By: Paul Cornell (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)
The Story: The Governor of Arizona announces herself as a candidate for the Presidency under weird conditions that may or may not involve aliens.
A few things:
1. Yay! A new Vertigo #1! – I don’t really count Fairest #1 since that’s just a spin-off from Fables; it has been a LONG time since we got a new Vertigo #1 from an ongoing series. I Zombie was the last ongoing to be launched by Vertigo and it is up to issue #21. And, Saucer Country is part of a glut of new series from Vertigo, which is great because this is the place for great ongoings for adults. Image will hit a few too, but Vertigo has a better set up for ongoings and a better track record.
2. Interesting story concept. – There’s a lot to enjoy about this story. Of course, we’ll have to see how Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly execute on the promise of this issue, but they lay out a lot of tasty bits. Of course, the big hook is the very X-Files treatment of aliens: Maybe they’re here and abducting us…or maybe something else is going on. Given that the protagonist announces her candidacy for the Presidency, I’d imagine we’ll get into government conspiracies and cover-ups. That’s just catnip for someone like me who loves to read conspiracy websites about what NASA knows about aliens but won’t share with the public. But, layered on top of this, the protagonist seems like a wonderfully complex character. In this first issue we meet Ms. Arcadia Alvarado, Governor of New Mexico, her estranged husband who physically abused her and her campaign staff. Arcadia is that great mix of both strong and vulnerable and she’s a fairly three-dimensional character after only one issue. Can’t wait to see where she goes. But, the other characters seem neat too: There’s clearly more going on with her ex-husband than meets the eye, her bodyguards seem like they have interesting back-stories, I like her plucky campaign advisor and there’s even a whacky university professor who writes about aliens. It’s all very rich.
3. Strong art. – For me, the name Ryan Kelly was an even bigger draw to the title than Paul Cornell. I even have a piece of Kelly original art hanging on my office wall. He’s a really wonderful artist. Anyone familiar with his work on titles like New York 5 or Local will instantly recognize the style. Kelly draws wonderful women who are soft and pretty, but also exude a kind of powerful, inner strength and confidence. It’s very nuanced and I can’t quite put my finger on how he captures this look on his women. Kelly also just goes nuts with backgrounds. His rooms are fully of ceiling fans, track lights, books all over the bookshelves, plants and all manner of other things that are surely a pain to draw, but add a TON of realism to his work. The only thing I was a little unsure of is the coloring in a few places. I do like Brusco’s coloring, but there were a few places where I’m not sure it sang in harmony with Kelly’s linework. I’m not sure if I’ve seen Kelly’s art colored before? Regardless, having an artist of Kelly’s caliber makes me very excited for this title.
4. Still doesn’t quite grab you by the throat. – By this I mean that I didn’t put this issue down and think, “Holy shit! That was awesome!” Obviously it’s going to take the creators a little bit of time to get this story ramped up, but that’s to be expected from a ongoing, story-based series. The good news is that (as mentioned above) the story elements are all interesting and the art is great. Good art is capable of buying a series all kinds of time to establish a story.
Conclusion: A really good start to this series. There are all sorts of interesting story elements, very good character work and the art from Ryan Kelly is wonderful.
Grade: B+
-Dean Stell
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Conclusion