'The Silent Invasion: Red Shadows' by Larry Hancock with art by Michael Cherkas is a cult-classic graphic novel from a few decades past full of mystery and paranoia.

Matt Sinkage is a reporter in a town in the 1950s. He is intrigued by a woman in trouble, which leads him to a group of conspiring communists. His involvement with her leads to interest by the FBI, and he ends up being suspected of being a sympathizer. To add to the weirdness, there are UFOs and people that Matt knows who are just not acting normal.

Originally published in the late 1980s, I liked the vibe of the book. It was a good nostalgic look at the kind of comics I was sometimes reading. Does it hold up 30+ years later? Not so much. The story pace feels a bit sluggish, but the art has a cool 1980s look to it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I set this aside mid way through. I tried and tried to force myself to finish after hearing some critical acclaim, but just couldn't do it. It was just boring and meandering. The art was atrocious, in a Dick Tracy style but with squared off tiny heads on huge bodies.

I could say I was enamoured of this, but it would just be a fib from those Commie bastiches lying to you. The artwork isn't dreadful, but it does make every square-faced, squarer-shouldered bloke look exactly the same as the next, meaning it's hard to worry about the chap trying to investigate both UFOs and the Red Menace at the same time. So when a femme fatale starts dragging him into things, well – that adds nothing new to anything, any way. What's worse, a lot of the ballooning of speech is in the wrong order, making this even harder to read than the mundane artwork would suggest. Disappointing, considering the high puff rate of the cover and introduction.

This was a fun sci-fi mystery filled with UFOs and double-agents, paranoia and conspiracy...I'm interested to see what happens in the next three volumes. One criticism: many of the characters look very, very similar so it was difficult to tell who was who, especially at the beginning.

In 1952 rural America, private eye Dick Mallet sees a strange light in the sky while looking for a missing person, Fanny Hobbs. The police find his car crashed into a pole and Dick nowhere to be found. Matt Sinkage, a reporter with a personal interest in UFOs, investigates Dick’s disappearance. Matt also thinks his neighbor, Mr. Kalashnikov, is a Russian spy. Silent Invasion is set in the fifties after all.

Written in 1986-87, the Silent Invasion’s plot seems dated with an obvious 80s paranoid perspective. I really tried to like the story. Unfortunately, I found it boring and slow-moving. Usually the artwork will keep me reading but I didn’t like that much either. I agree with the introduction that it takes a bit of time to get use to the “big foot” black and white art. I also didn’t connect with any of the characters. My issues may be related to just reading the fantastic Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, which is set in the same period. I would suggest reading that not this unless you’re in the mood for some 80s nostalgia. 2 stars.

Thanks to the publisher, papercutz.com, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Commies and/or Aliens Under Every Bed

In its convincing portrayal of 1950's America, creepy capture of political paranoia, and groundbreaking handling of the alien invasion genre, this book is an entertaining find. When you add edgy, stark, angular, black and white artwork with an expressionist flair you end up with a satisfying graphic novel that lives up to its hype and offers a unique reading experience.

"The Silent Invasion" was originally published in 1986-87 as a twelve issue comic book series. It was later reprinted as a four album set. This new volume collects issues one through six of the comic book series, and so it seems to encompass the first two albums. They were titled "Secret Affairs" and "Red Shadows". This new print version is titled "Red Shadows", so that makes sense. There are supposed to be further new books down the road, but I don't know any more about them except that the publisher states that they will collect the later issues and then extend to new material. In a way this doesn't matter because this book is basically a stand alone, with a clear opening, a coherent story arc, and a reasonably final conclusion and epilogue. The possibility of further adventures certainly exists, but there is no cliffhanger at the end of this book, (except for the fact that you never know if those pesky aliens will come back and try again).

The fun is in the original, explicit combination of commie paranoia and sci-fi invasion fears. In the 50's there were lots of straightup anti-communist films that were basically paranoia feeding propaganda. (I'm thinking of movies like "I Married A Communist".) There were also sci-fi films that subtly satirized that paranoia, like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". This book, which feels like a graphic novel version of a film noir mixes all of that together and allows the reader to find his own insights.

This wouldn't work if it weren't for the terse dialogue, Dragnet style pacing, detective/mystery frame, and Everyman hero. It especially would be a tough story to love if drawn in a modern realistic style. Here, the heavily inked black and white drawings with their jazzy angles, odd perspectives and proportions, and plentiful period touches, work to sell the concept and the story.

So, this captures a unique period, cultural moment, and comic style, and mixes it all together just right. I thought it was an entertaining and impressive find. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)