Writer/Letters/Back Cover Art Dave Scacchi
Interior Art/Inks/Color Rendering Gary Welsh
Cover Daniel Kovacs
Back Cover Inks and Color Nathan St. John
Another Sci-Fi book does it again. I’m a sucker for the Sci-Fi stuff. Sci-Fi has such a rich history and more directions to go than the multiverse. People can get as creative as they want and add in things that are down right ridiculous or meticulously researched for possible authenticity, there is no limit to the possibilities the Sci-Fi genre presents and it fills me with joy to take in all the different ideas and thoughts that are presented.
They Came From Planet Earth is a serious homage to classic Sci-Fi, particularly old school TV shows like Lost In Space or The Outer Limits and also older movies from the 50’s and 60’s. Scacchi must have watched a ton of old school stuff while the idea for They Came From Planet Earth started to form. One thing I like is the way that the premise is explained in a few short paragraphs. For the purpose of They Came From Planet Earth the idea doesn’t need to be explained in the book, it serves the story that the book tells by getting it set up in a quick couple of paragraphs. This saves precious time so the book can focus on the story and jump in head first. As I said the idea of a wormhole that takes you to a new dimension is fun and ripe with possibilities that are only limited to how far Scacchi wants to take them. Scacchi is also in the unique position as a writer to be the letterer as well. This seems like a good move because he knows what he wants to say and because he is a writer he also knows what part of the art is important to keep open or be covered by balloons. The only drawback I can possibly see is the fact that since he is the writer of the dialog he might miss some things but from what I read that wasn’t the case and if it was a worry all he would have to do is have someone proofread it for him.
I’ve seen a few books lately that use the black, white, and grey look and to be honest it’s been growing on me. I generally like fully colored books but the look of They Came From Planet Earth does the homage to the old school justice. I generally like the full color better because the grey sometimes looks incomplete like it should have color but doesn’t, that isn’t the case at all with this book. This book is complete and has layers to the art, it doesn’t look like it’s missing anything and the balance between the black, white, and grey is on point. Everything fits and parallels the old school feel, not sure what else I could ask for.
They Came From Planet Earth is an Insane Comic and can be found on Insane’s website in print or digital and at Drive Thru Comics.
