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The Alternates #1 Creative Team (Dark Horse Comics):
Script: Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley
Art: Christopher Mitten
Colors: Ian Herring
Art & Colors: Tess Fowler
Letters: Nate Piekos, Blambot
Cover Artists: Scott Hepburn, Ian Herring, Tim Seeley, Fabio Moon, Martin Simmonds, Tony Fleecs
The Alternates from Dark Horse Comics, Issue #1
While this story is a spinoff of the comic series, Minor Threats, you don’t need to read one to enjoy the other. When I first read The Alternates, I hadn’t read Minor Threats. However, that was remedied almost immediately. The second I was done with Issue 1 of The Alternates, I messaged my local comic book shop to see if they had Minor Threats in stock (they did!). That should give you an idea how much I enjoyed diving into this world.
The Story
This story begins with what looks like a few college girls just having fun making some bad life choices. Then a car crash takes us to a calming and serene forest (with hungry wolves), only to then drop us off at the apartment of our main character: Mary Marie Munoz AKA The Multi Monster.
While her name may sound metaphorical, it’s actually quite literal in a sense. She’s an outsider among outsiders trying to make a human life for herself. Which includes online dating. However, when she leans over to turn off the chirping of her recent online ‘match’ a Swamp Thing like arm reaches over to grab her phone. Although that later turns out to be minor in comparison to her date’s love of NFTs.
The next scene is something out of Wreck It Ralph. It’s a support group for The Alternates. Some of which don’t look entirely human. One character had a face that looked so much like a lobster, he made me miss my trip to Maine (lobster rolls…mmmm). All these Alternates have been to a place called The Ledge, and life has been difficult since they returned. They’re all trying to live normal “human” lives, but struggle everyday. The Ledge did something to them. They had powers before, but their powers, among other things, changed. Even among this group though, Mary Marie still feels like she doesn’t belong.
We get glimpses of her past before The Ledge and during. Her origin story was almost too subtly mentioned, and made me want a full back story on her. While I don’t want to spoil this reveal, I will mention that it involved a Transylvania midwife. However, this story doesn’t have to do with her time before The Ledge. The secret that she struggles with is what happened during her time in The Ledge.
Like all good stories that suck you in, this issue leaves you with a cliffhanger. It also introduces a few other vital characters I have left out, in the hopes of not spoiling too much, as this is a must read for any comic book fan.
The Art
As a kid I remember walking through the Disney store asking my mom to buy me every piece of The Lion King art there was. Her response, “you just love eye candy.” The cover of The Alternates is just that, beautiful eye candy. It was even more fun to admire after reading the comic, as I noticed all the details that went into it.
The inside was no different. While some comic books use art simply to show you what is happening (as opposed to describing it), others use it to tell part of the story in a way that words can’t do it justice. The Alternates was the latter. Without the art certain feelings and stories would not have made as much sense.
Quite often we see flashbacks done in lighter colors, or even black and white. In The Alternates it was done a bit differently. Some of the flashbacks looked like older comics, to the point I would expect the pages to feel like newspaper. It was almost a nostalgic look while still being incredibly beautiful and detailed.
The Alternates Rating: 9/10
Right away this story got me hooked, and wanting more (hence the immediate purchase of Minor Threats followed by the immediate reading of it). Throughout the book I was sucked into this world, all while wanting to learn more about each character, as well as about this still mysterious place, The Ledge. It also made me giggle at times, which the best comics do. It’s a relatable monster story with pie. I am definitely adding this one to my pull list!
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