Unbeatable Comics: Paul Cornell

Demon Knights #10
writer: Paul Cornell
artist: Diogenes Neves

Saucer Country #4
writer: Paul Cornell
artist: Ryan Kelly

Paul Cornell has been one of the best writers in comics for several years now.  One of these two books may finally help comic book fans realize that.

"Look!  It's a pirate sea serpent!"  Lines like that, combined with a guest character who briefly breaks into the heavy British dialogue used so well in Cornell's Knight & Squire, are just token examples what helps set his work apart.  The whole book demonstrates his ability to juggle both character and story, whether he's dancing around the nature of Shining Knight or once again using the juxtaposition between Jason Blood and Etrigan to convey the depth of relationships any good story should have.  By the time the climax of the issue reaches Zombie King Arthur, you realize anything can and will happen in a Paul Cornell story.

In Saucer Country, meanwhile, everyone's still trying to figure out if the alien abduction that serves as the crux of this book actually happened, but that's proving trickier than expected (which is exactly what Cornell's going for).  Arcadia Alvarado is currently governor of New Mexico, but she's going to be running for president, so there's good motivation for her wanting to know exactly what happened to her.  She's not the only one.

Her ex-husband Michael  is the one with the least amount of credibility, and exploring his side of events has been equally fascinating, especially since it's far less likely anyone will believe him.  Last issue we saw how he started to rationalize his experience by turning the aliens into rabbits, trying to cover up his own memories.  To retrieve them, he visits a hypnotherapist known for his radical views on alien abduction.  Naturally, when Alvarado's men hear his version, they're skeptical, or to be more accurate, dismissive.  Then Arcadia makes the radical decision to visit the hypnotherapist herself.

The whole point and approach of Saucer Country is that the truth is not a simple thing.  In The X-Files, it was famously declared to be "out there," and perhaps it is, but some people have to live with that ambiguity a little closer to home, with incredibly high personal stakes.  There's a lot of ways this can be explored.  Cornell has decided to let it speak for itself, and nothing about it is easy.  That's a testament to his ambition, and vision.

The thrill is always waiting to see what he does next.