UFOlogy #1, published by Boom! Studios, is a very cool comic with very cool people in charge of it. Here’s the thing, a lot of us are repulsed by an ultra-slick high end production number. We wish for something with a shaggy dog vibe. But, if you let that dog get too shaggy, that can be just as bad as your typical mainstream corporate superhero comic. The shag, just like the ultra-slick, can get out of control. What you get with this comic is that scribbly sketchy feel you crave along with a sure-handed approach that demonstrates a mastery of the medium and a pleasurable read for you!
Gosh, I don’t know how I do this sometimes. I’ve been writing reviews, along with creating my own comics, for years now and the whole thing remains as fresh as a daisy for me. You see, it’s comics like this that show the way. They prove that the comics medium is truly inexhaustible. You give me a super duper industrial-strength superhero, and it will only work if the right talent is behind it. You can only create, or review, or heavily market, or simply read so many of these super duper comics before you just call it quits. At the other extreme, you give me something a little too precious and too uneven, and that can be annoying too. But you put together a creative team like this one for UFOlogy and you make a friend for life.
UFOlogy was created and written by James Tynion IV and Noah J. Yuenkel. And the artwork is by Matthew Fox. A round of applause to all of you and here’s why. Our story begins in Mukawgee, Wisconsin where nothing is quite as it seems. You think this is just a sweet and innocent small town? Think again. Two teen-aged lives will collide here: Becky Finch, who would have been okay with a sleepy little town; and Malcolm Chamber, who demands the stars and the heavens. Throughout the story, we get snippets of the local FREEK podcast. The friendly deejay, Russ Chamber (Malcolm’s dad) keeps referring to the stars and it seems the town is due for a visit of monumental proportions. Or is the deejay just sort of freaky? This is all an ambitious scenario that takes off with no signs of slowing down.
Gettng back to the shaggy dog quality to this comic, it’s not something you can fake nor rely upon to get you by. The drawing here has a personal touch to it as you can feel that an actual person drew it. But that doesn’t mean that Fox takes that as a sign he can get sloppy. He maintains a sketchy quality that he also keeps under control with a nice clean line. There are other great sketchy styles out there to be sure. Fox’s style has that special natural look about it.
The writing too has a quirky and eccentric thing going on. That can get overdone as well. However, here we have something lean and determined. We get a chance to appreciate the dynamics of each character: Becky is something of a laggy, deliberately lagging behind for the sake of her family; Malcolm is as wild of a dreamer as his dad but we sense he may really be onto something. I think this comic is really onto something.
UFOlogy #1 is available as of April 1. For more details, visit our friends at Boom! Studios right here.
Wow this looks like a top read. I appreciate that kind of balance too. Slick artistry bores me unless it is tempered by visceral writing. Too sketchy has me in abstract reflection and lose the stories mojo. Man your comic collection must be a thing to behold. How many do you have?