Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: alienated, boom studios, comic book reviews, simon spurrier

REVIEW: Alienated #1 — "Not Characters You Want To Be Around For Any Significant Investment Of Time"

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:00:29 -0600

(Boom! Studios, creative team: Simon Spurrier, Chris Wildgoose, Andre May, Jim Campbell)

The core idea here is that three relative outsiders in a middle American high school discover something extraordinary that binds them together as a start to unexpected and shocking things happening. That's solid. The idea of these three sniping at each other for most of the issue didn't do much to reveal their character or move the plot along. Throw the right three young actors into this and it doesn't matter how you write it, it'd sparkle. On the printed page, however, these are not characters you want to be around for any significant investment of time. The art styles don't make a spectacular showing, as plain and uninspiring as the characters themselves consider their environment. Nobody in this book wants to be here, and there's not much to make the reader feel much different. There's no denying that this book was put together by people who know what they're doing. This, however, is not what any of them could call their strongest performance. RATING: MEH.

ALIENATED #1
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Chris Wildgoose
Synopsis:
– Acclaimed writer Simon Spurrier (John Constantine Hellblazer, Coda) and artist Chris Wildgoose (Batgirl, Batman: Nightwalker) present a subversive coming-of-age story about having all the power to change the world but the unready hands to truly wield it.
– Three teenagers, each an outcast in their own way, stumble upon an unearthly entity as it's born. As they bond over this shared secret and the creature's incredible abilities, it becomes clear to the teenagers that their cute little pet is a superpredator in the making—and it's in need of prey.
– Guided by the best intentions at first, the teens' decisions soon become corrupted by adolescent desires, small town jealousies, and internal rivalries, sending them into a catastrophic spiral of their own making.