UFOlogy #1

by James Tynion IV, Noah J. Yuenkel, Matthew Fox & Adam Metcalfe

BOOM! continues its streak of rolling out innovative new mini-series with the debut of UFOlogy this week. Mukawgee is a normal small town in Wisconsin that now is part of something extremely abnormal. A mysterious green light strikes down from the skies onto a home. A few teenagers who happen to see it go to investigate and make an alien discovery.

James Tynion IV has found a creative home for his stories at BOOM! Studios. With his fan favorite ongoing series The Woods and his recent critically acclaimed mini-series Memetic, Tynion has proven  he can deliver intriguing stories. Becky is a senior who has no idea what to do with her life after she graduates and Malcolm is a is younger and more of a nerd who helps with his dad’s conspiracy radio show. UFOlogy focuses mostly on these two characters witnessing the event from both their angles. Since this issue mostly sets the groundwork for what’s to come, the plot has yet to fully reveal itself. Tynion knows how to entice readers with just enough to bring them back for more.

Having not been familiar with Noah J. Yuenkel’s work before this will be a pleasant surprise for readers. Yuenkel has an innocent and detailed style that reflect the normality of everyday life in Mukawgee. There are two double page spreads in this issue and even though they are both amazing, they’re also very different. The first gives us a full layout of Malcolm’s room and his typical routine after school. The other is the big alien encounter Becky has which is stunning thanks to colors by Adam Metcalfe. Metcalfe uses a vibrant palette that keeps UFOlogy looking bright but still real. However, moments like the alien encounter Metcalfe goes all out and delivers some mesmerizing work.

This was a fun first issue for UFOlogy. Even though there wasn’t a lot of story laid out in this issue and most of the action happened towards the end, the character development gets you invested. By the end readers will want to know what happens from here. It’ll be interesting to see how UFOlogy plays out over the next five issues. This was a good start for UFOlogy but we need more story to truly get hooked.