Resident Alien (comics)

Resident Alien is a comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series has been published by Dark Horse Comics in installments of four-issue miniseries since 2012. Five miniseries have been completed, and a concluding sixth miniseries is forthcoming. A television adaptation for Syfy starring Alan Tudyk will premiere in January 2021.

The story is about an alien who crash lands on Earth, then poses as a doctor while he awaits a rescue. He is pursued by a government agency and passes his time solving murders and other mysteries. The series has received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Parkhouse's ability to draw expressions.

Development
Parkhouse and Hogan had previously collaborated on five issues of The Dreaming for Vertigo comics in 1999, and Hogan had been wanting to collaborate again. When Hogan asked Parkhouse what kind of project he would like to do, Parkhouse suggested something with an alien. The two worked closely on the broader aspects of the plot, but Hogan developed most of the story. Dark Horse Publisher Mike Richardson provided editorial input that helped Hogan and Parkhouse find the right tone for the narrative.

Hogan felt the depiction of "aliens as monsters or invaders had become stale" and wanted to bring a "sympathetic attitude to a nonhuman character". He also wanted to mix the science fiction and Mystery genres to get some "interesting sparks." He drew inspiration from Twin Peaks, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and My Favorite Martian, and he specifically requested Parkhouse base the design for the main character upon aliens from DC comics published in the early 1960s, such as Chameleon Boy.

The title came from an conversation Hogan had many years earlier with an English friend who was married to an American. When asked if he had a Green Card, the friend instead showed an ID that read "Resident Alien". Hogan thought the phrase was funny and would make a great title.

Publication
Because Parkhouse is unable maintain the work pace necessary for a monthly series, Resident Alien is being published as a series of four-issue miniseries. Hogan said a new miniseries each year is "the best balance for us, though I sometimes wish we could squeeze in another issue or two." For the first three miniseries, the first chapter was serialized in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents before being collected as issue zero. Issues are then published monthly, and a trade paperback collection (TPB) is released shortly after the miniseries concludes.

The first chapter was serialized in Dark Horse Presents vol 2 #4–6 (October – December 2011). When it was collected as Resident Alien #0 in April 2012, it was the 268th best selling issue of the month with estimated orders around 4,800 copies. Issue #1, released the following month, had estimated orders of about 5,700. The TPB was released February 27, 2013 with the subtitle Welcome to Earth!.

The second miniseries followed a similar publication schedule. The first chapter of the second miniseries, subtitled The Suicide Blonde, was serialized in Dark Horse Presents vol 2 #18–20 (November 2012 – January 2013) before being reprinted as issue zero in August 2013. The first issue, published the following month, had estimated orders of about 3,900. The 104 page TPB was released on May 28, 2014.

The third miniseries, subtitled The Sam Hain Mystery, was written before the second miniseries began publication. Parkhouse got the idea for a detective named "Sam Hain" from Neil Gaiman in 1990 during a conversation about the holiday Samhain. When he decided to write a fictional detective into Resident Alien, he asked Gaiman for permission before using the name. The first chapter was serialized in Dark Horse Presents vol 3 #1–3 (August – October 2014) and reprinted as issue zero on April 29, 2015. The TPB was released on November 11, 2015.

A fourth miniseries, The Man With No Name, began in September 2016 and was followed by a fifth miniseries, An Alien in New York, which began in April 2018. Instead of serializing the first chapter and starting with a zeroth issue, these miniseries were numbered one through four. A sixth miniseries, Your Ride is Here, is forthcoming and will conclude the story.

Plot
Narrative flashbacks interspersed throughout the series provide the background to the plot. Captain Hah Re, an alien biologist, is shot down by a fighter plane and crashes in the Southwestern United States desert. At night, he takes money from an ATM and it captures his face on video. Men in black who are investigating his crash site learn of the image and begin to track him by the ATM bills. Hah Re has empathic abilities that prevent others from noticing his odd appearance. Six months later, Hah Re uses advanced technology to win one million dollars from a slot machine in Las Vegas. The men in black lose track of him but assume he will continue moving in the same direction toward the Oregon-Washington area.
 * Flashbacks

One year after his crash, Hah Re has taught himself English and human anatomy, among other things. He has also developed an interest in mystery novels and films. Taking the identity "Harry Vanderspeigle", he introduces himself as a retired doctor and buys a remote cabin near Patience, Washington.

Three years after Harry's crash, the only doctor in Patience is murdered. The town mayor and sheriff ask Harry to examine the body and temporarily fill in as town doctor. Harry's mental abilities allow him to detect the emotions of his patients and to know when they lie. When the police arrest an innocent man for the doctor's murder, Harry tries to locate the true killer. Harry is unsuccessful, but his attempts worry the murderer, who attacks him. Harry is saved by the police and one of his nurses, Asta Twelvetrees. Asta is the daughter of a Mohawk shaman and is able to partially see through Harry's disguise, but mistakes him for a visiting spirit instead of an alien. At her father's advice, she does not tell Harry what she knows. Harry realizes he has been lonely and agrees to stay on the job.
 * Welcome to Earth!

