Strange Skies Over East Berlin

Strange Skies Over East Berlin #1-4

by Jeff Loveness, Lisandro Estherren (Illustrator)

A chilling and intense thriller about an American spy who encounters a terrifying inhuman threat at the heart of the Cold War.

East Berlin, 1973. Herring, a disillusioned American spy, has spent the entire Cold War infiltrating the inner circles of East German intelligence for a cause he barely believes in anymore. He’s seen everything and done anything his government asked, but his latest mission pits the brilliant, embittered operative against an enemy force so vast it could obliterate all of humanity.

The Space Race had greater consequences than even the Soviets could have guessed, and when they sent the first human ever to the stars, something not quite human followed them back. When a mysterious alien probe lands outside East Berlin and into Soviet control, the Americans send their top spy in to investigate. But as Herring gets ever closer to the truth at the heart of the conspiracy, he may find that the power he so desperately seeks is too dangerous for anyone to control or contain.

Writer Jeff Loveness (Judas) and artist Lisandro Estherren (Redneck) present a chilling and intense thriller about a terrifying inhuman threat at the heart of the Cold War - and the one American spy who can save the world...if he can save himself first.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2020

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Berlin, 1973 - a city divided by a wall thanks to the Cold War. An alien probe crash lands in Soviet territory so an American spy heads over to check it out. He find alien. Alien bad. Zzz...

I’d hoped this one would be as good as Jeff Loveness’ Groot book but I think that one was a one-off and Loveness ain’t the great writer I thought he was - Strange Skies Over East Berlin is really, really boring.

The alien thingy crashes somewhere and drives the humans crazee is an overplayed trope at this point and Loveness doesn’t do anything fresh with it here. I get the feeling he chose Cold War Berlin because he wanted to draw parallels between the Stasi, the East German secret police who famously spied on everyone, and the aliens’ powers, which reveals your mind’s secrets, but why is lost on me.

Besides that it’s just spy vs spy at a desk while a generic bad alien does generic bad alien stuff. The main character regrets losing his true love, the lady regrets her brother’s death, or some such trite wannabe-emotional pap - whatever. I also still don’t like Lisandro Estherren’s art since I last saw it in Donny Cates’ godawful Redneck series at Image.

A dull read through and through, Strange Skies Over East Berlin is instantly forgettable, hackeyned sci-fi guff.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narration in comics is one of the hardest things to pull off successfully, especially when it's basically a character's introspective train of thought. It's hard because, in my experience, narration has a hard time actually adding something to a story, instead it tends to overexplain themes, or worse - it's just empty fluff.

So which category does the narration in Strange Skies Over East Berlin fall into? I'm sad to say, most of it feels superfluous. Good narration can work at creating atmosphere, and I get the feeling that's what we are supposed to be going for here, and it doesn't really work. It's a bit budget Le Carré.

One of my favourite genres is cold war fiction (and non-fiction), a genre that seems like it'll all be thinlipped spies going after eachother, all surface mumbling and a bit of action, but which actually has deep troughs of emotion and has a lot to say about the human condition. Which does make me wonder if adding sci-fi in the mix would work.. and here I think it can, if the story was less rushed. Cold war paranoia needs lots of room to breathe, people staring at eachother, trying to divine the other's thoughts.

It all rushes towards a not that interesting finale, where things get blown up, which is a disappointment. I understand the point that is being made, these cold war nutcases can only end up blowing themselves and everyone up - except in real life they didn't, so why not have a different kind of ending here too?

The art is gorgeous, with colouring that looks almost painterly. I would've liked to have seen more of Berlin, if anything.

Overall, the book has a lot of promise, I'm just not sure it entirely lives up to it.

(Kindly received an ARC from Boom! Studios through NetGalley)

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't nearly as good as I'd hoped it would be. It was all rather boring. It's about an alien that crashlands in East Berlin in 1973 and is caught by the Stasi, the East German secret police. The alien can bring your worst fears to the foreground as it takes you over and that's where this became mindnumbingly boring. There's no buildup to this relationship the main character screwed up so there's no payoff. We see he's a person doing awful things as a spy and not much more. Some people seem to like the art but I found it scratchy and ill-defined.

Received a review copy from Boom and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Madara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well... I'm seeing a common theme in my recent reads - anti-war, spies, explosions, death...
East Berlin, 1973, the wall and the Space Race. We thought we were alone, there was only silence. But now the silence is here and you can't kill it...
Strange Skies Over East Berlin was a pleasant surprise. Both the story and the art gave me the chills. Wonderfully done and I wish there was more!

Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 3 out of 5]

East Berlin, the 1970s. A place so crowded with spies of all sorts that people wonder when was the last time they told the truth. It is the setting of this new supernatural thriller, which aims to make us pause and ponder on some important moral questions.

The main character is an American spy in East Berlin who had witnessed a strange sky and is investigating it, all the while he is hunted by repercussions of this job and other earlier jobs. It might seem strange to say, but the questions on truth, morality and duty were for me the strongest part of the book. The supernatural part was rather bland and a bit formulaic. The art was slightly depressing, which fitted the story well, and I liked that the setting was Berlin for a change.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Find this and other reviews on my blog https://www.urlphantomhive.com

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

An alien thing crashes in East Berlin and is driving everyone crazy / turning people into glowing tangled corpse things. Visually it's pretty cool, the setting is interesting as well. But in the end it comes off like a really bland BPRD story.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know about this one. On one hand you've got a story about spies and espionage and the web of lies they build to protect themselves, until they forget who they ever truly were - a story about the things you do, and whether you can be forgiven or can move on. On the other hand you've got aliens. And though this alien creature seems to enjoy pulling these mind games and drawing the nonexistent truth out of its human victims, the two sides of the story ultimately feel rather separate and disconnected and have little to do with one another. We never do learn what even was up with this creature: where it came from, what it wanted, what have you.

I liked some of the characters and enjoyed the shades of grey, but ultimately it's rather a messy mash-up of two whole different things.

[Raf · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.25 ⭐ out of 10⭐.

Keyword: spy, horror, monster, science fiction, graphic novel

Thank you Netgalley for providing me arc of this book.

Strange Skies Over East Berlin tells a story about a spy inviltrating Germany to find out strange phenomenon hidden inside their wall. The plot is quite fast-paced and action-packed. The dialogues are meaningful, although some monologues a bit too poetic. The focus is more on the internal conflict inside the characters' mind instead of the problem going out in the story. I wish the writer would give more explanation about the problems because some times it feels confusing.

The artwork of Strange Skies Over East Berlin is magnificent, the brush strokes, the background, and everything else are beautiful. It's a blessing to the reader' eyes.

Recommended to those who like horror sci-fi graphic novel..

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The publisher blurb says that it is chilling and intense, but I just found it frustrating.

A mysterious alien crash lands in East Berlin, and the local spy tries to figure out what it all is.

And what it is all is is your worse fears, and regrets.

And, well, I'm sure there is more to it than that, but that is the main point, and it seems to take forever to get to it.

The art is good, dark, and intense, and did I mention dark? The characters are not all that eveolved, and I don't really care about any of them, to be honest.

So, a good spy vs alien story, but not a great one.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Kammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy via netgalley!

What happens when the weight of his lies catches up to the spy!

Wow! First, the graphics are amazing! So well illustrated....well done! Storyline was not what I expected. Even thought there are sci-fi elements in this story, it is intertwined with such a strong storyline that it doesn’t empower it like most sci-fi graphic novels tend to. As someone who usually wouldn’t enjoy a sci-fi, this changes my mind.
Can’t wait to read the next volumes.

[Kammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy via netgalley!

What happens when the weight of his lies catches up to the spy!

Wow! First, the graphics are amazing! So well illustrated....well done! Storyline was not what I expected. Even thought there are sci-fi elements in this story, it is intertwined with such a strong storyline that it doesn’t empower it like most sci-fi graphic novels tend to. As someone who usually wouldn’t enjoy a sci-fi, this changes my mind.
Can’t wait to read the next volumes.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of an underdeveloped story about aliens and spies during the Cold War. I didn't even realize until I'd finished reading and saw the blurb on the back that the main character was supposed to be an American spy. I just thought he was another Communist who was dealing with a crisis of conscience or something. The artwork ranges from decent to messy, which seems to be characteristic for Estherren.

[Radwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit disappointing, as I only started to get into it with chapter 3 only to be confused at the end.

This was a mix of a spy story with alien interaction during the cold war, about identities and the lives of spies who after so many years forget their true identities, but it was very lackluster, and I felt that the author worked harder on the pretty words than properly building the story and setting up the series, as I assume this this the 1st volume in an upcoming series. It wasn't brilliant, but also wasn't bad.

I thank Netgalley and BOOM! studios for the digital ARC.

[Alex Sarll]

"The Wall kills hope. It's true. Sometimes you lie to save others. But more than anything we lie to ourselves. About who we really are. What we've allowed our lives to become. Anything to spare ourselves the truth. Anything to say that it isn't hopeless. That you have time left. That you can be saved. It's so easy to lie to yourself. But none of that matters, because eventually you run out of lies."

It's tough at the moment to find a scenario which still feels appreciably worse than reality, but here's one: what if our first contact with alien life had been made by the Stasi? It plays out halfway between le Carré and what to some of us will always be 'a classic base-under-siege story', though there's no Doctor here, just a doctor, who recommends quarantine only to be told that we're well past that now. Which sounds all too familiar. In there with him; the double agent, the ratcatcher, the no-nonsense boss, lots of grunts who – spoiler? – we needn't go into much detail regarding, and something unearthly which was either a monster to begin with, or has become one from being able to read our thoughts far better than even the world's most pervasive surveillance state could ever hope to match, and thus realised exactly what sort of world it's found and reacted accordingly. The story is by Jeff Loveness, who wrote most of the current Rick & Morty half-season; it has the nihilistic bleakness at Rick's heart, but none of the things that cushion him, let alone the laughs (maybe Loveness wrote it to keep that dark vein out of his system while he was working on his Ant-Man sequel script, which I can only presume will be lighter?). The artist, Lisandro Estherren (a name one can hardly say without a flourish) depicts it in a style which is a long way from pretty, but which suits this shabby, claustrophobic environment, the strange, destructive intruder, and the poignant visions of better possibilities, now irretrievable, which follow in its wake.

(Netgalley ARC)

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind its somewhat artificial sci-fi argument the book develops a very good if not amazingly original fable on morals, lies and the excuses we so easily give to others and ourselves to justify our actions.

What really enhances the subject is the Cold War context (East Berlin sometime in the late 60's/early 70's), a paranoid era if ever, when lies, mistrust, disinformation et al. reached amazing heights. I appreciated the subtle reference to the 1964 coup in Brazil, very nicely done.

The other enhancer is the art and color by Lisandro Estherren and Patricio Delpeche; good art, nice pastels.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celé to pôsobilo od začiatku, že sa to bude uberať takým hororovým smerom, ale nakoniec to skončilo úplne inde. Bolo to celkom fajn sci-fi, so skvelým začiatkom a postupne upadajúcou kvalitou. Špionážny triler spojený so supernaturálnymi prvkami, prepletený miestami otravným, vnútorným monológom, cez ktorý keď sa dostanete, tak vás to možno aj začne baviť. Kresba na to, ako bola miestami hnusná, sa mi celkovo veľmi páčila, hlavne prostredie v ktorom nebola možnosť vidieť tváre. 3/5

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4

Total review score: 2.25

[Geoffrey Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the setting, loved the idea, and loved the artwork. The writing just left me wanting. I’m not sure if I just went in with the wrong expectations but the story just sort of fizzled after the second issue for me. 3 out of 5.

[Dustin (dragonarmybooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleh.

I know it's a simple single word, but it is actually the perfect word to define what this graphic novel was. It's art direction? Bleh. It's pacing? Bleh. It's characters? Bleh bleh. It's story? Bleh bleh bleh.

The premise, even, isn't too special. 1973. East Berlin. The Wall and the Space Race. But this time, something alien came back with us and it's not nice. An American Spy gets caught up in trying to find out what it is and how to stop it.

Bleh.

I guess it could have been good, it just seemed pretentious with weak dialogue and stand alone words or sentences that were most likely meant to be profound. Instead, I just found it all...

Bleh.

[Chrystopher’s Archive · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a strange one, and I find myself a little ambivalent about it.

On the one hand, I felt like the story was was trying too hard to be cerebral and ended up just being slippery. The art style was also not as appealing to me as I was hoping from the cover. On the other hand, the story does breathe the desperation and despair of its characters with a quality that I ultimately found touching and the panel designs were definitely visually striking with a lot of interest.

I think this title will have a lot of appeal for fans of horror and the darker variety of boutique graphic novels.

[Beas Chattaraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American spy in East Berlin. An extraterrestrial threat.
Herring is on an assignment to find out about the strange light that streaked past the sky and landed on East Berlin. The Stasi agents are everywhere and no secret is safe from them. So Herring pretends to be one of them, and finds out something terrifying. Far beyond his imagination. With his own guilt and disillusionment making him doubt his every step, will he escape? Or will his guilt consume him?
Strange Skies over East Berlin is a science fiction that ends up asking deeper questions - how far do our lies take us before we forget who we are. How far down the dark road we go before we become unworthy of redemption?
The story was good but its flow wasn't very smooth. At times it became repetitive. But I loved the artwork. It was fantastic! I don't get much access to graphic novels but this is one I will remember because it gives serious The Colour Out of Space (by H. P. Lovecraft) vibes! I recommend it for all those who love the classic scifi and especially those who, like me, also love art.
3.8 stars!
Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3,4 of 5 for somehow underperforming alien-spy story)
First of all - art. I liked it. It's rather unique in style, intense, atmospheric, thrilling and good looking. And oh how I love watercolours! Art, that was what I enjoyed here.
The story - well, I was tempted by the East Berlin setting. That sounded promising, grim atmosphere like from 1984, that's promising for a good spy/horror/sci-fi story. And it looked so for a start, but then it got too quick, too concise and too short. And that's a shame. When I got deep into that dense depressing atmosphere it was almost over. So when I finished the book, despite the great artwork done here, I was rather disappointed with the wasted potential.

[Infinity's Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

For this graphic novel ( a format I don’t usually read) I will be giving a shorter review, as I didn’t really have much to say. This 112 pages collection of the 4 comics in the series read very fast. The whole thing was over in an hour and honestly I wanted more story. The basic premise revolves around an American spy working in East Berlin, who is ordered to investigate a object that falls out of the sky, which is being stored in a bunker. Obviously things start to go wrong when the object turns out to be more dangerous than anyone can imagine

The art style was very bleak and fit perfectly with the setting. The art was my favourite part of the whole collection. There were a few panels that were really disturbing and perfectly fit with the ascetic of the story. The rest were pretty ordinary, just with the style that I enjoyed. The overall story was not one that really fit with the graphical format, and I wish that this was a full novel and the plot was expanded. The story just felt very, very quick and there was backstory that needed to be understood in only a few panels, which didn’t really work for me. I didn’t really feel any emotions reading though the entire book in one sitting.

Overall with a story that is lackluster, characters with very backstory, who do develop but almost artificially, and a art style that was perfect for the setting, I didn’t really enjoy the reading experience that much.

2 stars

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set during the height of the Cold War, Strange Skies over East Berlin explores the concepts of truth in a world where lies are necessary in order to survive.

The story has to do with an American spy who is currently in Berlin working undercover. He gets gets caught up in an underground facility which is locked down - trapped with an extraterrestrial threat. It seems that this being brings out the "truth" in people and feeds off of these emotional secrets that people keep hidden. Our character being a spy, and pretty much everyone constantly lying in this environment means that his creature is able to feast, and feast it does.

I thought the setting mixed with the atmosphere of this book worked well. The way Loveness was able to convey the uncomfortable feeling of forcibly facing truths which you have buried was really well done. I also did enjoy the artwork as it felt creepy and distorted - reflecting the state of Berlin at the time.

Maybe it was just me, but there are parts in this book that seem to strive for some grand epiphany. It tries to convey an emotional truth, but unfortunately falls short of it. Because of this, the book feels confusing and obtuse at times. But I appreciate Loveness' attempt at trying to get to a more ... shall we say poetic narrative, in a very interesting setting.

A bit hit and miss, I would recommend this for fans of creepy X-File type stories, set in the Cold War.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't take this at face value.
This book left me with a similar existential dread as I felt the first time I read The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway.
The book progresses fast, relaying on a very essential synergy of narration and illustration.
The thing I see in many of the low rating reviews of the book focus only on the surface elements of the genre, the spies and the aliens.
While the it reminds me a bit of The Color Out of Space by Lovecraft... this book is not about that.
First, the art is superb, every frame is a masterpiece in watercolor with a palete contrasting very effectively warm and cold colors, whole pages on which the frames are non existent and are split only by the guided transition of narration and evolution of color.
On the plot side, while it is true that it falls a bit weak, mostly because it is so short and relies a lot in the artwork; it develops characters that are there not for the sake of the story but for themselves and the theme.

It is one of the best short stories I've read in a while, it is poetry with plot and some explosions.
If you like things like The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, don't mind soke existential dread or want to enjoy something with amazing and unique artwork for a quiet afternoon. Read this book.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Strange Skies Over East Berlin' by Jeff Loveness with art by Lisandro Estherren is an alien encounter story set in the Cold War in East Berlin.

The story takes place in the shadowy realm of East Berlin in 1973. An American spy encounters a strange being from outer space. The being is very powerful and the spy has to make strange alliances to survive.

I love the moody art and the idea of the story. I felt let down by the execution of the story. It had potential, but just wallowed in sameness.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from BOOM! Studios and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Kip Kyburz · Rating 2 out of 5]

That beautiful, beautiful cover! After that, things got heavy-handed and weren’t exactly what I hoped for, was thinking more realistic spy thriller, not an alien inserted into the story as the only way for characters to see humanity in each other. The art was very cool though.

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost exactly the unique blend of Cold War spy drama and sci-fi elements that I like. I can understand how folks might not connect to this, as the storytelling is not perfect, but it hit a lot of the right notes for me. 3.5 stars rounded up.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was kinda boring

[Toolshed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre storyline and dialogue, great art.