UFOlogy Vol. 1

by James Tynion IV, Noah J. Yuenkel, Matthew Fox (Artist)

What’s to Love: James Tynion IV has already blown us away with The Woods and Memetic, and now he’s teaming up with Thrillbent co-writer Noah J. Yuenkel (The House in the Wall) and artist Matthew Fox (Long Walk to Valhalla) to bring us a story about aliens in the Midwest. Ideal for fans of Paper Girls and The X-Files. What It Is: Becky Finch never wanted to be special. Malcolm Chamber wanted something more. A destiny. When Becky is marked by an alien’s touch, she’ll stumble into a mystery she never wanted. A mystery that almost ripped apart both their parents’ lives 12 years ago. She’ll need the help of her eccentric young classmate, Malcolm, as she finds the power within herself to uncover the truth. Collects the complete limited series, #1-6. “...the best elements of James Tynion IV's writing from The Woods and Memetic...with a great balance of mystery and science fiction and layering some unbelievably fantastic art...well worth reading.” - Multiversity

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Young Adult, Aliens

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2016

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

[Faye Fite · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Beautiful artwork, very good characterization, and a fun, well paced story-line. It had an X-files kind of vibe going on. Parts of the story seemed a bit convoluted and I was kind of bummed to see that the government got dragged in to things. I was hoping it would just be a plain aliens story and not a conspiracy theory. But that's okay. It was a super fun read!

[Beatrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

AMAZING artwork, though I feel like the story was too compressed, I was left very confused at times particularly at the end. Also, there wasn't enough time to really care about the characters.... most of the narrative was driven by stuff that happened to happen to them, instead of them taking control which I always find a bit annoying. Not gonna lie left feeling a little disappointed. I bought James Tynion's other book 'The Woods' at the same time as I bought this, and I thought I'd actually like this more; but in my opinion this story feels very weak alongside 'The Woods' which was quite surprising.

Although, it's probably worth giving it a look at least as the art is really incredible :)

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like a setup for a series that didn’t make the cut. Several plot holes that will never be addressed, since this was published about a decade ago.

Either way, not bad. Tynion is my favorite graphic novelist, so I find his “meh”/average to be better than some writers best. This had his signature tone and style but just fell flat with a weak plot. Cool title, though.

[ELION1738 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically a re-read, but I remembered very little from 7 years ago. Art and colors are captivating, characters feel layered, and the extraterrestrial plot feels grounded in the human experience - as it does in all good sci-fi. The only negative I have is that there are a lot of characters and storylines for such a short read, which can make it feel a bit overstuffed and hard to follow at times.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this one just fell flat for me. I suffered through finishing this one because I didn’t care for the lettering, the art, or the characters. I just didn’t feel anything for what was going on in this book and I felt that Tynion was writing this trying extra hard to get you to care. Bummed, because I was very excited for this one.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ p. 25

This wasn't what I wa looking for and the art style wasn't working for me either.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this is a limited series although it feels almost entirely unfinished. Leaving a story open ended is one thing. Tying up NONE of the story's loose ends is completely different. We get absolutely no closure. In fact, the story beat ends on a building block for the history of the characters.

Terrible ending aside, the story itself was honestly just average at best. I feel like Tynion got much better footing as his career progressed.

I will say I absolutely adored the art and almost bumped this up to 3 stars simply because of that.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

UFOlogy collects issues 1-6 of the series written by James Tynion IV with art by Noah J. Yuenkel.

Two highschoolers who dream of a bigger universe are caught up in a multigenerational encounter that will forever shape their young lives.

This book has been on my read list for a few years now. I really enjoyed the characters and the artwork of the series. I especially liked the quirky relationship between the two main characters and it was refreshing that there was no romantic storyline between the two. I had two main problems with the book. First off all the lettering was extremely hard to read. I read this digitally and constantly had to zoom in to be able to decipher the text. Second of all is that the book is a bit confusing because of short run of the book. It would have worked better being a couple issues longer to flesh out the story and giving us a little more reason to care about the characters. I still enjoyed the book but thought it could have been crafted just bit better if given the time.

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started better than it ended. What felt cohesive and really well paced ended up going too fast by the end and getting kind of messy. I say this all the time with single volume/mini series comics but I think this could have benefitted from being longer. It didn’t have to be a massive run but maybe 10 issues broken up into 2 volumes, then all the rushed things at the end could have been fleshed out. It wasn’t terrible, I just find myself often wanting more from a mini-series.

The art and color in this series was *chef’s kiss* there were some of the most gorgeous panels and uses of color I have seen. In the first issue when Malcolm climbs up to his balcony to stargaze….phew that spread was amazing! Art isn’t the end all be all in a comic for me but it does help when it’s good.

[C.E.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this isn't particularly great or anything, but dang it, I liked it; there's just something about it that compels me, personally, so, think of it as more of a 3.5 or 3.75 stars from me. Honourable mentions to the color work, and the background/landscape art (especially of the night sky).

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing art. I liked the story though it was a bit confusing at times. I'd definitely read more of this story if it existed.

[Liam Klenk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, smart, good characters, intriguing story.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible, though a bit underdeveloped and not always as clear as it should be. Still enjoyable for that X-Files, Fringe, Stranger Things vibe.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many good threads, but it didn’t quite hang together. I’d love to read another volume that expands on the ideas that weren’t fully expanded on in this one.

[Gracen Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some good powers. Alien and human minds aren't always compatible. Two generations of encounter experiencers come together.

[connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult one to rate. I loved the storyline, the supernatural and conspiracy elements, the family relationships- but the ending was so dang confusing. I feel like I still have no idea what the ending means after sitting on it. And I loved the art, but Malcolm and Becky were drawn so similarly that I would have to reread scenes after realising I'd been reading it thinking the character was the other.

