Teenagers From Mars #1by Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk.
Publisher
Credits Grade: 7 If you've ever thought to yourself, "Gee, The Waiting Place would have been the perfect comic for me if only it had had some evil zombies in it", then Teenagers From Mars is for you. Even if you didn't, maybe you should, as Teenagers From Mars is the perfect combination of the real and the surreal, the natural and the supernatural. This book has the intelligence and slice-of-life dialog of a comic like The Waiting Place, but splices in what may prove to be a fascinating horror element. Or, in the alternative, imagine an American version of Strangehaven, featuring bored slackers instead of eccentric English people. Does that whet your appetite a bit more? It should, as Teenagers From Mars is mighty tasty brain food.The set up: some bored teens in a back-water small town feel somewhat hopeless about ever getting out of the place. In search of kicks, perhaps, they start vandalizing ancient graveyards containing what seem to be civil war soldiers. Meantime, a clerk in a "Wal-mart" style store has developed a crush on a young goth girl. The kid is fired from his job after he talks back to his boss for wanting to pull some comics because of an ignorant customer's complaint against it. The argument they have develops into a fight. Beaten and bruised, the kid goes back to his house to draw a horror comic featuring the girl of his dreams as a vampire/zombie. The comic within the comic shows us what we somewhat have suspected all along — Teenagers From Mars is about to get some monsters in it. I'm happy that a new horror comic is out on the market. I'm also happy that it is surprisingly well written and drawn. The art is fresh and unique, sort of between realism and Fantagraphics weirdness. The comic's writing is very professional and is quite well paced. Spears seems to know the psyche of the bored male teen quite well from his realistic but not unsympathetic portrayal of the young men. Because of these factors, it surprised me not at all that Mr. Spears is also a film-maker whose work was featured at Slamdance Film Festival (the only true alternative to the stodgy Sundance Film Festival). He just has a director's eye somehow. I like this book. I like these two creators. I like originality. This book is destined to be a cult favorite as soon as people get to know it. Make that process start now by buying this first issue of Teenagers From Mars. Written: April 22, 2002
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