Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos

This unsettling and campy alien invasion drama from Zahler (Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus) offers equal parts internal and interstellar warfare. Zahler’s better known as a filmmaker and director of gritty genre flicks like Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99 than he is as a cartoonist. Here, he packs in plenty of R-rated content, drawn in a sketchy, juvenile style. When a massive alien spacecraft appears over the Pacific Ocean, destruction and chaos follow. As the world struggles with the revelation that humans are not alone in the universe, Zahler focuses on billionaire Carlton Land. Land lost his fiancée during an alien attack and is flailing in his grief. After a bout of self-destruction that sends Land on a downward spiral, he seeks redemption by dedicating himself and his fortune to destroying the invasion force, with the assistance of a group of scientists and adventurers who are battling their own inner demons. The artwork is clumsy if sincere, as if Armageddon was drawn out in a high school sketchbook. It’s a bizarre work, and one unlike others genre readers are likely to come across. While not unconditionally recommended, it has a sticky quality. (Oct.)