I love UFOlogy this month. Like seriously loved it. It has been a weird ride with issue #1 and #2, but #3 has made it worth it. Sometimes I am quick to judge, and I know this about myself. This is why I always give comics some time to build and now I am realizing that the flaws in issue #2, made #3 more sweet. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you bastards that BOOM! is the way to go. James Tynion and Noah J. Yuenkel have slowly introduced us to our main characters, but with the addition of some intertwining stories and developing friends, their method has proved to be worth it. Becky and Malcolm are finally starting to become friends with the help of their alien experience. Needless to say, Becky is shut down a lot of the times from this experience. She is having nightmares and I love how this is structurally played out. But I’ll get to that in a bit. I always thought that Becky was just kind of a boring lead, but now I realize it is all part of her persona. Tynion and Yuenkel have done a fantastic job of letting the characters develop on their own for the reader. Now I feel more connected to her and get excited when she opens herself to Malcolm.
I also think we needed some type of side story, and again the writers delivered. We get two side stories. One is about Malcolm’s dad. The town probably thinks this dude is crazy since he runs a radio station dedicated to aliens. This guy has some clear history, oh and something happened to his wife. So now you wonder if he lost his wife to something alien relate…? Anyway, we don’t see him in present day, but instead go back to the past. I love when stories can layer, especially when those stories are from different time periods. We don’t get a lot of movement in this particular story, but I think readers can see where it is progressing to, so again I give the writers some credit for excitedly easing us into it.
The second new story follows a more conspicuous character. We don’t know his name quite yet, but it is fair to say that he is far out. He is hitchhiking in a way and gets picked up by a nice guy. That is how every horror story starts out right? But don’t jump to conclusions on this one. Some typical things happen but the ending of this story leaves the readers guessing. I can say much more about it, but it all leads back to these writers getting into a flow with this story. All three stories blended perfectly and each story kept the anticipation of the reader high.
There are no higher moments than Becky’s nightmares. What is so cool about her nightmares is that Matthew Fox, the artist, just jumps right into the scene without letting the readers know what is real or fake. Even though Becky wakes up, the reader has this gut feeling that maybe the dream wasn’t just a dream. Fox blends the two worlds together and since the comic is magical realism, having an alien in front of your face is their reality. I’ve mentioned before how much I love Fox’s drawing of the aliens too. They are creepy and we get to see some more types of aliens as well, so Fox steps it up for sure in this issue. And how the comic ends lead me to believe that we will see a lot more Fox’s talent come out in coming issues.
In conclusion, UFOlogy and I got off on the wrong foot, but something about it kept me coming back for more and I am so glad that I did.
Score: 4/5
UFOlogy #3 Writers: James Tynion IV & Noah J. Yuenkel Artist: Matthew Fox Colorist: Adam Metcalfe Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 6/24/15 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital