Hi there, Terry back again. Hope I find you well. Welcome to my latest video.

Um, this one I’m going to call Lucky Dip Part One. Hopefully I’ll do a part two, but my previous video lost a few subscribers. Um, unfortunately, uh, um, hopefully I haven’t lost all of you.

Anyway, I’m planning on picking out either a miniseries or a story art once or twice a week and highlight the covers and a synopsis of the story. So, let me know in the comments if it’s a good idea.

We start with probably my favorite ongoing, but not as in this series, ’cause it has nine miniseries so far. So, it feels a bit like an ongoing. But anyway, it’s called Resident Alien and it’s by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.

It started off in Dark Horse Presents and the first three volumes started with the numbers zero to three. So basically four issues in a series. These stories all appeared in issues of Dark Horse Presents. Volume four was the first original miniseries. But anyway, we’re talking about number one here.

This, as I said, goes from 0 to 3. It was published between April and July 2012. Unlike the TV series, our resident alien isn’t here in preparation for his kind’s invasion.

In number zero, we meet him out on a boat on the river fishing, three years after he was stranded on our planet. He has taken the name, as per the TV series, of Dr. Harry Vanderpiegel. We see him in his alien form, but others don’t—well, except there’s a possibility that one in a million people may see him as he really is. So that’s around 365 people in the whole of America.

He lives just outside the town of Patience. We meet him when the police chief and one of his deputies visit him. He is called over by the chief because there has been a murder in town. Harry asks why their doctor cannot deal with it, but unfortunately, he is the one who is dead.

Harry agrees to help, and we meet Aster, one of the nurses, and Harry inspects the body. He gives his findings, and then the mayor arrives, mainly to talk Harry into becoming the town’s doctor for a week or so.

Well, they get a replacement. He reluctantly agrees. Then there is a flashback to three years previous where we see Harry walking away from his crashed spaceship, contemplating what he will do in this strange place.

Harry visits a video store and hires a mystery film, planning on getting ideas to solve who the murderer is. This issue ends with him going back to the doctor’s surgery where he’s been staying and gets confronted by Aster holding a shotgun. She can’t see him clearly; his face is blurry and it’s dark. So she threatens, “Stay away, or I’ll blow your head off.”

Number one opens with Harry exclaiming, “It’s him!” to Aster. She relents, apologizing and lowering the gun. She had just panicked with the memories of what happened to the doctor.

He makes some chamomile tea and listens to what usually happens on these evenings when on duty. Next, we see Mike, the sheriff, interrogating a known drug supplier who might have an idea who the murderer is, being they found drugs missing. He doesn’t give up a name, but he does have an idea.

Next, we are at the funeral of the doctor. Many of the townspeople are there, but Harry hangs back. After the service, around the grave, the mayor spies Harry and admits to him what Harry already guessed: no one is coming to replace him, at least not yet. Harry gave him another week.

The mayor also mentions an accident that happened at a farm. The owner, Walter Mayu, supposedly fell on a scythe after getting blind drunk. But the mayor isn’t so certain now that they have this actual murder. Maybe it’s number two.

The sheriff is adamant it’s an accident. He doesn’t want his little town of Patience to get a serial killer reputation.

Next, we see Download, the nickname of the guy the sheriff was interrogating. He is at another guy’s home called Rufus Roberts. Download sees plenty of drugs around and accuses Roberts of murder. Roberts doesn’t deny he was at the surgery, but he says the doctor was already dead.

He ignored the drugs and got out fast. Download phones the sheriff’s office as he knocks out Roberts so he can’t get away. Rufus finds himself in Harry’s care. Harry gives some first aid to Rufus’ eye that Download injured. He tells the doctor that he’s innocent. Harry senses he is telling the truth, but the sheriff is of a different opinion. He wants to clear the case up quick and has already informed the mayor he has the culprit.

But believing this is over comes to an end when the mayor and Harry hear there’s been another murder.

The issue begins three years ago where we see Harry sorting out clothes, food, and money to help his beginning of life on Earth. He easily bypasses all of our electric devices, obviously coming from a much more advanced culture than ours.

Next, we see the sheriff with the latest victim’s carer. She explains that she heard a noise upstairs while she was downstairs in the living room. When she got to the bedroom, she saw a man stark naked standing over the body. A knitting needle had pierced the victim’s heart. He ran out when he heard the carer behind him.

The victim’s name was Carter Blaine, a retired bank manager. The sheriff isn’t happy, being as it looks like Rufus is innocent. In fact, his lawyer is asking for him to be released. But the sheriff explains he may not be a murderer, but he still broke in and stole drugs, so he’s staying where he is.

Next, we see Aster at the optician after running the usual eye tests. It seems she has almost perfect vision. The optician puts the blurriness down to tiredness.

Next, in a surgery, Harry is given a clean bill of health by Mr. Ben Maxwell. Ben spies an old school yearbook on what was Sam Hodges, the doctor’s desk. He explains to Harry he was at school with Sam and Sam’s late wife, Margie.

There is a picture of her with another man, Lance Whitehead. He was the star quarterback at the time. He was drafted along with Ben. Lance came back from Vietnam, a war hero, but Sam had taken up with Margie by then. Harry asked what happened to Lance. He says the bank foreclosed on his parents while he was overseas, and Margie not being around for him, he and his folks moved to Idaho.

Aster needs to see her dad. Being there, nothing wrong with her eyes. Harry visits a library, looking up old newspaper stories or microfiche, just satisfying an idea he had had. Aster visits her father, who is a shaman. She explains about the blurry visions she only gets when looking at Harry’s face. Matter-of-factly, he says maybe he’s a visitor to our world. Stranger things have happened. Maybe they have a bond together. As far as she knows, no one else has mentioned anything.

Harry follows up on his hunch, but is he right? The issue ends with the FBI, three years ago, finding Harry’s destroyed spaceship.

Number three opens with Harry visiting Lance Whitehead. Lance and his wife had moved back to Patience a year ago. Unfortunately, his wife died, so all their plans died with her. Lance dived into a bottle. Harry was sure he was the killer. It was all linked: the farm, the bank, the doctor. But he knew he was wrong.

So, who is it? When Harry leaves in his truck, we see a figure in black on a motorbike. Next, we see two policemen in their vehicle getting a message about a motorcyclist acting really weird near the clinic and taking all his clothes off. They head off to the clinic.

Harry has got back and Aster is at the clinic. Aster is about to ask Harry a question when she hears a noise outside and goes to investigate. She is grabbed from behind by a naked man. Aster comes out trying to load a gun, and when she does, she fires it, unfortunately hitting Harry in the leg. She apologizes and fires a second shot, this time hitting the attacker in the shoulder. He drops Harry and attacks her. Thankfully, the police arrive and fire a warning shot. He lets go of Aster and gives himself up.

I’m not going to say who it was. You should have guessed by now. The story ends with Aster tending Harry’s wound. Harry wants to do it himself, worried Aster might see his legs inside and maybe they’re not disguised like he is. But Aster tells him, “Don’t worry. I know you’re not one of us.” And Harry can only blurt out, “What did you say?”

We then have an epilogue going back three years. The FBI have had the spaceship, or what’s left of it, moved to a restricted area. After investigating the mess, they realize there is the remnants of a chair amongst the debris, so they surmise there was a pilot and ask, “So where is this pilot?”

Oh, that’s the first volume. Would you like the next one? Do you like this idea? I know it’s not new, but I certainly enjoy rereading these books.

Let me know in the comments. Thank you for watching, and remember to keep the Panology flag flying. Thank you. Bye.