If you read this, you are now the Resistance. Meet us where the Colonies first resistance rider started. And whatever you do, don’t go into grocery stores as they are traps.
What They Say:
In the heart of Boston, following the devastating events of an alien invasion, history professor Tom Mason and his sons meet up with the 2nd Mass, a militia group determined to wipe out the aliens. But with the militia’s supplies running low, Tom must locate an old friend to equip him and his team in order to ensure the survival of the human race!
The Review:
One of the hardest things in comics is the adaptation piece. How much are you chained to the source material, how much can you sneak in and how do you make a story catch the attention not just of fans of the source work but try to lure in fans who may not care for the original work-or even know it exists? I’ve been reading comics for quite some time (since the move from $.75 to $1.00 standard was a considered a big deal) and along the way I have gravitated to a good number of adaptations. One of the first was the Return of the Jedi comic which stands out to me as I remember how I was feeling and even the (now nonexistent) store it was obtained at. The trick to adaptations though often is how much that the copyright owners will let you see-in Jedi’s case it wasn’t Vader’s unhelmeted face.
Going into an adaptation can be a tricky thing then as one never knows what will exactly the writer will be allowed to share and how they will be allowed to adapt the basic story to fit a medium that’s pace is totally different. In Falling Skies’ case the answer turns out to be a mixed bag when looking at the title from just a story telling view as this review is being written months before the TV series debut so there is no ground to stand on in terms of how close the adaptation is to the source material available to compare at this time.
The story drops us into a world already felled and where the surviving humans are reduced to scavenging through the remains of their once great cities while dodging the occupying force of invaders. Into this mix is thrown now former history professor Tom Mason and his three sons as they must struggle to survive in a world they never imagined that has already taken apart their family dynamic. Tom’s wife was an early casualty and now he must try to protect his sons in what may be the only city left on Earth as far as he knows. As much as Tom would like to keep his sons as safe as possible the need for supplies outweighs leaving them behind when he goes into the city and the four family members begin the tale while foraging through a now empty home looking for food. Their search is interrupted though as a group of aliens that have been dubbed Skitters stalk down the street looking for survivors.
The creatures move about on their six legs and have three fingered hands that combined with their upper bodies and heads lend an insect like appearance to their form. When the aliens arrived they came in force and eliminated all the major army bases as well as used an EMP to disable communications so people are separated in a way that modern man has not known. While they easily have the force to wipe out resistance-the alien ground patrols use large (10 to 12 foot perhaps, the scale is hard to pin exactly) two legged mechs packed with weaponry that they direct to carry out suppression techniques in large number or just their natural strength and speed to execute those adults they come across. The thing that quickly gets noticed though is that rather than execute children they collect them and fit them with a harness on their backs for reasons that humans don’t know.
While the Mason’s manage to evade the aliens initially when they reach the small refuge like camp they have come to live in some overzealous Militia members take a shot at one of the Skitters flying vehicles which immediately places them on the Skitters’ radar and the slaughter begins. As Tom is helping those he can he gets separated from his children who are then further separated before getting to their meeting point and find that the youngest son Ben has gone missing and they presume he has been captured. With this latest development Tom decides he will need to take the fight to the Skitters and joins the Militia himself which is an act he had previously held off on.
As six weeks pass Tom’s efforts at putting up fliers start to attract more people to his 2nd Mass Militia group including those with a lot more practical skill then he has. With a need for weapons and the discovery that the nearby military base is gone Tom tries to get in touch with an eclectic professor he used to work. The professor often claimed to have been stocking up on weapons but the mission goes south as while away Tom nearly losses that most precious to him while also seeing his colleague’s building had been destroyed. Tom is then forced to come to terms with the reality that he can’t keep his children from the battle and over the next six months his oldest son Hal has gains a good deal of fighting experience along with his father as they learn from practical experience. When rumor reaches the now over 3500 member group that Tom’s colleague had survived and still has weapons Tom sets out with a small party to find the man but will a trigger happy member of the group bring about another failed mission?
There are some things that are really enjoyable in Falling Skies but also areas where it comes across a bit hollow. On the positive side the creator clearly sat back and planned out a number of the elements he wanted in the story and has established a believable frame for them to exist in. Being thrown in after the initial invasion humanity has been trying to deal with the various aspects that the invaders brought with them in terms of activity and behavior pattern provides a quick in to the story and gets it up to speed from the very first pages. Also an interesting touch is that the aliens are shown within the first few pages as opposed to hiding their forms and going for the later big shock revel that these series often try to use. The photo realistic art is another big plus as some panels are just breathtakingly gorgeous and often provide quite a setting for the characters and the use of a diary idea for narration isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination but it is really effective for this context.
Sadly, the characters and their ability to be given time to react and adapt to events that take place are the main flaw in this comic. A good deal of time is spent showing how Tom first comes to accept being in the Militia, how he helps organize and recruit as well as a few missions but less time is spent on the characters themselves. Characters are brought in and then either pushed to the side or killed at such a pace that it feels for some that only connection that can be made to them is that they are humans fighting aliens which deadens what should be some emotional moments. Whether this was a decision to focus the comic on more of the action or a result of the source material doing so is something that won’t be known until the first episode airs but concentrating on the big splash versus spending some time on character development may not help the material succeed long term.
At two separate points in the comic time leaps forward-first six weeks from the attack and then later a six month gap happens. While these gaps help forward the action the time lost showing Tom coping with the loss of his son and learning the practical art of warfare are lost which would help ground the reader to him as a person. One other troubling issue is how at times the aliens will ignore a decent sized group of people but spend time setting traps for much smaller numbers that just has them come off as a bit erratic and inconsistent in their actions.
Preview Edition:
The preview edition included what looks to be the final cover, all the story pages and nine pages of notes, sketches and a couple different preview cover work ups from the artist. This version was lacking a readable Introduction and Foreword though which may have helped set up some of the situations and events found within.
In Summary:
Fallen Skies is an adaptation that shows a lot of promise with the series for those looking for a series that contains a good deal of action in showing humanity trying to fight its way back from being invaded. It does fall a bit flat though in its initial offering conveying the human elements as they cope with the devastating loses they have endured. This will be a central issue going forward as it will be up to the characters to carry the series and make it really standout from the rest of the pack but this introduction to the series kicks off to a start that shows it has the potential to be really good but also the execution leave open the possibility it will be rather mediocre.
Grade: C+
