Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Peter Hogan
Artist: Steve Parkhouse
Released: 29th July 2015

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Resident Alien is something of a wonderful curiosity – a sci-fi rural detective noir, which is never a descriptor that I expected to have to come up with. After reviewing the first issue of this third volume of our alien pal and protagonist Harry’s adventures, I sought out the previous stories, and I’m pleased to report that I can heartily recommend the series as a whole.

But with regard to this particular issue, whilst it does share the same particular charms that its predecessors had, it’s unfortunately stumbled a bit in terms of momentum at the final hurdle, and whilst the titular mystery is all wrapped up rather neatly, it’s never really centre stage. Instead, the admittedly strong characters take that honour, and whilst one can hardly name that a bad thing, given the strength of the first issue in this volume, I just hoped for a more satisfying resolution. Hogan’s dialogue remains sharp as ever, and flows incredibly well – if nothing else, the issue is worth reading for that.

Then there’s Parkhouse’s art remains terrific – and of late, he’s been allowed to flex his muscles a little more, showcasing Harry’s homeworld in some absolutely beautiful panels that exude just the right mix of the familiar and the extra-terrestrial. He does resort to the ol’ two moons trope – TWO MOONS, SON! – but that aside, it’s nice to see that Harry isn’t just a randomly spawned denizen of the universe.

Still, it’s been fun enough to read, and having now caught up with the rest of the volumes, it continues the overall Resident Alien story along nicely. Plus, given the note that it ends on, it does seem that there’re interesting things in store for our hero. If you’ve already invested, you’ll get a kick here – otherwise, it’s passable.

Rating: 3/5.

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The Writer of this piece was: Ross Sweeney
Ross tweets from @Rostopher24

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