Blue Book Volume 1: 1961

Blue Book

by James Tynion IV, Michael Avon Oeming (Illustrator)

An ambitious, non-fiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.

From the New York Times bestselling and multi-Eisner award-winning co-creator of Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, The Department of Truth.

In Blue Book, teaming with artist Michael Avon Oeming and letterer Aditya Bidikar, James Tynion IV presents what he calls his “True Weird” stories. Tales of ordinary people encountering the strange and the impossible.

Volume 1 retells the infamous case of the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill of New Hampshire in 1961 — the very first widely-publicized UFO abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories.

Collects the Dark Horse Comics series Blue Book #1—#5, originally published on Substack.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels Comics, Aliens, Horror

140 pages, ebook

First published September 19, 2023

About the author

Prior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.

Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.

Reviews

[Dan]

This collects Blue Book #1-5, originally published on Substack.

I was heavily into UFO stuff as a teenager but eventually outgrew it. Still, I'm a fan of Michael Avon Oeming and a book with just a black/white/three shades of blue color palette was impossible to pass up.

I fucking loved this! Tynion tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, a couple who were allegedly abducted by aliens in 1961. Tynion sticks to the facts, not going all in on the skepticism or the believer POV when it comes to UFOs. Oeming's art is right in my wheelhouse, a minimalist affair that is extremely effective. I was already familiar with the story of Betty and Barney Hill but Tynion weaves everything together into something compelling and new.

Five out of five stars. I hope Tynion and Oeming do more of these.

[Alexander Peterhans]

Wonderful art, by the ever dependable Michael Avon Oeming. Tynion retells a pretty wellknown UFO story, and he does it adeptly, but I kept wondering what is the point here? It's not as if Tynion has some interesting take on the story, as far as I can see. Who is this for?

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Lucas]

One of the most boring and utterly pointless books I've had the displeasure to read. I'm not exactly sure what Tynion was thinking here. To be fair, it took me way longer than I'd care to admit to realize this was supposed to be a non fiction book. I just kept wondering why they were telling the blandest ever alien encounter story. But even if this is aaan account of the original true story that shaped our collective pop culture consciousness, what's the point of telling it now ? It just makes for a cliché and uninteresting book. Not to mention the bland report like writing. There's absolutely nothing redeeming about this book. I'd seen so many incredible artists doing variants on it, I thought there had to be something. Now I just want my time back. And my sleep, I powered though this in a bout of insomnia lmao

[Matthew Ward]

I’ve wanted to read this one for a long time (since it was released digitally first on Substack). This was definitely one of the best non-fiction comics I’ve ever read. The storytelling in this flows beautifully and the art to match it couldn’t be any more perfect. Issue 4 was ridiculously good and my favorite from this series! Really enjoyed this one and am excited for the hopes of more stories like this as mentioned by Tynion’s newsletter.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy]

Great start to the series using one of the most iconic alien abduction stories in American history. If you are into aliens at all you have almost certainly heard about the Hill abduction. This is a great retelling of the story with spooky atmosphere throughout highlighted by the blue color scheme. The classic communion cover alien is always so damn creepy, nightmare fuel for life. Reading this on a windy, dark Chicago night with a large plate glass window behind me was not a great idea- and tell me why RIGHT as they get into Barney’s abduction my dog bolts up and looks at the window- felt like the family in signs VAMANOS CHILDREN!

[Benji Glaab]

Very different style than I was expecting. It's basically like if you took the script from a History channel documentary and made it into a graphic novel. I'm a fan of Oeming's art, but this was even more simplistic than I remember Powers being. On a fun side note I realized the year 1961 upside down still reads 1961, so there is that at least

[Anna Quilter]

Seemingly straightforward retelling of a famous UFO abduction case-Betty and Barney Hill- that has probably a lot to answer for in modern abduction cases.
Probably would have enjoyed a bit more speculation .but it has a very cool art style about it.

[Tom]

I liked the story because it presented me with a situation with which I was entirely unfamiliar. And Tynion relays the facts without embellishment, which I also appreciated.

[Dakota Morgan]

James Tynion does non-fiction, recounting here the Betty and Barney Hill abduction story. One of the first such stories to cross over into mainstream media, it's always interesting to revisit, but Blue Book doesn't really offer much new or different material (aside from Michael Avon Oeming very good blue-hued art). Still, I'm interested to see where future volumes go.

[Estibaliz]

3.75

So... this is labeled as non-fiction because, well, it is based on the real life experience of the protagonist couple, who allegedly had an UFO encounter in 1961. So yes, I guess you can consider this non-fiction, but also a sci-fi story, depending on what your views are when it comes to aliens.

