The Silent Invasion, Red Shadows

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.)