30 in 30: ALIEN the Illustrated Story

#4: ALIEN the Illustrated Story
Storytellers: Archie Goodwin & Walt Simonson
Publisher: Titan Books
Year Of Publication: 2012
Page Count (can be approximate or in # of issues format): 64 pages

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING / STORYTELLING:

Jargon doesn’t need to be defined within the dialogue.  Particularly in the beginning, characters will talk in a shorthand, discussing aspects of the ship.  It’s not necessary to the plot, so Goodwin doesn’t have the characters define what they’re discussing and that works well.  It imbues the characters with a genuineness and competence that helps ground this science-fiction/horror story.

 
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ART / STORYTELLING:

A double-page spread, when used well, can really enhance the story and provide a big moment.  The one in ALIEN, drawn by Simonson, really stopped me in my tracks.  It really provides the unimaginable scale of the alien ship, as the figures of Dallas, Kane, and Lambert can be seen in the lower left corner in red (colored so that they wouldn’t get lost in the hugeness of the overall image)

 
RECOMMENDATION: B

NOTES / REVIEW / SYNOPSIS:

I’m a big fan of the film ALIEN and so enjoyed this very much.  Goodwin and Simonson did an admirable job of compressing that 2-hour movie into a 64-page comic.  They utilize the medium well in service of the story, but it obviously suffers from the truncated space and some moments are glossed over.  I think a reader coming to this without having seen the film might have some trouble with it, but overall, it’s a well done book.