With such a great team coming together for UFOlogy, it is a clear must-have this Wednesday. I have got lots to talk about, but let’s start from the beginning. We meet up with Becky, a senior at the local high school, who just can’t seem to get her life together. Not that it is exactly falling apart, but she clearly has different plans after high school then what her parents and teachers have planned out for her. Then we meet Malcolm. Another high school student who lost his mother and seems to be struggling with human interactions. The only person he connects with is his father, but he even seems shy around him. This first issue did a lot of characterization with these two. They both kind of have this fuck off attitude and don’t seem to care what others think about them. They aren’t friends yet, actually they barely know each other except having a friendship with one of their teachers. It becomes very obvious why these two will make a good pair. Although I shouldn’t say good because I am sure they will fight a lot so I should just say I can see why these two become a pair.
When it comes to James Tynion IV and Noah J. Yuenkel’s writing, I think most readers will find their style very free flowing. The story doesn’t seemed forced and getting to the big moments takes time. This helps because you subtly get exposed to the aliens, subtly get expose to our characters, and obviously falling in love with this progression on every page. This is a great introduction to everything right about the narrative steps. It takes time, and so far, I am willing to wait.
Then the other obvious success of this first issue is the art. Matthew Fox delivered. I think my favorite type of drawing is rough outlines that all seem to come together in the panel. It looks like it’s right out of his sketch book and this only makes the story rawer for me. My only complaint is how similar Becky and Malcolm look. With both having long black shaggy hair, it may get confusing if the two are ever being tossed around. But maybe they are supposed to look alike… Not that the comic makes any comment about them being related, so that is me reaching for an explanation. But otherwise, it is great. Definitely fell in love with the structure of his panels. The way they are layered with Malcolm in his house, climbing out side of his house, and on the roof goes great with the movement of the setting and the story.
But let’s get to the big moment already; the moment when the damn aliens show up! It didn’t last long and it was sort of what I expected to happen. Fox gives us the unusual part. The alien wasn’t like any alien I have seen before. I still can’t determine if I like it or not, but just the pure unusual nature of it all makes me think that I do like it. So even though the alien scene came across as expected, the overall action picked up and gave you that heart pumping anticipation.
Overall, UFOlogy had a great start. Readers will be intrigued which plays when wondering if you want to buy the second issue. I will be.
Score: 3/5
UFOlogy #1 Writers: James Tynion IV & Noah J. Yuenkel Artist: Matthew Fox Colorist: Adam Metcalfe Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 4/1/15 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital