Novel Ideas By Bill Love

Serpo

Writer- Jason M. Burns / Artist- Joe Eisma

Devil’s Due Publishing, Color SC 100 pgs. $14.99

ISBN # 978-1-934692-40-0

Serpo is the true story of twelve Americans who spent more than ten years as part of the first government sponsored interplanetary exchange program. These ten men and two women journeyed to a distant planet in the Beta Reticuli star system to observe and live among an alien civilization. They returned to earth to tell their story, a story that has been suppressed by the United States Government. Remember, this is a true story, unless of course it is not.

Can such a farfetched story be true? Some think the answer is yes. Some think no. The point is many people are debating it. In 2005, an anonymous source claiming to be part of a high level group within the US Defense Intelligence Agency began to release information about Project Serpo, an Ultra Top Secret program that led to the remarkable exchange described above. Google Project Serpo and you will find tons of information, not to mention some heated debate about the authenticity of these leaked documents. Is it all a joke? Many people who once thought all flying saucer stories were pure fantasy now believe that something extraterrestrial crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The fact that it might be true, that the government does hide information, makes the speculation all the more intriguing.

How does all this relate to Serpo, the graphic novel? Burns and Eisman have taken the bare bones of the “facts” as reported online and woven a narrative around them. Think of it in the vein of historical fiction. The basic facts as reported are all there, but dialogue and some details have been dramatized. Believe or don’t believe, but does the story hold up? Surprisingly, yes. This is not a masterpiece of the graphic novel form, but it does succeed at taking dry, if incredible, facts and making them into an entertaining story. This is classic science fiction. It is a prime example of the first-contact style of story that used to be common in science fiction. It tells the story in real-world terms, minus the galaxy conquering villains and ray gun battles of space opera. (Well, there are some ray guns. The story is not completely boring.) The heart of the story is watching two peoples of very differing cultures trying to overcome their inherent differences and discover their inherent similarities. (Oh, and spies try to kill people back on Earth! See, you get action, too.)

Serpo is a compelling story that leads to a lot of speculation. If this is true, is this what a meeting with aliens would be like? Can humans and aliens co-exist? Do we already? If presented as pure fiction, Serpo would be a fun first-contact story told with a nice balance of action and character moments. The fact that it might, just might, actually be true? It just adds to the fun.

Novel Ideas - Bill Love, Senior Editor of Graphic Novel Scene Magazine, looks at comics that never saw a staple. Many creators bypass the magazine format and publish original graphic novels. Novel Ideas spotlights the best, both old and new.