In any case, this story was very well written, and the reader can really empathize with the main characters experiences and feelings. But also, I understand why people think there's not much of a point in retelling this anecdote of sorts, as you clearly are not going to get any kind of real conclusion, let alone any explanations for the events here retold.

But I personally enjoyed the reading, and the blue tones were just wonderful and such an apt way to present this.

[Michael]

Everyone loves true crime documentaries right now. There's something endlessly appealing about investigating the strange, macabre, and potentially paranormal. Yet, it feels like mainstream comics hardly tackle these subjects outside of horror and science fiction. So, James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming’s Blue Book: 1961, a comic that takes some of the most famous "true" UFO stories and turns them into a series of nonfiction graphic novels, seems like a home run, right? And in some ways it is; but in other ways, it falls a bit short.

Retelling one of the most famous alien abductions of all time, Blue Book: 1961 explores the story of Betty and Barney Hill. In 1961, the couple reportedly got abducted by aliens while traveling home from a vacation in Canada. Or so the story goes. The way Tynion approaches this story proves quite interesting. At first, he follows the Hills as they’d have experienced the event. Driving along the countryside, seeing something weird in the sky, losing a bit of time, and eventually arriving home hours later than they should’ve with more questions than answers and a host of unresolved trauma.

But as the book progresses, and the Hills see a hypnotist who helps them unlock their repressed memories, things swerve closer to the realm of science fiction. Tynion takes us onboard the UFO with the Hills, fully exploring the nooks and crannies of their story. Why were they abducted? What did the aliens want with them? All questions the Hills' hypnotherapy sessions answer - if you're willing to believe it. The nice thing is that it never feels like Tynion takes a stance on the truthfulness of the Hills' story. And that adherence to neutrality is admirable. Tynion tells their story with no judgment and little embellishment. Just the facts, as they’ve been presented.

That being said, that’s also where the book stumbles a bit. Blue Book's biggest problem is that the story lacks some much-needed dramatization. It’s not that whole scenes and events need to be made up, or anything. Rather, most of the story is told by an omniscient narrator, so it's very prose-heavy, almost like reading a report. An entertaining, well-written report, to be sure. But a report nonetheless. And it doesn’t entirely feel like Tynion takes full advantage of the graphic novel medium here - except, perhaps, for the parts of the book that detail the Hills’ repressed memories. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this approach. In fact, it’s one of the things that makes Blue Book feel unique. But it's hard to avoid wishing Tynion had taken a few creative liberties here and there. Just a little touch of something.

On the other hand, Oeming’s artwork does a lot of the heavy lifting. He focuses on the emotion of the story. Lots of quiet moments and close-ups of Betty and Barney’s faces. His work in the latter half of the book, where we see the Hills’ repressed memories aboard the UFO, is quite breathtaking, too. He dives headfirst into classic sci-fi territory - with very retro designs for both the UFO and the aliens. And that mishmash of very grounded, character work and classic sci-fi imagery makes for quite a satisfying read. His use of color only adds to this enjoyable mishmash. Most of the art is done in various shades of blue, which add to both the mystery of the story and to the inherent melancholy of the Hills' experience. If you’re on the fence about reading Blue Book, Oeming’s artwork is easily worth the price of admission.

At the end of the day, Blue Book: 1961 proves enjoyable while also feeling a bit ho-hum. It’s very faithful to the Hills' story, to be sure. But that faithfulness acts as a bit of a double-edged sword as it doesn’t feel like Tynion has anything new to say here. He offers a faithful look at their experience, but little else. The artwork, on the other hand, makes the story come startlingly alive. It’s gorgeous to look at, deeply atmospheric, and keeps things moving briskly. If you’re at all interested in the subject of UFOs, and you’re not super familiar with Betty and Barney Hill, then Blue Book: 1961 is well worth a read. If you’re not, your mileage may vary.

DISCLAIMER: A review copy of Blue Book Volume 1: 1961 was provided by Dark Horse Comics and Edelweiss+. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

[James DeSantis]

This is more of a real life documentary in comic form than a "Alien" story.

But in reality a husband and wife did encounter aliens. Or so they said. This story isn't creepy or weird, but more of a husband and wife dealing with this secret, and it getting exposed to the world. I enjoyed the insight into what they thought they say, the Aliens were done different here than most media, and I enjoyed the two leads. But it felt kind of like just reading a article online verses a comic book story.

Overall a 3 out of 5.

