Life on another planet(3 points)

 I thought Life on Another Planet was pretty interesting. I liked how it showed different aspects of society and how they dealt with potential contact from extraterrestrials, each having only their self interests in mind. It was also interesting how Eisner chose the different groups to follow, and I think it reflected a lot of the different things that happened at the time it was made or previously. There were tensions between the Soviet Union and the US shown in the comic by how Arango and Malley are basically treated as important assets due to the information they have on the foreign life forms and their initial discoveries. There are spies for both governments littered throughout the comic as well. The Star People cult reminded a lot of cults like the People’s Temple, Heaven's Gate( a bit later), Aum Shinrikyo, and even the Charles Manson family, all led by a charismatic leader like Marco in the comic. The scientists were maybe a reflection on the over zealous pursuit of knowledge to the point of creating a new hybrid life form. I thought the ending was pretty fitting, when Bludd destroys the space probe headed for Barnard, and also rips up the new radio signal from outer space. I thought it was fitting because I think the whole comic was a reflection on the world as whole, specifically the US. Everyone was only interested in themselves and their goals. It was an assessment of where the world was at the time, and if it would be even ready if extraterrestrials made contact. Which Eisner answered “no” with Bludd choosing to rip up the papers.

I thought a technical aspect that interested me was the way Eisner used framing in some pages. He would sometimes not even have a panels, creating an almost mural like quality to them that still flowed with sequence. I also liked how he separated chapters in one page illustrations that were quite interestingly designed.

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