A fun premise and a real quick read. I couldn't quite gauge who the intended audience of this was. It felt very surface and underdeveloped. The art style feels like it would lend itself better to animation than on a page.

A short but sweet sci fi comic adventure! My Life Among Humans follows a hidden invasion, as an anonymous alien discovers its own abilities of mind control. The artwork and aesthetic of this graphic novel struck me the most. The use of colour was beautiful and I felt transported to the setting of the desert community. I could imagine it coming to life as an animated short in the future. There were some really beautiful wordless panels throughout too. Worth picking up for a quick sci fi read!

3.5 stars, rounded down
This is a really cool concept that I wish had been expanded a little more. This is a graphic novella that sits under 100 pages, so the story lacks a lot of development I wish I could have seen. The character of the alien is super cute and I loved following his journey from just trying to save his skin to experiencing genuine emotions and connection to the people he'd been observing. I like the humans, but the alien was where all my attention lay.
Out of everything, though, the art is where this novella truly shone. It was beautiful and added so much depth to every panel. McGowan did a great job of using his art style to emphasize the difference between aliens and humanity, and it made me want to spend more time on each page to take in all the little details he put in.
In general, I think that being a novella paired with being a fast-paced story hindered the world-building and made the conflict start and end too quickly, but it's still a book worth reading. It's not one that will take long to read, and it appeals to a broad audience. It's an incredibly grounded story about an alien and the people he observes, and I think it would be fun to see McGowan expand on this universe and follow the alien on his future adventures or the people as they deal with the aftermath of this story.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

The unnamed narrator of this story is alien from another universe, sent to earth to gather data for the organization that created it. Born in a lab - bio-engineered and outfitted with a mechanical suit - the alien can release microscopic "scouts" that burrow into the brains of its subjects. Through the scouts, the alien can tap into the thoughts, emotions, and memories of those they're studying. And, further, exert their influence and control over them: but the alien doesn't know this yet.

The alien is uniquely alone in the world. While they are one of many budding "scientists" built by the organization, they were isolated from their peers. Even on their long, arduous mission, the alien flies solo, hiding from the humans (so as not to corrupt the data); their only social point of contact is daily check-ins with their manager. Which, if they don't go well, could lead to the end of the study - and the alien.

So things go terribly sideways when the alien is discovered by the family they've been tasked with studying: college student Will, his younger sister Emma, and their dads. In a desperate attempt at damage control, the alien takes over their minds - but the subterfuge only snowballs, until they're controlling half the town. But the symbiosis goes both ways, and soon the alien finds themselves empathizing with their subjects. How far is the alien willing to go to save themselves?

MY LIFE AMONG HUMANS wasn't quite what I expected, but the ending is really satisfying and cathartic. Sure, so there are some plot holes (how can the manager be so clueless? oh wait! maybe that's the whole point?), but the rally at the climax is pretty swell. It has a real @fuckyouiquit vibe.

The art isn't really my bag (think: early Sims), but I love the design of the alien. Tentacles are always a solid design choice.

My Life Among Humans is a fun, quick read about a cyborg alien sent to Earth to collect data about human. With his newly discovered mind control abilities, our alien makes mistake after mistake that he must hide from his supervisors, and in time, finds himself appreciating the humans he's meant to be studying more and more. This was an enjoyable ready exploring loneliness and community.

A sweet little comic about an alien observing humans, ultimately going too far to keep its job. The art style is enchanting while the story keeps you reading on and on until you're through. 💖

Warning: Fatal violence, kidnapping, complete control of others, alien invasion.

The bio mechanical watcher visitor released tiny floating scouts to infiltrate a human subject for data collection near the landing site. Each watcher was engineered and trained for a single species and sent alone for evaluation.

Human subject, Will, contained much data, and past events were available in his memory. Some were so interesting, they were replayed over and over.

Will was creating a video game with frog wizards and thinking mushrooms you could help. The watcher recalls how some of his people were taken, studied, and never released--to preserve secrecy and prevent spreading behavioral changes. Will is different.

The watcher became too comfortable around this group of humans (the only family he'd ever known) and was seen. His attempt to "fix" things will have both good, bad, and deadly consequences.

Some content of this graphic novel was disturbing, so I do not recommend it for children. I appreciated the illustrations in general, but disliked the humans--specifically the faces of people--especially the little girl.

2/5 Stars

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the temporary digital preview of this graphic novel; any review is voluntary and completely my own opinion.

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What an adorable short book! It follows an alien as it tries to connect to his human subjects and its fight against the controller. The art is super cute and the story is an awesome mixture of sad and uplifting. I would be interested in reading future stories that follow the alien helping other watchers break free and collecting family!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my copy to review!

I would like to thank Oni Press and NetGalley for granting me this ARC in exchange for writing an honest review!

Imagine aliens or whatever that outsider is (on the cover) with his scout taking all your personal info and just knowing them without your knowledge. It really fascinates me how the human brain comes up with such ideas. This could be happening in reality as we barely know much about what merely exists in this huge world of galaxies. I might have commented on how cute the creature is mentally (like come on he is so adorable and he is the only reason I read this comic) AND HE LOVES TO STARGAZE (well not really but somehow). Like, come on who wouldn't want to read this? This comic was about forgiveness and wanting to be loved and wanted. I wasn’t a fan of the art, but I adored the illustration of the little creature.