[Soteralzobooks]

3.2 (biblio)

[Spencer Greenwood]

This was not was I was expecting from Tynion. This is a retelling of a real world event in which a couple claim to have had a UFO sighting. The facts drive the narrative and it really presents you with what happened and allows you to draw conclusions or feelings. The art is fantastic and the color palate fits well with the straightforward story telling. While not what I am used to from Tynion, it is fun to see him use his status in the industry to bring stories to light that I may not otherwise have come across. Worth a read if you are into the weird and unknown, and if you read Tynion, chances are you like weird and unknown.

[Eli]

I obviously forgot this was nonfiction by the time I started reading it. I am a huge James Tynion IV fan, so this was just another of his titles I planned to read a while back.

I learned a couple things I didn’t already know about the Betty and Barney Hill story. But overall, it was very dry. It was essentially just a fact-based retelling and visualization of their UFO incident. “Fact-based” because it is strictly as the couple told it to others and how it was received publicly. No speculation or subjective angle of any type really. I appreciate that, but I was particularly surprised by how little enjoyment I got out of reading this.

[Darth Reader]

Ayy LMAO.

So, you're tellin' me a super advanced space-fairing race of aliens with a fucking trade route across the goddamn galaxies don't know what time is? Or the color yellow? Or that old age and death exist? Or literally *anything* about Earth, like, at all? They can't, like, scan shit from up above? Do math? Use their imagination?

I mean, I'm Mulder. I want to believe...but goddamn. Also, what the dog doin'?

[kaitlphere]

I've heard Betty and Barney's story multiple times. This was the most humanizing iteration. The mostly black-and-blue art worked very well, especially to emphasize when other colors were used. The facial expressions in Oeming's art make the character's feelings very clear, and I appreciated reading about the art process and decision-making in the rear matter.

[Alisa]

Given my irrational fear of aliens, reading this at midnight last night was a greeaaat idea. 👽🛸

I love the concept of turning alien encounter stories into graphic novels. I am also a sucker for monochrome color palettes. The writing and layouts were mediocre, though the story is inherently interesting.

[Roxanne (The Novel Sanctuary)]

3.75

[Calvin Daniels]

That was an interesting read indeed :)

[Lesley]

Taking on the historical weirdness of the first hyper-publicized ufo encounter story in a nonfiction graphic novel further shows Tynion's range.

[Shane Stanis]

Excellent art and color choices. Reads as a love letter to Betty & Barney Hill.

[Kyle]

Non-fictional, biographic, mildly dramatized. Like an episode of Unsolved Mysteries in graphic novel form. Low-key creepy and chilling.

3.5/5

[Rob Vitagliano]

I read this storyline as individual issues.

I know the old adage that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I feel like said cover is one of the most important parts of comics. It's often what draws a person to even pick one up in the first place. I've been trying to branch out a bit in my comics, beyond just Star Trek and Batman, and the colors and artwork of the first issue drew me to take a flyer on this storyline. I had no idea what was really going on in it by the end, even less so with the secondary story towards the end, but I was intrigued enough to read more.

Apparently this is based on a true story of a couple from New Hampshire that have a gap in their memory from a return trip through the White Mountains. They eventually decided that they encountered extra terrestrials and began to become paranoid. The next few issues all follow different aspects of the encounter, and we see bits and pieces of what might have happened if the couple had in fact been abducted by aliens.

Each issue has a separate short story at the end, all unrelated and all extremely strange. I admit I have absolutely no idea what is happening in any of them, and I almost feel that they distract from the Blue Book story. I could completely do without these. The main story feels like an intriguing mystery with some hints of science fiction, but the extra stories seem to be designed merely to make the reader go "WTF?" by the end.

The artwork of Blue Book is simple but terrific, and the simple color pallet of blue, white, black and grey is just right for the mood of the whole story. I enjoyed the whole thing, save for the random stories at the end.

[Alex Sarll]

Perhaps it's just my own resistance to non-fiction as a particularly fruitful area for comics, unless it's autobiographical (and even then, I find a lot of autobiographical comics overrated and self-indulgent), or a very occasional oddball outlier, usually with tricks to the telling (Alice In Sunderland!). But when this was first announced, I didn't altogether get why someone as buzzy as Tynion is lately would be doing a straight comics retelling of alien encounter stories. He already has Department Of Truth, which is heavily grounded in real conspiracy and mystery culture; UFOs specifically got similar remix treatment in Cornell and Kelly's recently completed Saucer Country. Having read this, I'm still none the wiser. But it is a pretty good retelling of the Betty & Barney Hill abduction incident, which, whatever the truth of it, was to prove such a precursor to the classic form of that narrative – missing time, intimate meddling, Zeta Reticuli and all. And Oeming draws the hell out of it, the black, white and blue palette not just a fun pun on the title, but deepening an eerie, nocturnal mood that also means any flash of a further colour becomes suitably, well, alien. I still don't know why it exists, but it's a good piece of work, bar maybe the rather intermittent treatment of Delsey, the Hills' Dachshund, who is very cute when she does appear, but keeps dropping out of the comic for long stretches, and whose integral role in events is somewhat sidelined.

