It has been a while since I read this book, but I remember it being pretty interesting take on conspiracy theories.

This book tells the story of a newly elected president.

The art wasn't really my style, it was detailed in all the wrong ways.

The story and characters were cliché in such a way that I couldn't force myself to finish this book. Thankfully, a different blogger was kind enough to tell me that I shouldn't feel bad because the book continued to be awful.

Rating: 1 star

There are two main stories going on in the graphic novel, Letter 44. They intertwine and they parallel nicely.

One story is about Stephen Blades who has just been sworn in as the new President of the United States. He's a no-nonsense guy who is ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work in a country that is currently in two wars and has an economy on the verge of collapse. But as he enters the office on his first day he is presented with a letter from the previous, 44th, President. In the letter, Blades learns that almost seven years prior, NASA discovered an alien presence in a near-by (relatively speaking) asteroid belt. A ship with a nine-person crew was launched to investigate, though the news of the alien and the launch were never made public.

Though news of this alien life and the heroic crew investigating the aliens changes Blades' thoughts on what requires his attention most, there are still local activities that require executive decisions and oversight. Meanwhile, the astronauts have their own concerns. Finding and then contacting the alien life is only a minor problem for a team in a ship needing constant maintenance, while on a one-way trip with the female commander now expecting a child.

There is a lot going on this story ... a LOT. But author Charles Soule handles the various stories and sub-plots with an enviable ease. Each scene is kept brief and moves the story forward just as a well-written story should. It seems surprising to actually comment on this, but there are so many stories I've read that don't seem to understand this. Too often we spend a lot of time getting to know the characters or the world that the story is set in. Soule delivers the story and through it, we get to know the characters and all we need to know about this world that has a President Blades.

The art is good - not excellent, but it generally serves the story well. There were panels (not entire pages at least) that made me pause and try to understand/decipher the picture or who it was that was depicted. The style is a slightly stylized realistic. Not quite as stylized as some I've seen recently (<em>Demon</em>, or <em>Warship Jolly Roger</em>) but not as realistic as the Dresden File graphic novels either.

I got sucked into the story pretty quickly and the pace and the story-building kept me there. The art held its own, but it truly is the story that made this piece work.

Looking for a good book? <em>Letter 44</em> is a graphic novel with roots in the earth but which reaches out to the stars. It is compelling and exciting and an excellent read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really interesting sci-fi story about newly elected President Stephen Blades discovering some uncomfortable secrets about a crew sent to investigate an alien construction project. Recommended for those who like a good science fiction story!

This book is great. It begins with the inauguration of the latest president of the United States. He finds a letter addressed to him from the previous president explaining that an alien device was discovered in space, that a team was dispatched years ago to investigate it, and how that device shaped his policies. There is some social commentary thrown into the mix as well.

The character interactions are what drive this book for me. I like the approach to the president and his staff, the ex-president, and the space crew. There are these different relationships that we get to see develop over the course of the story. The space crew is particularly interesting because they've had time to create new group dynamics over the years that they have been traveling to their destination.

I enjoyed the art. There is a high level of detail, which I appreciate. A lot happens here, but it doesn't tell the full story. I will definitely pick up the next volume.

This is the first work of Charles Soule's where I went, "Now I get why Marvel hired this guy." This is fantastic stuff. I can't wait to read the next volume.

What if Barack Obama showed up on his first day in the Oval Office and George Bush had left him a note that aliens are real and building something in our solar system? Our story is two-fold. On one side we have the President trying to prepare America for a potential invasion from aliens and on the other a team of astronauts who've been sent into deep space to determine what the aliens are building. The series has an epic scope. I'd love to see this turned into a TV show.

Received an advance copy from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Take the current and past presidents, change the names and just a bit of the personalities, insert a alien menace from outer space hidden from the public, add in a space vehicle launched under the former president, include plenty of intrigue and back-stabbing, and you have Letter 44. The art work fits in with the theme and settings and the overblown ideas are in line with the story premise to provide a decent series. Be interesting to see if future volumes undercut or add to the drama.

The new edition as the same content as the 2014 edition, just a different printing. Still a good read.

Letter 44 has a really great premise, and engages you in more than one scenario simultaneously. It is very well written, and makes the unbelievable believable. Unfortunately, different artists did different chapters, so the work is uneven, to the point of not always being sure what character you're looking at until you put it in context. It goes from semi-realistic to decidedly polygonal at times. Still, the story is so compelling that you won't notice as much as you would with other graphic novels. You will get through Volume 1 quickly, and be hanging on edge to pick up the rest of the story.

When newly elected President Blades entered office, he didn't think life would be easy. He didn't expect to learn about aliens, possibly/probably planning some kind of invasion, and a secret space mission to study the aliens.

This was surprisingly good. I was a bit skeptical, because lately I wasn't having to much luck with my comics, but this story really good capture my attention. It's part political intrigue and part space mission, and the latter was the most interesting one for me. The crew has been in space for several years and new problems have arisen. Not to mention the pregnancy of one of the crewmembers.

