BLUE BLOOK #1
Recap
Never trust your eyes.
Review
James Tynion IV, Michael Avon Oeming, and Aditya Bidikar are reasons enough to grab any book off the shelf at your LCS. Team them up and it becomes a no-brainer. But if you needed any further incentive: Blue Book is a take on UFO abductions and the strangeness of their stories.
The first installment centers on Betty and Barney Hill who claimed to be abducted in September of 1961. Their story would go on to garner massive popularity in not only their time but continues to this day. How Blue Book captures their story is nothing short of a mix of Unsolved Mysteries meets Alfred Hitchcock, and I’m here for it! From Oeming’s art and layouts to Bidikar’s masterful, game-changing lettering, the delivery is creepy and moody fitting the story perfectly. While the first issue doesn’t do a quick deep dive into the Hills’ story it sets the table for a fabulous set of predecessors that will undoubtedly be just as creepy and fun.
Blue Book #1 harkens back to the days of weird tales of EC or when comics had great ads for x-ray glasses and rockets that can reach the sky. Tynion takes precise caution with telling the Hills’ story with regard to their era. There are no mutated monsters or frivolous filler; the creative team does a great job respecting not only the story but the timeframe. Recounting stories like these I feel that aspect sometimes gets lost in translation with wanting to be something that it’s not. There are a ton of great unexplained encounter stories out there that are waiting to be updated and retold and if this Dark Horse imprint and this title are any indications of what its future holds, then we are in store for an entertaining and weird ride.
Final Thoughts
Blue Book #1 is a fun ride into historical nonfiction with a comic book twist. The book’s deceptively simplistic style adds a nice layer to the tone of the story in keeping with the era, even the title borrows from the Air Force’s project that was responsible for investigating sightings and abductions. Even if aliens and UFOs aren’t your thing, Blue Book is an engaging and really fun read.
BLUE BOOK #1 (Spoiler-free Review)
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 7/107/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 7/107/10