When I was a kid, I lived for books, magazines and especially late-at-night television programming that featured the nonfiction accounts of unexplained phenomena: UFO’s, alien abductions, the Men in Black, secreted technologies and government conspiracies.
Now, late-at-night for a ten-year-old might have been half-past-seven, eight or (Heaven forbid!) nine o’clock in the evening, but that’s when In Search Of…, Arthur C. Clark’s Mysterious World, That’s Incredible and Unsolved Mysteries aired on television. Together, those programs fueled my imagination and love for science fiction and my interest in the really big questions like are we alone in the universe? along with have we already made contact?
It was at that age, that I was first introduced to the idea of Project Blue Book, the real-life and now infamous, study of unidentified flying objects by the United States Air Force. Beginning in 1952 and actively running trough 1969, Project Blue Book was the official government file that investigated over 12,000 separate UFO reports. Its ultimate findings suggested that there was no evidence to suggest that any UFO sighting or interaction was of a national security threat, that any technology at the heart of those investigations was beyond modern science and that, importantly, no vehicles were identified as being of extraterrestrial design or origin.
What a shame.
Still, the best part of those television shows that I watched with so much enthusiasm in my youth was that they presented their material, the real-life stories, without any unnecessary or fancified editorial. We were all skeptics, television program producers and viewers, in search of…belief. A mighty draw, indeed!
Today sees that fascinated-skeptic hook return with Blue Book #1.
Clik here to view.
Written by the award-winning writer, James Tynion IV (Something Is Killing The Children, The Department of Truth, The Nice House On The Lake, The Woods, Detective Comics) and award-winning illustrator, Michael Avon Oeming (Powers, Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, the Mice Templar, The Victories) and published by Dark Horse Comics, Blue Book is a five-issue miniseries that tells the story of one of the world’s most famous real-life UFO experiences!
As a concept, Blue Book has got a very long (interstellar) runway that could keep Tynion and Oeming busy for decades. Each volume plans to feature a new, non-fiction story, that details just the facts of the matter: an interaction with a UFO or alien lifeform. This first volume is the infamous, highly researched story, of Betty and Barney Hill and their abduction by aliens on their way home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire from a modest holiday in Montreal during the early fall of 1961. What they encountered along the road sure can’t be found on any map.
So taken by the series, Biff Bam Pop! highlighted Blue Book a week ago, which you can find here along with a sneak preview of the first issue. Tales of strange lights, aliens and Roswell, New Mexico can’t be far behind!
Make the run to your local comic book shop today and may your healthy skepticism be entertainingly treated to unsolved mysteries and all of your big questions with Blue Book #1.
On the evening of March 15, you can catch a special event with a Dark Horse Presents: Blue Book Evening with James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming in a Q&A celebration at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Tickets can be purchased online from the Hollywood Theatre’s website: hollywoodtheatre.org.