Review: Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde #2 by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse

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Review:  Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde #2

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Written by Peter Hogan

Art by Steve Parkhouse

Resident Alien is about an alien crashlanding on Earth.  He has learned about Earth through study and popular culture.  He possesses the power of empathy and is able to mask his appearance from most people.  He’s passing the time living in a small town, pretending to be a semi-retired doctor named Harry Vanderspeigle and waiting to be found by his people.  In the previous arc, the town doctor was murdered and he was asked to fill in, which lead to him investigating the murder.  This is the second arc of the story.

The Plot

Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle (the alien) and his coworker Asta (the nurse) are arriving at Seattle while he ponders how he was unable to get a solid read on the previous case back in the first arc, “Welcome to Earth.”  He remembers his wife back on his home planet and there’s a flashback to him quickly learning how to read.  The books cover everything from ABC’s to textbooks.  They arrive at a hotel and they agree to begin questioning people of interest in Shannon’s “suicide” the next day, but not after an awkward exchange…on Harry’s end at least.  The following day they question Shannon’s former roomate Karen.  For the most part it’s a bust, but Harry is able to ascertain some information using his special abilities.  They go to the university where Harry tracks down her former boyfriend and Asta confronts her former “charming” fling.  Both people provide some insight into her character.  They return to Karen’s, but surprisingly it becomes a life or death situation.

The Breakdown

Another damn solid issue.  I like how Harry’s powers of empathy are leading him down a darker road of humanity, which is evident when he’s watching the general public.  I like the moments with subtle humour in this issue such as when Harry sees the Space Needle or when Asta is mistaken for a casino worker because of her Native American ancestry.  It makes the entire story feel much more human and that it actually could happen in real life.  I also enjoyed seeing Harry’s progression in reading and learning about humans and language, which follows up on what occurs back in issue #0.  I like how Harry does have an ability that can help him (such as in his interview with Karen), but it doesn’t allow him to automatically solve things as he still has to work for it and try to piece information together.  The insight into Shannon’s character was interesting because she was imperfect and her portrayal was realistic.  It doesn’t make her less likeable or overly sympathetic, she seems like a regular person caught up in a lot of stuff.  The cliffhanger was a good one and it raised the stakes of the case.  I really enjoy how this story shifted to Seattle because most comics take place in large fictional cities or else places like New York and Los Angeles.  Also, the main story occurs in the small town of Patience, which made me interested immediately because I knew that this story would be centred and real.  I like how these cases are simple cases.  They aren’t reality bending or universe shattering…they are things that could happen at any time.  This book is a good mystery wrapped in a human study.  The relationship between Harry and Asta is effective as they play well off of one another.  Parkhouse’s art in this book was  very good.  He makes such an effective team with Hogan.  His work is consistent and he’s a good storyteller.  I like how he is able to capture emotions as well. This was a very good read.

BUT…

There isn’t anything for me to dislike in this issue.  I wish there were more issues per arc, but I do prefer having four issues jam-packed with quality rather than a decompressed story with less quality.

Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?

Buy It.  I’ve been looking forward to this arc for the better part of a year and it is delivering.  I know it’s a real mixed bag when taking a high recommendation for a different type of comic (essentially any non-Big Two book or non-superhero book).  Sometimes the story is too out there or needlessly complicated.  Maybe the art is too abstract or just not to your liking.  This is a well-told, straight forward mystery/thriller with a very interesting premise.  This has been one of my favorite stories that I picked up because of a recommendation from my LCS owner.  I really look forward to reading many more issues of this comic.  I strongly recommend Resident Alien (if that wasn’t already obvious).  This is one of those comics worth taking a chance on.

I have been both an avid and casual comic reader over the years (depending on the quality of books). I have been reading Comics Nexus even prior to it becoming Comics Nexus and am glad to be a columnist. In addition, feel free to leave comments whether you agree or disagree because it always leads to discussions.