Blue Book #1 contains well-drawn recountings of two well-known paranormal encounters, both of which are gorgeous to look at but have very little substance beyond the artwork. The Barney and Betty Hill abduction is probably one of the best-known alien abduction stories of the 20th century. The strange tale of an interracial couple’s supposed abduction by aliens has been talked about for decades, with several pieces of pop culture either recreating or referencing the encounter. The “main” story of Blue Book, by writer James Tynion IV and artist Michael Avon Oeming is another straightforward retelling of the Hill abduction, with a focus of the creeping horror that emerges as the couple realizes that they’re being followed by a vehicle in the sky.
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If you’ve ever been fascinated by UFOs, you’ve probably heard of the Hill abduction, as it appears in almost every semi-legitimate UFO book found in a library, bookmobile, or the back shelves of a secondhand book shop. Barney Hill was even portrayed by James Earl Jones in a well-known TV movie called The UFO Incident, which likely influenced many other supposed accounts of UFO abductions. The Hills remained remarkably consistent with their story over the years, although Betty Hill’s credibility took a hit after her husband’s death for her fervor in investigating UFO encounters. So, it’s somewhat of a surprise that Blue Book opts to go for a straightforward recounting of the Hill abduction with very little deviation from the historical record. It’s all gorgeously drawn by Oeming, who opts for a blue/black/white tricolor palette that features one impressive deviation signifying sinister intent from the aliens.
However, while the fidelity to “historical” accuracy is appreciated by this former UFO lover, I found myself less than impressed by the comic’s storytelling. To be blunt – there was nothing in Blue Book (save for Barney Hill pulling out a gun from his trunk, which I believe is a new wrinkle) that we haven’t seen in the many other retellings of the Hill incident or the many fictional stories that have sprung out of an actual genre-defining story.
I suppose there’s nothing wrong with wanting to introduce comic readers to a classic incident that inspired a subculture that seems to be something of a fascination for Tynion, at least based on his other comic series The Department of Truth. But, I kept waiting for the moment that the comic revealed itself to be something more than a straightforward recounting, whether it was how the story was presented or some radical departure from the source material, and the twist just never came. The first issue of Blue Book is little more than a well-researched comics adaptation of a known historical incident, one that digs a bit into the psyches of the Hills, but not any more than the TV movie or really any other writing about the incident.
The backup story by Tynion and artist Klaus Janson is marginally more interesting, as it talks about the strangeness of turn of the century New York City. The comic mentions several weird incidents and curiosities, ranging from the Elephantine Colossus hotel to the filmed execution of an elephant to the appearance of a flying man over the beach of Coney Island. This is all wrapped together from the viewpoint of a fictional boy who is fascinated by some of the weird bits of Americana. Again, Janson does a fantastic job of drawing the backup story and it was nice to see the curiosity of the strange captured in a rather wholesome way. However, the story just… ends, and it’s unclear whether future “True Weird” stories will have any connection to either the main plot or be anything more than a spotlight on already well-known bits of weird tales that have fascinated the masses for decades.
All in all, Blue Book is something of a weird comic that presents bits of paranormal folk tales as straightforward as possible. In some ways, it’s the opposite of Department of Truth, which presents a unified metanarrative around all these bits of weird. If you enjoy a comic version of Unsolved Mysteries or the many UFO documentaries that have popped up on TV over the decades, you’ll probably enjoy Blue Book. Just don’t expect any sort of major revelation or deviation from a well-known and well-documented story.
Published by Dark Horse Comics
On February 22, 2023
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Michael Avon Oeming and Klaus Janson
Colors by Michael Avon Oeming
Letters by Aditya Bidikar
Cover by Michael Avon Oeming
