counteract is a stroke of genius.
Illustrator Ryan Kelly’s drawings offers a straight forward look to this series, not to say that it doesn’t look good. The moments of aliens & alien abductions are when the illustrations really shine. Dream like and nightmarish images of creepy little grey men & eerie blue rabbits gave me the heebie jeebies.
The Outcome
It’s a real shame that this series has been cancelled due to poor sales. Unfortunately, such is the way of critically acclaimed projects. Fox’s Firefly TV series is the perfect example. Saucer Country sadly wraps up with issue #14 and the second and final TPB comes out this August. It’ll probably contain the remaining 8 issues (#7-#14).I’m also hopeful that the series will conclude nicely, but who could blame the creative team if it didn’t? If you’re a writer of a series and you have a general idea on how it will end and how long it will go (40 or 50 issues let’s say) and you have to cram them into 14 issues because your beloved series got the axe, then that’s one hell of a task.
A Look Inside