This book made me more paranoid though, what if this is actually true? Nonetheless, I wanted to embrace the creature so badly when it was over-scrutinizing.

"Certain moments, stood out from the rest"

"Rather than wait for the right moments to appear, we create them"

I was attracted by the calm colors and interesting title on the cover of My Life Among Humans by Jed McGowan. Finding out it was a science fiction graphic novel made me take a chance on it. This novel is a first contact story of an alien’s visit to earth without any humans being aware. The alien has instructions to watch and study humans without any communication between them. These orders create quite a sticky situation for all life forms involved. McGowan creates a fun, somewhat comical situation with artwork that was a treat for my eyes. The soft neutral colors used gave me an immersive feeling of the desert where the story took place. The characters involved are realistically inquisitive and are kind and friendly. This graphic novel would be appropriate for middle grade upward, as it is a clean, quickly moving narrative that is easily devoured in an afternoon. I enjoyed this change from heavier fare that was a switch from black and white. Thank you to NetGalley for a free ecopy of this novel for an honest review.

The premise of the story was very intriguing. A small robot-like creature is tasked with the study of the humans on Earth. Through a series of eventful adventures, they will learn from the humans they studies and get closer then they originally intended.

A pretty nice graphic novel tat delves into the nature of human relationship from the eye of an outsider. The only real downside to the story for me was the difficulty to feel any attachment to the characters. As a reader, it felt as if we were only spectator, without any emotional reaction to the characters. It was a nice read for sure and the robot-like creature was his own kind of charming, yet this graphic novel doesn't feel as profound as it could as been.

My Life Among Humans is a story about an organic-mechanic alien tasked to observe humans, collect data and report it to its manager but things go wrong when humans saw it. The alien tried to fix everything by controlling humans in town to save its mission and its life.


The story is quite simple but undeveloped and flat. I like the stylized-art style used in this graphic novel, feels like I'm watching 3D animation but in the book. Overall, this graphic novel is suitable for those who want a quick-read book because the number of pages is less than 100 pages.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free graphic novel*

"My Life Among Humans" is a sweet graphic novel that follows a solitary alien who has been chosen to observe humans. By mistake, he brings humans under his power and is then threatened by the arrival of his fearsome supervisor. The story was quite predictable but the visual aspect was quite nice and I rooted for the wee alien.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy.

I adored this. The art was amazing. The design for the people was so simple and stylized, but really effective and distinct. The alien was wonderful!
I loved its character and design. I loved watching its movements and emotions.
The story is simple, but fun. It's an awesome read. It follows a clumsy alien who is tasked with learning about human society and quickly messes everything up.
The alien is both sweet and sinister, as it manouevres the unknown environment.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this sweet little story! Graphic novels of this length tend to be underdeveloped, but I was really impressed by how well the author balanced plot and character development in just under 100 pages. The art style wasn’t my favorite, but it’s well suited for what it is, and still a fun, heartwarming time.

Thanks to Netgally and Oni Press for the advanced readers copy in exchange for a review!

I loved this. It gave a feel of a short Disney Pixar, just very wholesome and visually pleasing. I really liked the art. It was a mixture of serious and sweet, a really nice balance, it had a bit of everything, and I can relate with wanting to retaliate against people above you giving you orders you disagree with! I can’t wait to see more

This simple comic was a great light read that focused on the power of human connection and featured really unique artwork. While I found that the story and characters could've used a little more depth, I really enjoyed this lighthearted take on aliens and the messages it presented about the power of love and community. Great for when your in a reading slump and craving something uncomplicated!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

My Life Among Humans by Jed. M McGowan is a quick read that I had a fun time with thanks to its simple-looking yet charming art style. I especially love the design for the cyborg alien protagonist. The morally gray mission he pursues—implanting humans in a small town on Earth with spores that allow him to monitor them and then use his newfound ability of mind control on them as a way to conceal his mistakes from his superior and continue the task—ends up becoming an exploration of isolation, the dullness of being trapped in a wearisome job, the desire to form companionship with potential friends, and the emotional aspects that give us mortals our humanity. However, I don't think the predictably plotted narrative digs into these themes deeply enough—certainly not in the immensely insightful and touching way that Pixar would have done it. Seriously, though, I could see Pixar adapting this.

Overall, My Life Among Humans isn't as fleshed-out as it could have been, but you can breeze through the graphic novel and enjoy it for its illustrations.

My Life Among Humans is a short and somewhat melancholy graphic novel about an alien sent to watch and collect data on humans, observing without being noticed, and how this data collector responds when things go wrong. Jed McGowan has a really interesting art style I haven't seen in a graphic novel before - the characters are very round and seem almost three dimensional in a way that reminded me of the Rolly Polly Ollie show (anyone else?) but with a gloomy color palette. I found this to be so lovely and sweet, with the kind of ending I love that is ambiguous, sad and hopeful at the same time. Highly recommend if you like softer, heartfelt scifi (especially fans of Murderbot!) and are looking to reflect on loneliness, voyeurism, control, connection, and the difference between watching and living your own life. I'd love to read more from McGowan in the future.

My Life Among Humans has a compelling plot, neat art style and relatable characters. I loved this book, it's exactly the kind of "melancholy but hopeful" graphic novel I like to read. The plot moves along at a quick pace, and the art complements and enhances the story. Both humor and heart here!