As you can tell from my previous Saucer Country reviews I am highly impressed with this comic thus far. I even went back to get the first complete arc before going on with the next stand alone issue. This issue is Saucer Country: The Bluebird Perspective another stand alone that is a companion piece to A Field Guide To Flying Saucers that was issue 6. In that issue the Professor introduced us to the lore of alien beings visiting humans. Here a group of scientists and engineers have taken the the perspective that yes UFOs do exist and they are actual spacecraft from another planet or dimension.
the required legal statement – All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
The creative team for the issue is as follows: Paul Cornell, Writer – David Lapham, Art – Giulia Brusco, Color – Sal Cipriano, Letters – Mark Doyle, Associate Editor – Will Dennis, Editor – Saucer Country created by Cornell & Kelly.
We are introduced the Bluebirds through the new member Astelle Johnson a rising star in aerospace design. We’ve seen her in previous issues at a meeting being introduced and using the Bluebirds’ computer hacks to follow just what Professor Kidd is doing with the Governor’s campaign. Good plot thread connections coming together into a bigger picture here. That takes writing skill and Cornell shows he has that in every issue.
In this issue we learn that the Bluebirds were founded by WWII vet Joe Bermingen an RAF officer who saw Foo Fighters (no not the rock band the UFOs reported by allied pilots in WWII). He knew from his sighting that they weren’t Nazi test craft but alien. From there his life was centered on engineering craft like it and later upon finding crashed alien craft and back engineering it. The further the story goes the stranger it gets, but Astelle listens trying to understand it all just like us the reader.
This book does well to weave together all the various thoughts on the belief that UFOs aren’t paranormal but real machines to bring aliens here. It is ironic that the Bluebird spokesman dismisses Professor Kidd’s mythology with a grain of truth approach as going down the rabbit hole, given how far down the rabbit hole the story of Joe Bermingen goes. By the end of it even Astelle is left asking her mentor “Do you believe?” Science doesn’t need belief that’s an issue of faith – something Professor Kidd is investigating. So just like all the various lines of thought and mythology around UFOs in the real world become vastly inter tangled so do they in Saucer Country plot lines.
The story isn’t confusing at all Cornell has composed it well so that we the reader can follow Astelle, the Governor, and Professor Kidd down the rabbit hole without question. It all leads us deeper into his story of what happened to the leading Presidential candidate and her ex-husband that night in the New Mexico high desert? Will it change the election? If elected will that experience that changed her life change the world as a result of her Presidency? Just what is the truth of it all? I’ll keep reading for answers which is more that I ever expect to get in real life.
The art is up to the high standard as usual. I’m intrigued by the Bluebirds coming into the forefront of the tale. I want to know what role they will be playing. Now to bring the conspiracy group out more and ohh those spooky not quite human like but human non the less men in black we see here and there in the story. Lapham is excellent in working in Easter Eggs and visual hints to later issues in his art. I’m sure the SERPO screen we’ve seen Astelle viewing will come into play. Along with the fact that there are visual hints the Men In Black aren’t really men. The manner he handles the illustrating of the Joe Bermingen story is fantastic and just shows us enough to question what the rest of the story is, what did Joe really see as a Foo Fighter?
Well written story getting more complex but leading the reader on to more coupled with excellent art that adds more visual clues to the story telling makes this one of the best comics on my pull list. In short Vertigo has hit another home run with this issue.
Excellent scene that pulls on reality. It is true that control towers get radar ghosts they cannot determine the cause. I’ve talked to a few people in the industry most feel it has to do with weather and the earth’s own electromagnetic field. I’ve been told the newer systems are set up to filter out this anomalies. There are others who wonder if this is such a good idea. Should such things just be ignored? That’s where the rabbit hole goes – to tie them into the Joe B. story at the center of the Bluebirds was another great writing touch.
This draws on the theory that what is seen is actually top secret craft being flown. Before the Stealth lines were de-classified there were reports of triangle shaped UFOs – were these the stealth planes? Aurora is a line in the US budget for top secret military something. Retirees from the real area 51 contend that yes, yes it is. Again another excellent job writing in another of the ideas of UFOs into this story and illustrating them well.
I can’t wait to read issue 8!
Mary Louise Eklund 