A former lover comes to the mayor for financial help when she becomes pregnant by another man. He gives her $500, and the next morning she is found dead from poison in a Patience hotel. The room is staged to look like a suicide, but the police quickly realize another person had been in the room. To help the mayor, whom he has befriended, Harry travels with Asta to the young woman's apartment in Seattle to look for clues. They learn she killed herself after a fight with her lesbian partner, who was present for the suicide. She confesses to tampering with the crime scene and is arrested. While in Seattle, Harry's picture is unintentionally taken in a park. The photographer posts the picture online, where it is seen by the men in black.
 * The Suicide Blonde

The men in black do not have a clear pictures of Asta, so they contact nearby police to see if she can be identified as part of a counterfeiting investigation. When they get to Patience, the sheriff recognizes but does not identify her. Because of his response, the men in black mark Patience as a potential site for their investigations. Meanwhile, Harry learns a popular pseudonymous mystery writer from the 1960s lives in Patience. After some research, he believes he has identified her and visits her to get confirmation. She admits the truth and they talk about her books. The writer's granddaughter is able to see through Harry's disguise and later draws a picture of him.
 * The Sam Hain Mystery

Harry has dinner with Asta and her father, Dan Twelvetrees. Privately, Dan shows Harry the image of him from Seattle, which Asta has not seen. Harry is scared and wants to flee, but Dan convinces him to remain. Dan is not frightened by Harry, and offers to be a confidant. A meth lab explodes in Patience and a homeless man from Los Angeles is caught in the fire. Before he dies, he mentions a daughter to Harry. Harry, feeling an obligation to the man, uses a detective agency in Los Angeles to learn the full names of the man's family members. Harry realizes the daughter lives in Patience and was connected to the meth lab, and she is arrested.
 * The Man with No Name

A nurse at Harry's office frames the child's picture of Harry and hangs it prominently. Harry recognizes alien writing in paintings by a reclusive New York artist who has not been seen for twenty years. The writing leads him to the artist's agent and lover. The artist died several years prior, but she kept the phone line open hoping someone could read his journal and explain his suicide to her. Through the journal, Harry learns the artist was never able to accept Earth as home. He leaves the agent and decides to start living as though he will never be rescued. Meanwhile, the men in black have limited their search for Asta to seven suspects. The lead agent is assigned to Patience.
 * An Alien in New York

Critical reception
The series has received mostly positive reviews from critics, and many of them have praised the comic's focus on small town life. Adventures in Poor Taste described the story's scope as "pretty small," and Comic Vine' agreed it was "a talking head book... but it's extremely satisfying on that level" Multiversity Comics said the "well used premise successfully avoids stereotypical trappings." Bloody Disgusting liked the lack of focus on comedy, which is common to most stories about an alien trapped on Earth. In a review of The Suicide Blonde, Unleash the Fanboy wished the galactic origins and new life as a detective were more closely connected, since "neither is developed enough to stand on [its] own" Geeks of Doom felt the character development and the shift in Harry's motives between Welcome to Earth! and The Suicide Blonde was well managed. The story was favorably compared to the television show Murder, She Wrote by Comicosity, which recommended to any reader who enjoyed mysteries.

According to Comic Vine, Parkhouse's art style "fits incredibly well with the story." He was lauded for his work on facial expressions, and Newsarama drew comparisons to the style of comic artist Dave Gibbons. Parkhouse's art was described as a classic style with a "timeless design" by Bloody Disgusting, and Comicosity felt it captured the slow moving lifestyle of a small town. Comic Book Resources thought the "cohesive, attractive pages" were largely due to Parkhouse handling the color and letter duties in addition to the pencils, and went on to say the colors are an integral part of the story. Adventures in Poor Taste disagreed, saying "some of the coloring is cringe worthy" and "the people don’t look lifelike."

When the first miniseries debuted, critics universally criticized the initial issue being #0 instead of #1, calling it "potentially confusing," "ridiculous," and "insanely frustrating for any person picking this book up for the first time." Newsarama feared some readers picking up #1 would rather pass on the miniseries than try to locate the back issue. Bloody Disgusting disagreed, saying that the first issue of Welcome to Earth! could be understood without reading the zeroth issue, although some information would obviously be left out. Opinions softened with later miniseries, and Newsarama described The Sam Hain Mystery #0 as "not essential, but a good jumping on point." The concept was still confusing for Bam Smack Pow, who would have preferred if story points from the prior miniseries had been better summarized.

Television adaptation
In March 2013, Hogan mentioned a television series based on the property was "under discussion." In March 2015, Dark Horse editor and Vice President of Publishing Randy Stradley confirmed Hollywood was still showing interest in adapting the series. On May 31, 2018, Syfy placed a pilot order for the series. Created as a joint venture by Universal Cable Productions, Dark Horse Entertainment, and Amblin Television, the show was adapted for television by Chris Sheridan. Sheridan is one of the show's executive producers, along with Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank. Production began on October 1, 2018, with Alan Tudyk starring as Harry. The pilot will also include Corey Reynolds playing Sheriff Mike Thompson and Alice Wetterlund as D'Arcy Morin. As part of the adaptation process, the fictional setting of Patience was relocated from Washington to Colorado. The series was originally planned to premiere in Summer 2020, but was delayed to January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.