When a book is turned into a film or, in this case, a comic into a television series, there are usually disagreements about which is better, ranging from polite opinions to open cultural warfare. Resident Alien seems to have bridged the gap, or survived the transformation, pretty well: now both a successful TV series and a popular … they used to be called “Comics”, then they graduated to be styled graphic novels (or, as Terry Pratchett said, ‘Big Comics’).
Our hero, Harry Vanderspiegel, is the small town doctor in Patience, Washington State. His side hustle is solving crimes. Harry is also an extra-terrestrial alien. Not the Invade-Earth-and-Subjugate-The-Human-Race kind of alien, nor yet the abducting and unwelcome probing kind. Harry likes us, and he likes his life in Patience, fitting in and making friends.
The trick with Harry is that while the reader (and viewer) sees him for the alien he is, his friends and neighbours don’t notice his difference … oh, and the FBI are after him – it is only a matter of time before his secret is revealed! On one level a throwback to the Dickensian model of serial publication, the comic is a modern version of long-form fiction. Consumable as episodes month by month, or in collected volumes.
Tim sat down with writer Peter Hogan to find out where the idea originally came from and how the process works between writer and artist … and which he prefers, comic or TV (spoiler alert – he’s happy with both!).
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