Review - Overtaken #1

"Long before man..."

Yes, life does occasionally happen pretty fast in all manner of town, even the small, mountain lake towns. What helps to accelerate the pace of life in those towns could be new inhabitants, both human and alien. The combination of the two make for an interesting read in Overtaken #1 from Aspen Comics.

The issue is written by Frank Mastromauro, illustrated by Marco Lorenzana, colored by Wes Hartman and lettered by Josh Reed.

Jesse and Will are a young couple madly in love with one another. They've got that glow about them, requisite with all the caring and lovey dovey talk shared between them. They've made the big move from Chicago to Turtle Creek, a sleepy little town where the sheriff is friendly with everyone and parents are right down the street. Mixed in with the idyllic setting though is another set of inhabitants of the extraterrestrial variety, setting their sights on the new visitors before they get settled in.

While the story starts off in the depths of space, Mastromauro brings it quickly back to Earth, joining the two settings with the events at the end of the issue. It appears that there's a race of beings who existed before (or alongside but distant from) humans and the two races are poised to collide for whatever reason. Mastromauro sets this meeting up well, spending the bulk of the issue pitching Jesse and Will as madly in love (almost to the point of a cliche) and the town acting as an effectively quiet setting. The motives of the beings is unclear, but they need humanity for something.

Lorenzana's art is very clean. There's a good mix of character and setting, both of which really help to reinforce the quiet town that is Turtle Creek. The aliens get a brief cameo in the opening pages of the book and they look somewhat humanoid in form, save for some extra arms. Jesse and Will have a surfer look to them, but they're convincing enough as a couple; their matching good looks works well with the overly emotional statements the two share with one another.

There's not a whole lot that really goes on in Overtaken #1, but there's a lot there to get readers enticed. The aliens have made their way to Earth for reasons yet unknown and how Jesse and Will play into their overarching plans remains to be seen. Still though, Turtle Creek is effectively a quiet town that's about to get woken up whether it wants it or not. Where Mastromauro takes the story from here is anyone's guess, but it could be something grander than previous stories similar to this would dictate.

Overtaken #1 is available in stores August 28 with interiors below.