Broken Frontier

It’s rednecks versus aliens in Image’s new sci-fi comedy series as a hibernating spaceship of pig-eating extraterrestrials is unleashed on a small Kentucky town.

Millions of years ago a conflict between two alien space craft left one destroyed and the other buried underground in what will become Horton County, Kentucky. It also wiped out the dinosaurs as collateral damage. Fast forward to the present day and we’re introduced to two inhabitants of said locale, moonshining brothers Elvis and Johnny Ray. When the duo are forced to destroy their still to stop it being discovered by the sheriff and his crew, the ensuing explosion accidentally uncovers the long-buried spaceship, unleashing the awakened visitors on the pig-farming town.

As an opener this largely serves as an exercise in scene-setting and an introduction to the (human) characters and, as such, the actual concept of the series is only briefly touched on. Comics today, though, can rarely be judged on a first issue alone and it’s actually to the writing team’s credit that they allow the story to breathe. There’s a temptation sometimes to cram too much background information into a first issue and trade storytelling for heavy exposition. That’s been resisted here. Although it means we have to wait another month to see any real interaction between the human cast and the aliens, it lets us get to know Johnny Ray and Elvis a little better.

The book is darkly comic throughout, from the circumstances of the aliens’ crash on Earth through to the cop-baiting antics of the brothers. Todd Farmer provides some great moments of slapstick action that border on the antics of a Looney Tunes cartoon, as Elvis and Johnny Ray outwit the forces of the law.

The art has a rich 1950s/1960s monster B-movie feel to it and upcoming covers appear to fit into this vibe. Without a doubt it also sports my favourite cover so far this year. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of Don Marquez’s aliens once the story really gets into gear.

It’s pretty obvious in what direction this is going but I’ll need another issue or so to see whether or not the creative team can keep the momentum going. This is certainly a promising start though. Alien Pig Farm 3000 is a fast-paced and unashamedly absurd mix of Mars Attacks! and The Dukes of Hazzard. Definitely worth a look!