Invasion 55 Book

Although written in 2002, this graphic novel does a fantastic job of capturing the feeling of the old 1950's alien movies like The Blob and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The characters speak in the endearing fashion of the 1950's with a lot of chauvinistic (all definitions of the word) overtones. But, I found the alien invasion story frightening and really liked the rag tag group of heroes that end up fighting them which included a washed-up, drunk Air Force pilot, an overzealous reporter, a greaser teenager, and a small schoolboy. While the heroes were able to save a lot of people, the losses made the plotline more realistic. I also love how empowered the small boy was. He helped the grownups find solutions throughout the story and was the one who discovered their underground tunnels. I have to admit that I am not as big of a fan of the black and white comics, but the story carried the graphics so that I wasn't distracted. But, I think it would have been really powerful in color.