Xenoholics #5

Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Seth Damoose

Xenoholics has been a fun little series about people who have been abducted by aliens, and are perhaps now a little addicted to the experience.  At least, that's how it started out, but by the time this issue has finished (and the first volume of the story with it), we've moved squarely into X-Files territory, as the various characters uncover a couple of conspiracies, and an evil plot or two, but never the entire truth.

This started out being a series very much like Image's popular Chew, but by the end, Williamson has taken it someplace else.  To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the direction this series ended up taking.  When it appeared to be about a group of delusional people brought together by their twelve-step style support group, and about the reporter who wanted to write about them, I was into things.  Williamson did a great job establishing these characters very well from the beginning.

Even though the government agency conspiracy elements were with the story from the beginning, I found that some of the revelations of this issue lessened the work.  I don't want to give anything away, so I can't say much more than that.  There are still some good scenes in this comic, and Seth Damoose's art has grown on me, but I'm not sure I would return for a second mini-series, were one to be solicited.

Xenoholics #4

Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Seth Damoose

Xenoholics has been a fun read, drawing a number of comparisons to Chew in terms of its brand of humour and subject matter.  This issue, I felt, fell a little flat, as it had a lot of plot to get through, and didn't have as much space for the character interactions and strange little moments that made the earlier issues work so well.

Our group of Xenoholics, the members of a support group for people who have been abducted by aliens, are in the custody of the 'Men in White' a governmental group that has been pursuing them since the professor who ran their meetings went missing.  They are interrogated, and the truth about some of their abductions (or lack thereof) are revealed, before they manage to attempt an escape. 

This series is well-written and usually pretty well-balanced, but as I said, this particular issue was somewhat lacking in the humour of the previous three.  I am looking forward to seeing how everything wraps up next issue.

Xenoholics #3

Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Seth Damoose

It's now very clear that there is a lot more going on in Xenoholics than there seemed at the beginning of the series.  This book is basically about a group of people who enjoy being abducted by aliens, who had formed a support group.  The professor who ran their sessions went missing, and then a government agent dressed all in white came after them.  The group hid out in a strange sex club for alien fetishists, before a larger group of Men in White showed up.

This issue opens with a massacre at the sex club, followed by the rescue of two of the group members by actual aliens.  Now, as this issue has progressed, we learn a number of things.  The government believes that only one member of the group was actually ever abducted, and this person is a 'key' to something (it's a little Ghostbusters-esque).  The professor saw this group as an experiment, but in what, we don't know.  The aliens don't appear to be malevolent; instead, it is suggested that they are well-known to the government, and the aliens are actually the 'good guys'. 

Williamson has set up a lot of material in just three issues, and I look forward to continuing to explore this world with him.  The stylistic and thematic comparisons to Chew are easy to make; if you are a fan of that book, you will probably like this one quite a bit.  Seth Damoose's cartoony, stubby people are growing on me.

Xenoholics #2

Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Seth Damoose

Where the first issue was kind of fun, and showed some good potential, this second issue really shifts into a higher gear, and proves that everyone comparing this title to Chew is probably correct.  Xenoholics is about an AA-style group for people who are alien abduction survivors.  In the first issue, we learned who the various members of the group are, and some of their secrets (one of them is a reporter looking to earn their trust for an article he's writing).  Things take a sudden turn though when crop circles appear in the pavement of Times Square, and the kindly professor who runs the group goes missing.

Now, with this second issue, the group members go to the Professor's apartment to investigate, and conclude from the hole in the wall, that he's been abducted.  Their investigation is quickly interrupted by the mysterious Agent Wax, who claims to be from the FBI (and is probably of no relation to the Agent Wax who was in Wildcats 3.0).

That meeting doesn't go well, and one of the group, a famous boxer, knocks him out.  Our heroes take refuge in a cosplay sci-fi sex fetish club that they discover the Professor frequents, and set about planning their next move.  The club scenes are really pretty funny, and have backgrounds worthy of study (although I don't want to know what that Yeti was doing).

I like the way Williamson has set up this story, with plenty of intrigue and shadowy cabals, coupled with the fact that just about every cast member in this book is lying about something.  Much like Chew, this looks to be a series with some legs, and enough story potential to last a while.  Damoose's art is really growing on me too.

Xenoholics #1

Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Seth Damoose

A more cynical comics reader would think that this book was designed to appeal to readers of Chew, Image's hit humour comic.  There are a ton of similarities - the first page shows a scene that won't be continued until the fifth issue, the book is populated with a bizarre cast of characters, and the tone of the humour is very similar.  You can almost hear the pitch - "It's like Chew, only with people who are addicted to being abducted by aliens."

The reality is, similarities aside, this is a pretty good comic.  As a first issue, it does its job, setting up characters and the general situation, and both begins and ends with a hook that makes the reader curious for what comes next.  A group of people meet on a weekly basis, in an Alcoholics Anonymous style session to discuss their experiences and interest in alien abduction.  Basically, they are xenoholics - abduction addicts.  It's a good hook for a comic, and Williamson makes sure we understand how terribly weird all the characters are, letting the art show one thing while the narration suggests another.

When crop circles (concrete circles?) appear in the middle of Times Square, the group is spurred into action.  The comic is a lot of fun, with a few genuine laughs.  Damoose's art is not really my thing - it looks a little like an early Steve Pugh, if he drew only stumpy dwarfs - but it does fit the story rather nicely.  I've been pre-ordering this book, and am not sure if it's a mini-series or an on-going, but I'm definitely on board for a few months to see how this title turns out.