Alien Pig Farm 3000 #1
© Image
Mania Grade: B
Issue: 1
Authors: Todd Farmer, Steve Niles, Thomas Jane, Don Marquez
Publisher: Image
Price: $2.99
Issue: 1
Authors: Todd Farmer, Steve Niles, Thomas Jane, Don Marquez
Publisher: Image
Price: $2.99
Alien Pig Farm 3000 #1
By: Kurt AmackerReview Date: Monday, May 07, 2007
Alien Pig Farm 3000 reminds me of a forgotten B-movie from the 1980s that you’d occasionally catch on TV on a Saturday afternoon – absurd in it premise, but shamefully enticing in its execution. Written by Todd Farmer from a story he co-wrote with Steve Niles and Thomas Jane, Alien Pig Farm 3000 opens with a chase through the cosmos that culminates in a crash-landing on Earth millions of years in the past. When the large, multi-eyed creatures open the downed ship of the grays (you know, like on X-Files), the little guys with the big eyes have a surprise waiting for them. That surprised takes out both ships as well as all of the dinosaurs. In the present, we meet Elvis and Johnny – two friends raised as brothers that make extra cash distilling moonshine in Horton County, Kentucky. The clearly draw inspiration from Bo and Luke Duke of The Dukes of Hazzard, with a Daisy Duke-type sister (to Elvis) named Cindy. With no biological relationship between them, Johnny and Cindy have become a bit closer than unofficial siblings. Everything seems fine until the law discovers their still and Elvis has to blow up the entire thing. Unfortunately, he uncovers something leftover from the showdown between the aliens from the start of the issue. Mayhem ensues.
Alien Pig Farm 3000 makes no secret of Niles and Jane’s – and presumably, Farmer’s – love of B-movie schlock. As such, it hardly qualifies as “comics as literature” or anything high-minded like that. It revels in its use of stock characters and redneck jokes. Effectively, it comes down to “dem Dukes” fighting aliens. But, instead of actual crap, the giant in-joke driving the story makes it funny, self-aware crap. It feels like a movie you’d kill a Saturday afternoon watching, only to forget it as soon as it’s over. In that regard, it won’t give Maus a run for its money, but it serves its purpose. Don Marquez draws with a more realistic eye than one would expect for this kind of material. It actually lends a more cinematic, realistic feel to the entire experience. But, he pulls out a few comically exaggerated facial expressions and some other sight gags that remind the reader that, yes, you’re reading about rednecks fighting aliens.
Anyone not into bad science fiction and horror movies probably won’t get into this, but the fans will eat it up.
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.
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