Review: Midnight Vista #1

Eliot Rahal’s choice of subject matter for ‘Midnight Vista’ is an interesting one.Â The cultural phenomenon of alien abduction narratives has been met with snickers or contempt by most of the main stream community.Â What can’t be denied is that studies have honed in a couple of vectors that may responsible; shifts in conceptions of memory and subjectivity in American psychiatry (particularly claims surrounding “recovered memory” and hypnotic regression) and #2 the Science-Fictionalization of Trauma, by that I mean if a person was consuming a certain type of media prior to a traumatic incident it may processes that event later.

Evident by the “Day That the Earth Stood Still” reference, There is plenty of recent sci-fi material regarding Alien first contact, Alien Infiltration, and Alien hostile Take overs. But there hasn’t really been that much regarding, Alien Abduction, that examines the psychological possibilities but I feel like ‘Midnight Vista’ might be moving toward that.

‘Midnight Vista’ centers around Oliver Flores who was involved in a traumatic incident when he was younger, he disappears and when he reappears years later as a grown man he claims he was abducted by aliens, but since then he has witnessed something that he could not explain.

An important aspect to note is that ‘Midnight Vista’s depiction of Oliver Flores“s experience inside the alien spacecraft, while quite similar to reported experiences of people who have claimed to be abducted by UFO’s, might be vastly different from what really happened.Â I gather that from the fact that the actual alien life forms that show up later in the book look different from the aliens in his memories.Â Another interesting aspect is his creepy stepdad who takes him out for ice cream, in the middle of the night.

‘Midnight Vista’ #1 has a a weird story structure that absolutely necessary to deliver the story that, Eliot Rahal is trying to pull off.Â and it pairs really nicely with the art from Clara Meath. She delivers the gore and nastiness of body horror and being ripped apart while everyone around you is calm and tells you to be calm and quiet. I am excited for this title, as part of the greater Sci-fi genre, this a great edition, and I hope it can keep up this pace.Â I definitely could see this being rolled up into a script, and I would enjoy seeing on the big screen some of the poetic symbolism being flashed here.Â Â

There are a lot of covers and store variants out for Midnight Vista #1 such as the Cover A Regular Juan Doe Cover; but the one that I will be targeting is the Â Cover B Incentive Rahzzah Variant Cover.

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Writer: Eliot Rahal (Hot Lunch Special, Ninjak Vs. The Valiant Universe,Â The Doorman, andÂ The Paybacks)
Artist: Clara Meath
Colorist: Mark Englert
Lettering: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Aftershock Comics