What Comic Books Have You Read Today?

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I believe so, yes. That is, I cannot think of any other instance (other than continuing characters such as Moon Girl).

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

In actual paper comics, I've been rereading Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly's Saucer Country, from Vertigo in 2012. It's about an New Mexico governor, Arcadia Alvarado, who is running for President -- but who has also had an abduction encounter with aliens, alongside her ex-husband. The series dives into the history of UFO consipracy theories while telling the story of Aracdia's campaign. I've got a few more issues to read of the initial 14-issue run, and then I can move on to the 6-issue follow-up, Saucer State, published by IDW in 2017, and then the finale wrap-up one-shot, published by Image a few months ago.

Assuming I can find my issues of Saucer State, that is. There are some longboxes in my office that are likely to hold them. But if not, I found a place where I can read them online.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I always thought this series was more interesting in concept than execution. But I thought I had read all of it! Can you tell me anything more about that finale Image comic?

 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

It's a regular-size $3.99 comic published in February by Image, by the original creative team of Cornell and Kelly. I haven't read it yet. But it also has a preview in it for an upcoming Image product, GROOM LAKE: GREY SKIES ABOVE (by Ben Templesmith, Chris Ryall, Nelson Dániel & Shawn Lee). I have a feeling that the preview was how some of the deal to publish was struck -- marketing the new book to the Saucer Country audience. Which is a pretty neat idea, to be honest.

Beyond that, I don't know much yet. 

I think I like this book more in concept than execution too -- but reading it in a big chunk makes the conspiracy details a little easier to grasp. I'm also in the middle of a mini alien abduction/UFO marathon: The excellent* TV show Resident Alien has an abduction story as one of the prime movers of season 3, and John Oliver just did a big segment on UFOs on last night's episode of Last Week Tonight!

*I've finally come to terms with the fact that the TV show and the comic book are two extremely distinct things, and they're both terrific in very different ways.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Thanks for the info. I was ready to buy the Kindle version, but there isn't one! I can't see paying cover price or greater plus shipping, so I guess I'll just hold off for now. Maybe I can pick up a copy at HeroesCon in June.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Update: I took a closer look at the Kindle store, and it was there for $1.99! It was just labeled funny (as issue #0).  

[Richard Willis]

The flag to the right of the U.S. flag on her pin is the state of New Mexico. I looks like a cross in this undetailed image. It is a symbol of the Zia indigenous people. Here is a more detailed image of the state flag.

When we visited the UFO museum in Rosswell N.M. in 2015, I took this picture with a distant relative.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Thanks for the detail, Richard --  and it's great to see you connect with family! 

Glad you found the issue, Mark! I haven't read it yet, but probably will get to it today.

I have read issues 1-6 of Saucer State now, and feel like the story goes off the rails a bit. Like any conspiracy narrative, it gets more sprawling as it progresses, and it sometimes becomes harder to see the importance of any particular puzzle piece. Plus, there are psychedelics and mind-control involved, so things are even more up in the air. Arcadia is president, aliens have seemingly made themselves known, and the series follows a lot of different reactions to that. There are a ton of new characters, but none of them really matter -- they're more positions (generals, head of NASA, an opposing politician clearly modeled on Trump, etc.) than people. (One exception: an Air Force officer that drives Michael out into the desert for a psychedelic experience; she has the spark of a memorable character.) The characters from the previous series all appear, though something happens on the last page of issue 6 that a) makes it clear that the story's not over, and b) was a hell of a harsh way to seemingly end the series. A second miniseries was promised, but never delivered; instead, we got a one-shot follow-up 7 years later.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've read Saucer Country: Finale now, and it does an admirable job of trying up many of the countless loose ends of the series. The truncation of the last chapter into 1 comic (instead of the planned 6) is apparent in a few sequences that are really talky (where villains confess, because they might as well), and also a complete deflation of the final-page cliffhanger of Saucer State 6. (In the last panel of that issue, a character is shot in the head. In the first panel of this issue, she's in a coma, but apparently fine, and is soon in no danger whatsoever.)

There have been a lot of conflicting alien phenomena in this series, and Cornell and Kelly really do tie most of it off. But with super-compressed plotting, and everyone getting direct answers for once, we lose a lot of the character of the original series. That said, it's good to see it conclude, and the answers we get felt satisfting, if too easily won. 

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I read it today. I have to say I enjoyed the concision of the storytelling. If it had been six issues, I would probably have had to re-read parts of it to keep track of all the deceptions, double-crosses, and whatnot. The series always struck me as the opposite of decompressed, and often not in a good way. No ambiguity about what was happening here. They just spelled it out!