[Rick Ray]

Blue Book taps into the paranormal in a rather fresh, intriguing new way from regular horror comic writer James Tynion IV, who pairs up with Michael Avon Oeming to deliver this five-issue miniseries. A re-telling of the "true story" behind the alien abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in New Hampshire, 1961, Tynion pieces together the couple's account on the UFO sighting with a fictitious narrative that fills in the gaps. A cursory search into the Hills' account on the incident shows that Tynion does his research well on the events, adding in a rather emotionally charged story that feels fitting to the encounter. Appropriately creepy and mostly engaging, Blue Book is a fun new take on the "Very Loosely Based on a True Story" concept. Oeming's artwork also works great here, with only sharp lines distinguished by a couple shades of blue for contrast. It looks a little like Darwyn Cooke's Richard Stark's Parker comics in that almost noir-esque aesthetic, though Oeming's line isn't nearly as expressive.

A fun read for anyone into UFOs and the paranormal, and a fair bit more unique than the typical horror comic of late.

[Adam Fisher]

Not usually one for Non-fiction, but being both a graphic novel as well as having James Tynion IV attached.... I had to check it out.
Illustrated in 3 colors (black, white, blue), this book tells the story of the alien abduction of Betty and Barney Hill, a story that even I, not being crazy familiar with abduction stories, knew a bit about.
Really quick read, well presented... overall, just a nice change of pace.
Recommend.

[Sonic]

This is an awesome and timely tale!

[Brandon Daniels]

Not a story I was familiar with, even though I have probably heard about it. Avon Oeming doing some subtle but strong cartooning. A one sitting read.

[Yoshiro]

James Tynion IV has accustomed readers to his unique approach to horror . In his own works, he's skilled at weaving complex, multi-layered plots, but for this title, he decided to completely change his narrative approach. The project, which began as a digital publication on Substack, is purely documentary in nature, almost chronicle-like.

The script draws on two UFO-related cases: the Betty and Barney Hill case from 1961 and the Kenneth Arnold case from 1947. In both of these stories, Tynion doesn't overdramatize where it's not needed. He avoids cheap plot twists. Instead, we get a precise, descriptive narrative, based on narrative frames reminiscent of the style of old government reports .

The first story, about the Hill couple, is gripping, thanks primarily to the excellent handling of anxiety on a nighttime road and the psychological clash between Barney's rationality and the anomaly Betty observes. The second part, taking us to 1947 and the events over Mount Rainier, shifts the emphasis slightly. Tynion doesn't focus solely on the passing of the shiny objects seen by Arnold, but instead traces the media-induced frenzy and the sociological consequences of this observation, skillfully establishing the atmosphere of the early Cold War era.

The problem, however, lies in the pacing and the way these two stories function alongside each other within the same volume. While the 1961 case at least has a clear arc, the 1947 tale feels more like an illustrated, archival history lecture. The pace slows dramatically in the second part, and the narrative becomes stifled by an overabundance of facts. Tynion deliberately leaves it unclear whether we're dealing with a genuine extraterrestrial visitation or a collective psychosis. This restraint serves the mystery well , but overall, it leaves the comic lacking a satisfying climax. Both stories simply end, leaving the reader with the feeling of dealing with a set of archival notes rather than a fully-fledged, sequential narrative.

Tynion employs historical figures here . Betty and Barney Hill are portrayed with great sensitivity and respect. Their relationship, their natural dialogue in the cab, and their slow descent into a state of paralyzing fear are convincing. The author paints a portrait of an ordinary 1960s couple whose orderly life is disrupted by an utterly inexplicable phenomenon. Unfortunately, due to the documentary format, the reader observes them from a certain distance. Instead of engaging emotions, we get an account of their trauma and therapy sessions, making the Hills more of case studies than characters with whom we develop a connection.

In the second story, Kenneth Arnold appears even more impersonal. As a comic book character, he functions almost exclusively as a vehicle for historical events. We see him in the cockpit of an airplane and later during interrogations by the secret services, but Tynion gives us virtually no insight into his inner self or private life beyond superficial references. Arnold is merely a witness, an element of a larger media mechanism, which means that in the second half of the collected volume, the element of human drama disappears completely, leaving only a dry record of historical facts.....

Full review: https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/bleki...#