Maybe not the most original work out there, but I enjoyed myself a lot while reading it and I'm curious as to how this will continue.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Pseudo-Obama takes over for pseudo-Bush and finds out there are aliens in the asteroid belt who no doubt will invade Earth at any moment. There’s also a mission sent to check out the aliens, launched three years ago.
There’s some really good scenes among the expected storyline; the briefing from the scientist in charge, the three questions guy, for example, was brilliant. I laughed at the baseball breaking the White House window and scaring the Secret Service. Sending conspiracy bad boy on a tour of every embassy is such an awesome twist. And there’s a very cool artistic effect on the flash-bang.
I’m liking the way this is written, though the plot may be too much. Thought there might be something to the scene when General Johnson comes in for the briefing, since they’re talking before the secretary leaves. . .
The scientist repeating that all of them were volunteers is rather ominous. . .
Sadly it ends at a critical juncture; get another ten bucks ready for volume 2.
Almost 20 pages of dossiers on some of the players, creator bios dressed as White House correspondence, and ads for other books.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

Very interesting combination of sci-fi and alternative history (since the title refers to our 44th president, which in a normal timeline would have been Barack Obama). Gives a fresh spin on the idea of first contact and potential war with alien life.

For "real world" sci-fi, this comic has an interesting premise: what if alien life had been detected far from Earth and a team was sent to find out what it was, but the public was never informed about it? Letter 44 follows a newly elected president who finds out, in the official last letter of the previous president, that such alien life was discovered during the previous administration. The story alternates between Earth and how the new president in choosing to handle this news, and the crew in space, who are hiding some news of their own.

The plot is well developed and there's some good storytelling in the issues collected here. Given the state of politics, it's actually somewhat believable that this sort of huge secret could be kept hidden from the general public. It's a good comic for anyone into stories of alien lifeforms and hidden agendas.

"A great read", as I declared it last time round. Pointlessly reissued, and pointlessly split into two files so the publishers can claim more traffic on netgalley.

A comic about alien invasion with political turns and twists! A great combo that always interests me!


Captivating Story

Blades is a newly elected president. The last president not only left the country into poor state of economy, health care and engaged in unnecessary wars with two countries. He also left Blades a letter telling him the reason behind all the mess he created. The reason he mentioned was hard to digest.

He didn't believe that their planet is under threat of an alien invasion until he was briefed by Chief of Staff. He learned that a crew of 9 people were sent to space to assess the threat.

The spacecraft named Clark hosting 9 people in total - a mix of Special Forces men and scientists. What they saw there was overwhelming. The aliens were building something into space. They don't know yet what is that thing exactly.

Now, on earth Blades found out there is something fishy going around right under his nose. The last president Mr. Collins disappear. And Blades is determined to dig deeper and keep everything under control.


Positives:

One thing that I love about comics is that you can see the chacters and their expressions. This novel is well executed and well drawn.

The plot is quite interesting and captivating with many twists and turns. Character development is great. The reader instantly connects with the characters. The world building is excellent. I love the coloring and detailing.


Negatives:

I couldn't find a single negative thing about this comic. Except that they should mention on their book that it is an adult-themed comic with some explicit images and is not appropriate for young readers.


An ARC of this comic book was provided by Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Letter 44 begins as newly inaugurated President Blades (assumed to be the 44th…) receives a letter from the previous president alerting him to a secret extraterrestrial discovery in the asteroid belt. A group of eight scientists and military leaders has spent the past 7 years traveling to this discovery and are just arriving as Blades steps into office.

This volume was filled with political corruption, space drama, plot twists and alien worlds. I really enjoyed the characters and the way the narrative was split between the political mess on Earth and the astronaut crew in space. I can’t wait to get my hands on the other two volumes to see how this ends!

Great hook - the incoming President reads the traditional handover letter from his predecessor, and learns there are aliens in the asteroid belt. I'd imagine that might mean a few policy changes. This is proper sense-of-wonder science fiction, with humanity small and powerless in the face of huge alien artifacts. There's a reason why the book is littered with Arthur C Clarke references. There's an on-Earth storyline as well, with political skullduggery and dirty tricks. This strand doesn't advance as much as the outer space one, but it's clearly going to be important to future books. Loses a star because I wasn't that sold on the artwork, but nevertheless I enjoyed this a lot, and I'm in for volume 2 and beyond.

This is a fun comic in which the 44th president inherits a big secret problem - there's aliens building a structure in the galaxy for some unknown purpose. It's part political thriller, part science fiction space opera. Overall, a fun comic that I'm interested to see where it goes next.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really connect with the characters. I couldn’t memorize any names and the story didn’t grip me. It was not for me.
The plot was well thought but I just couldn’t get into it.

Had me up to a point and then, strange to say, it just seemed too outlandish a story to keep going with. I wanted to like it. Great art that harkens back to the 70s but not enough to save Letter 44, I'm afraid.