"It's amazing how fast things stop seeming amazing"
I adore this comic. It was a six-issue mini-series from Boom! Studios in 2020, with a trade out towards the end of the year. Towards the end of the Christmas break I finished re-reading it for the first time since then. A few comics have come close, (Home Sick Pilots, Middlewest, Saga, Something is Killing the Children, Wynd, to name a few) but this is without a doubt my favourite comic of all time. I had already written a review for the book over on the League of Comic Geeks, but I thought it would be fun to revisit it now I’ve read it a second time.
On the surface, it’s about how “three teenagers, each an outcast in their own ways, stumble upon an unearthly entity as it’s born." Now because this is a story, you know it isn't going to end well. The solicitation continues, describing how “the teen’s decisions soon become corrupted by adolescent desires, small town jealousies, and internal rivalries, sending them into a catastrophic spiral of their own making.”
Hopefully I've set the scene effectively with those solicitation excerpts. It seems that for lots of mini series these days, the end of them isn't necessarily the end of the story. Whether they get extended into an ongoing, given a new volume or two, or just renumbered as an ongoing, it's not exactly unprecedented. And in those early issues, you can see the potential of where someone would take this for more than just the original half a dozen issues. By only halfway into issue one, I was invested in the characters, the concept, and I just loved seeing them live their lives with this new entity and all that came with it.
There's an almost childlike innocence and fun to the whole idea. That was one of the most interesting things to me I picked up on my second read-through. On the surface you might think this whole concept is a bit cliche. The story of teenage outcasts getting wrapped up in something sinister isn't exactly anything new, but the themes it brings up made this such a fascinating read to me. It's a book about great power, and the responsibility that comes along with that. The temptation of those unique years of your life when that great power is added into the mix. The raging emotions, complex relationships and problems. I don't feel like I'm making it sound any less cliche, but I just thought both times it was so well done. I've always loved that quote I started this review with, I think it sums things up so well. The idea of a childlike novelty and innocence quickly wearing off as you have to face the harsh reality of the real world. As a line it's always stuck out to me as simply chilling. I just think there's something special about this book that could have been so cliche, but ended up being, at least to me anyway, so deep and rich in it's character work and emotion.
I love the way the characters are portrayed in this. Right from their introductions, they're compelling, and Spurrier wastes no time letting you know their thoughts and feelings and you can quickly tell what sort of people they are. I love the way this is all presented by Jim Campbell in the lettering, which I'll go deeper on in a bit. But for now, I will say it's a uniquely intimate experience. Thought bubbles have been mostly phased out these days, in favour of just narration. But the way the team manages to work with a mix of both, for the multiple characters, without it being cluttered, was just so impressive to me. Never do the characters feel empty or hollow. There's a level of depth we get into each character's mind, what are they thinking? What are they actually saying? Everyone's been there, a teenager just trying to fit in. Whatever we think that means at the time. I think that's what stuck out to me initially. The relatability of these characters, and not in the "how do you do fellow kids" way you sometimes get. Though luckily less and less these days. The painfully relatable thought bubbles and how that contrasts with all the speech. Again, all masterfully lettered by Campbell.
I found each character on their own interesting, but the way they all bounce off each other is one of the reasons it was so entertaining to me. I would even say that the dynamic between the three main characters, plus how the fourth one, the entity, is involved, was easily the best part of the book. It's the driving force between everything that happens. The emotional richness of how they see each other, and, as things get more sinister, how they hold each other accountable for their individual actions.
I don't want to spoil anything, but it's not just a story about the teenagers at that time in their life, but also how the entity grows as the book goes on. As the solicit says, they stumble upon it "as it's born" and that's what made this such an intriguing second time read for me. Picking up on those parallels, how the characters are influenced by the people and world around them, and how that gets passed on the entity. How the way each of the character's past, problems and personalities factors into how they treat the entity. There's not a whole lot of plot in the series, like I said this could have been maybe a few dozen issues of plot based storytelling, if that's what the creators wanted. Following all the usual beats for this sort of thing, the government's reaction that sort of thing. But instead it decides to be 6 issues of concise, intense and incredibly effective character focused storytelling.
All that without even mentioning the artwork, which is simply glorious. It really supports that initial seemingly innocent tone. It's a very animated and vibrant style, where you could easily be mistaken for thinking this was some light-hearted cartoon. I hadn't heard of Chris Wildgoose before this comic, but I just adored their work here. Especially with the coloring by Andre May, that's where the vibrancy really comes in. It's so rich and powerful, conveying any pain and emotion whilst never letting go of that animated feel, simply incredible. Whether it’s a scene of the characters talking, or something that's weird and wacky, it never fails to excel. I mentioned before how it helps convey that early innocent tone, and I love how it's then so juxtaposed with how sinister things get. I think it strikes that perfect balance, being able to handle both those tones as the story goes on. Different styles might have made the book lean more into either the disturbing or lighter aspects, but here both of those are handled perfectly. Every panel is perfect, but the splash pages are breathtaking. There’s often lots happening in them, but it never feels crowded or rushed, just so fluid and such a joy to soak in as you read through the story. Both times I read this, there were so many pages where I just had to stop and spend time appreciating the fantastic art.
The first time I read this I had recently read “Blue in Green”, and what I adored about both was the exceptionally creative lettering. Lettering is often overlooked and underappreciated, but when it’s done well it just tops the whole book off. In this, I loved the way Campbell expertly differentiated between the four main characters, including the alien, as well as everyone else! For example, the dialogue of the three main characters is colour coded, which may not seem like too big a deal, but when you see it in the book it’s genius. So aesthetically pleasing and especially with how the font perfectly matches the art style, those small details elevate the whole reading experience. It’s not just the dialogue that’s colour coded though! Every single thought they have is lettered like that and as I've talked about that deepened the characters so well for me. It just made me feel like I was in their heads with them.
Everything just complements everythng in this comic so well. The lettering and design works so brilliantly with the artwork, which is so perfect for the story, which is such a fascinating read because of the characters and the themes involved. A rare comic to me where all the elements that make it up are incredibly strong, and they all come together to make this book I absolutely adore. Once I got to the end the first time I read it, I had to breathe out and rest for a moment, processing everything that had occurred. It left me absolutely speechless and has stuck with me ever since. This is an emotionally exhausting book, but in the best way. It’s so rich and deep. The artwork is magnificent. The lettering is brilliant. The characters are so compelling and the dynamics are gripping up to the very last page. For me, a perfect use of the comic book medium, in terms of how all the different elements on the page work together.
All that is why Alienated is my favourite book of all time, and in general easily one of the best books I’ve ever read.
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