#peter hogan

Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde #2 (October 9, 2013)

Owned?: No, library Page count: 338 My summary: Harry is in trouble. An alien, crashed on Earth, stranded and trying to blend in with the locals, he has received greater attention lately thanks to being pulled into the humans' struggles. Murders, mysteries, unexplained deaths…but can Harry help out the town and keep himself safe at the same time? My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

Well, I said I'd carry on with this, and I did. From what I can tell (there isn't a lot of information online) this is the second of two volumes collecting Resident Alien, and the narrative did feel like it came to an ending here. An abrupt, jarring, unjustified ending. Well, that's a little harsh, but I am baffled by how strange the storytelling of this series is. I found myself just kind of staring at the page going 'wait, that's it?' after I had finished this. It's not that it was bad necessarily, it's just that the writing took a lot of shortcuts. It felt abbreviated, that's the thing. You have this interesting premise of an alien being crashed on Earth and having to blend in, and spend the whole time telling murder mystery thriller stories and not getting to know this alien as a character at all. It's a baffling choice, made more baffling by how the narrative concludes.

Through the earlier issues, Harry has caught the attention of a shadowy government agency, who has been trying to track him. At the start of this collection, one of their agents is deployed to the town he lives in, and spends time clearly hunting him down. How does this resolve? The agent deleted all the files on Harry, told the government it was a false alarm, because actually he's discount Mulder and just wants to be abducted by aliens I guess. This shows up in the last issue, when Harry is contacted by people from his world and given the opportunity to return. He chooses not to, in a way that…it feels abrupt, but the groundwork for his relationships with the humans around him is laid, it makes sense. Really, the abruptness is narrative. It felt like there was meant to be a longer story here, but the creators were told to wrap it up so they started firing off plot points whether or not they made sense. Harry's underdeveloped relationship with Asta was a romance I guess! The little girl who could see through him can't now for no real reason! The government agent goes to space and the government is off his back forever! Sure, why not! It's jarring. I am baffled by it. For what it's worth, I still enjoyed it, but…I think there was so much potential to this idea that got absolutely left by the wayside. Weird, weird book.

Out this week: Resident Alien: One More for the Road (Dark Horse, $4.99): 

Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse bring their long-running, deeply loved sci-fi series to a close in this one-shot finale. Harry is covering for Ethan at the clinic in Patience while former federal agent Jones works to bring more nations into an interstellar alliance. But danger is closing in, and Harry’s secret may finally be exposed.

ABC A-Z: Top 10 & Teams (one-shot) [textless] (2006)

Resident Alien Omnibus Volume 2 • cover art • Steve Parkhouse [June 2023]

A stranded alien explorer—hiding in plain sight—has been posing as a doctor and solving crimes in the small town of Patience, Washington. After Harry accidentally exposes himself to investigators who are on his trail, a mysterious arsonist and a stubborn federal agent arrive in town to heat things up!

The local sheriff must decide if he’ll remain loyal to his inquisitive friend Harry, and nurse Asta finally realizes the danger she and Harry are both in.

Peter Hogan (2000 AD, Tom Strong) and Steve Parkhouse (War Birds, Milkman Murders) continue their unique, acclaimed science-fiction/murder-mystery series!

This omnibus collects the Resident Alien graphic novels Volumes 4 to 6, The Man with No Name, An Alien in New York, and Your Ride’s Here, along with the Free Comic Book Day 2022 short story “The Ghost.”

The series that inspired the SYFY original television series, starring Alan Tudyk!

(w) Peter Hogan • (a/ca) Steve Parkhouse