Still a really enjoyable read! Recommend if you like aliens and interesting family dynamics! Also radio podcasts.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art, pretty good story -- it felt a little unfinished at the end, but overall it was really enjoyable. The alien designs were different than anything I've seen before, which was a nice change of pace.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ufology suffers a common problem in graphic novels: compression. Too much happens without a chance to fully unpack it all or get to know the characters. Consequently, the narrative ends up trope-y and stale.

The plot takes place in a small town where, ten years previous, an alien encounter occurred. Today, two teenagers are drawn into the conspiracy, things go boom, and you know what? I don't even really know what happened. The girl (who is very smart doesn't want to go to college for unexplained reasons. That is 90% of her character) is touched by an alien entity and this allows her to communicate with the creatures... eventually. First there are a lot of running around and getting attacked scenes because the government. The aliens need to retrieve a thing that was left behind on Earth before the rest of their kind comes and destroys everything. And stuff. And the male lead's mom was infected by government alien tech. And there's an AI in the desert, but we're not going to deal with that until volume 2. Also, all the adults are terrible.

As I said, too much is going on. Rather than giving readers a solid story, mysteries are set up for future volumes. I love series with long-term mysteries, but you have to make me care about the now of the story as well or we'll never get to volume 2.

[MechaComicReviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

UFOlogy is an interesting take on the scifi aliens-make-first-contact trope while following two teenagers who must save their town. The story is chalk full of conspiracy theories and shady government spooks as they begin to confront each other. As enjoyable as the story is and seeing the kids take on new threats to their town that no one else will believe, the book is effectively the white noise over the radio: usually comforting, definitely forgettable.

The nearest thing I can think of for this book is that it’s a b-episode on The X-Files but follows kids. The book’s enjoyable and creates a sandbox to play around in, but the aliens and the horror are more interesting to look at than actually scary. Unfortunately, I can’t for the life of me remember what the resolution to the conflict at the climax of the book was, and I read this book two weeks ago.

The art is bright with a nice color palette that is vibrant and bold. The inks are made with a nice brush that is both weighted and detailed. Some frames reminded me of a less fine-arts Craig Thompson style, albeit in a completely different product. The art and narrative work together just fine and I love a good scifi story, but it’s ultimately unfulfilling.

[Alex Sarll]

Uncanny occurrences in an American nowhere town, setting off ripples in a tangle of long-unfinished business, inter-generational legacies, and black ops programmes as past their best as most old government projects. I don't recognise any of the names here bar co-writer Tynion, and in places I was fairly confused as to what was going on – but with the possible exception of the aggressively hand-drawn style on the lettering, it was never the bad sort of confusion, more a method way to bring out how unsettling this shit would be, shake the reader out of comfy genre certainties. The mood reminded me a lot of Jeff Lemire's quieter, more rural projects, except that a little more of the long sadness gets some kind of resolution.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like James Tynion. I really didn't like this. The book is about two high schoolers who are involved with possible alien encounter and how its possibly connected to something their parents went through years earlier. Unfortunately the story made little sense. At one point a character says, "I have no idea idea what's going on" and I agreed completely. I don't know why or what the aliens were about. The book should have focused more on the kids and explained the aliens much better. The parent's story was much less interesting. The art was serviceable but unspectacular. Overall, a disappointing read.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

While trying to shake off her worries about life after high school, Becky finds an alien and is left with a strange mark that, once she begins investigating the town with alien geek Malcolm, turns out to be part of a greater secret that has been hidden for over a decade. Tynion IV, Yuenkel, Fox and Metcalfe offer sci-fi fans an intriguing tale, relishing its investigative nature and spooky atmosphere, though a bit confusing in its finale. Has something extraterrestrial dragged Becky into its ploy...something that certain people in the town know more about than they let on?

[Seth Josephson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sci-fi imaginings of the teenagers-meet-alien mystery tale and the vibrant art.

I found the story a bit confusing (I think the layers of the mystery would fall into place if it had a bit more explanation). Also, the framing dosen't land well today as it would have when this was written (published in 2016). In the 2020s, anti-government conspiracy-peddling radio hosts look a lot less harmless than they used to.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer does another sci-fi, alien type thing. This one has tinges of 50s abduction, 90 X-Files and Lovecraftian themes. It blends it well and uses two generations in a friend group to tell the story. I found the lettering a bit hard to read at times and sometimes that took away from my understanding of the story.

I enjoyed the conspiracy elements but did get lost a bit. Not sure it was the sole fault of the writer and lettering.

[Travis Whitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes place is Wisconsin? About UFO? Has a weird Conspiracy radio station? Need less to say I had I hopes for this one. The premise was great the execution was alright. The plot got a little convoluted near the end and I found myself with more questions than answers (and not in a good way) at the end. The art was top notch.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had trouble reading the faces of these characters- the art style doesn’t really work for me and the story is a bit grabbing me like JT4 later comics do. (although some good lines like Kudos, Kodos and Kang)

I also think JT4 does a great job writing kids and young adults, I like the kids in the story just not too interested :/

[Grady Moss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre Sc-Fi. Art was great but the story felt rushed and the alien creatures didn’t feel impactful. I feel the only thing I read that I liked from Tynion was “the nice house on the lake.” I feel this story could be a lot more if it had more development of the creatures and actual origins of who they are.
I hope there is a part 2

[Crystal Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is beautiful. I really love the color scheme. The story I guess I couldn't really follow or know what was going on most times. But I feel it has potential if they continue on and I definitely like the whole X-Files vibe.

[Donny Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and the type of feel you get from a cable network original.

Those with negative reviews seem to have wanted a different book, which is...on them. Snarky reviews written by keyboard critics. This is fun and looks SO GOOD. Give it a shot, even if it is a boring piece of book.