‘Saucer Country # 2’ review

Much in the same way that The X-Files, upon which Saucer Country draws no small amount of inspiration from, used what were essentially two seperate-but-equal pilot episodes to first establish the characters of Mulder and Scully, then to establish the government conspiracy they would be fighting against for the next six years (7? 8? 9? 20? who knows with that show?), Saucer Country first established the various characters in its first issue, then used this second issue to set up their goals and motivations for the foreseeable future.

We’re first reacquainted with Arcadia’s ex-husband, Michael, who is having a decidedly difficult time coping with the half-remembered images and sensations of his abduction experience. By the end of the issue, Cornell establishes that Michael was not intended simply to be a bit of Arcadia’s backstory, or “the other person in the car that night”, but a vital and important character to the progression of the series. We then get back in touch with Arcadia, just after she’s told her campaign manager that she was abducted by aliens. Watching Cornell’s lady governer convince her staff that she’s not crazy (at least not necessarily), and that they should not give up the campaign just yet, is a joy to behold. Because, you see, Arcadia’s not going to go around flag-waving as the candidate of the Abductee party – she’ll keep quiet about her experiences so as not to jeapordize the campaign, but then once she’s one, she’ll use whatever power she gains to prevent the little green bastards from doing any further misdeeds. Seems like a sound plan from where I’m sitting.

But of course, in order to do that, she’s going to need help, and what better help could there be in figuring out what happened to you when you were abducted by aliens than a disgraced Harvard professor who believes in UFOs because the little miniature nude couple that only he can see told him to? Professor Kidd makes up the third track of our story, as he’s hired by Arcadia’s campaign manager – ostensibly as a member of the campaign staff, but in actuality as a kind of UFO consultant, and she’s not happy about it. You see, Chloe doesn’t believe Arcadia was abducted by aliens, because only poor and/or unimportant people get abducted. The class/race issue, and Chloe’s mindset of only those things and people which fit inside a normal worldview having any merit will make for a very interesting conflict in the issues to come.

The board has been set, and opening moves have been made. The mexican immigrant who started life as a pawn is well on her way to becoming a queen, despite the forces allied against her. If you’ve enjoyed any of the great Vertigo books over the last two decades, or if you liked X-Files and are curious about the whole “comic book” thing, don’t wait till its too late – get in on this one while you can (as of this writing, you can still get both issues at Ground Zero), because there is not a single book I am more looking forward to getting next month than Saucer Country. This is the crowning achievement of an underappreciated writer, and I couldn’t be happier to be along for the ride.

Be sure and check out DC’s official page for the book here: http://www.vertigocomics.com/comics/saucer-country-2012/saucer-country-2 and you can purchase the book digitally from Ground Zero Comics here: https://comics.comixology.com/ret/383/Ground_Zero_Comics_DC_Comics_Digital_Store/#/issue/23283/Saucer-Country-2