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Unearthly Vol. 1
From the Eisner-nominated creator of Courtney Crumrin comes a tale of star-crossed lovers and interstellar bad boys!
Ann was once shy and withdrawn until her crush on pretty boy Jem makes her take notice of the world around her. But her blossoming love life hits a snag when Jem attracts the attentions of Rae, the most beautiful girl in school.
Sure, it might seem like your average high school love triangle... until an identity-snatching alien from outer space jumps into the fray and things go helter-skelter!
Ann was once shy and withdrawn until her crush on pretty boy Jem makes her take notice of the world around her. But her blossoming love life hits a snag when Jem attracts the attentions of Rae, the most beautiful girl in school.
Sure, it might seem like your average high school love triangle... until an identity-snatching alien from outer space jumps into the fray and things go helter-skelter!
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2005
3 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Ted Naifeh
203 books257 followersTed Naifeh is an American comic book writer and artist who gained notoriety for his illustrations in the goth romance comic Gloomcookie. Naifeh has since become most known as the creator of the Eisner-Award-nominated series Courtney Crumrin, published by Oni Press.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 29, 2010
Decent story by Ted Naifeh, but the art, while technically competant, was bland and lacking in any sort of nuance or oomph. Generally, good writing can triumph despite bad art. In this case, or perhaps in Ted Naifeh's particular case, his writing is suited to match his own impeccable art precisely, so that when they are separated, something goes wrong.
You only have to look at the end of the book to see the author's own character designs to realize just what the heck you were missing. The shoujo manga-ish artist they eventually went with couldn't portray a fraction of the edge and magnetism that the script required to make the otherwise normal words shine.
To be fair, I don't think shoujo was the artist's original drawing style either, but something he was shoe-horned into doing for the sake of the publisher's attempt to capitalize on manga popularity on a superficial level.
You only have to look at the end of the book to see the author's own character designs to realize just what the heck you were missing. The shoujo manga-ish artist they eventually went with couldn't portray a fraction of the edge and magnetism that the script required to make the otherwise normal words shine.
To be fair, I don't think shoujo was the artist's original drawing style either, but something he was shoe-horned into doing for the sake of the publisher's attempt to capitalize on manga popularity on a superficial level.
December 4, 2017
Well, I liked it and I'm sorry I won't ever be able to read the conclusion. Yeah, it's true the writing is better than the art but in the end it's a good OEL-manga nonetheless.
Ann develops a crush for Jem, a very popular boy at her school. But also Rae, the most beautiful girl there, is extremely interested in the guy. Normal boy-girl-other-girl problems arise. Everything changes when an alien ship lands where the three guys leave and an alien clonates Jem. At this point Ann and Rae needs to cooperate to save their mutual interest.
Unfortunately the story ends at page 155 and there are tons of useless pages presenting early sketches or other works by the same publishing house. Too bad!
I really like the mix of manga universe and alien and sci-fi elements. I'm really disappointed they drop this series altogether. I thought it had potential.
Ann develops a crush for Jem, a very popular boy at her school. But also Rae, the most beautiful girl there, is extremely interested in the guy. Normal boy-girl-other-girl problems arise. Everything changes when an alien ship lands where the three guys leave and an alien clonates Jem. At this point Ann and Rae needs to cooperate to save their mutual interest.
Unfortunately the story ends at page 155 and there are tons of useless pages presenting early sketches or other works by the same publishing house. Too bad!
I really like the mix of manga universe and alien and sci-fi elements. I'm really disappointed they drop this series altogether. I thought it had potential.
March 20, 2024
This is set up as a high school love triangle romance, and very quickly turns into something else entirely. Bookish student Ann has a crush on Jem, a sensitive boy who also has the attention of volleyball captain Rae.
Enter Star, an alien shapeshifter on the run. A fair amount of mayhem ensues before we get a final shift into space opera mode.
I liked that the characters are deeper and more complex than they first appear, especially Rae, the popular girl/jock. She's loads of fun with a surprising emotional range and a more real vibe than I expected when she was introduced. She's the real highlight of this initial volume, but I enjoyed the interactions between Ann and Jem as well.
The second volume looks to have a very different flavor, and I'm interested to see where the story goes.
Enter Star, an alien shapeshifter on the run. A fair amount of mayhem ensues before we get a final shift into space opera mode.
I liked that the characters are deeper and more complex than they first appear, especially Rae, the popular girl/jock. She's loads of fun with a surprising emotional range and a more real vibe than I expected when she was introduced. She's the real highlight of this initial volume, but I enjoyed the interactions between Ann and Jem as well.
The second volume looks to have a very different flavor, and I'm interested to see where the story goes.
August 28, 2022
To my knowledge this is it for the story which goes from shojo manga love triangle that feels a step short of satire to alien body snatcher rescue mission. We have the plain Jane girl who finds herself the love rival of the max stats headstrong popular girl for the attentions of the sensitive nice boy. In it's favor, the story didn't get into sexual assault or brooding past traumas and the rival wasn't vengeful/scheming, but I think I would have rather seen the female leads hash out their conflict rather than bring in a sci-fi alien kidnapping plotline.
January 19, 2014
The art is good but not great. The story itself is unusual, and when I got to the end of the book I immediately started looking for the second volume, only to find out that it apparently was never released. That is incredibly frustrating for a book where volume 1 came out in 2005!!!
Worse, it ends in a major cliffhanger.
Rae, a gorgeous and popular high school girl, has set her sights on Jem, handsome but not particularly outgoing. Jem is actually more interested in quiet, intelligent and reasonably pretty Ann. All fairly standard romance stuff, until the flying saucer lands and Jem starts acting weird. From that point on the story is apparently a setup for a high school science fiction romantic triangle political intrigue thriller. No, really. Unfortunately, without volumes 2+, we'll never know what is actually going on with several aspects of the story.
If enough people walk up to Ted Naifeh and make sad puppy eyes at him, will he perhaps FINISH THE BLEEPING STORY??? Or at least admit that he may have made it too complex to finish.
Seriously, it's a terrible thing to do to leave an audience dangling, and it's not like with Tokyopop, where the publisher went out of business. Seven Seas is still around, and Vol. 1 of this series seems to still be in print. Just no volume 2. No, it went on "hiatus" due to low sales, according to the author's blog. Very sad...
Worse, it ends in a major cliffhanger.
Rae, a gorgeous and popular high school girl, has set her sights on Jem, handsome but not particularly outgoing. Jem is actually more interested in quiet, intelligent and reasonably pretty Ann. All fairly standard romance stuff, until the flying saucer lands and Jem starts acting weird. From that point on the story is apparently a setup for a high school science fiction romantic triangle political intrigue thriller. No, really. Unfortunately, without volumes 2+, we'll never know what is actually going on with several aspects of the story.
If enough people walk up to Ted Naifeh and make sad puppy eyes at him, will he perhaps FINISH THE BLEEPING STORY??? Or at least admit that he may have made it too complex to finish.
Seriously, it's a terrible thing to do to leave an audience dangling, and it's not like with Tokyopop, where the publisher went out of business. Seven Seas is still around, and Vol. 1 of this series seems to still be in print. Just no volume 2. No, it went on "hiatus" due to low sales, according to the author's blog. Very sad...
October 20, 2007
I loved this graphic novel and wish their were more out. It's basically your basic love triangle only add in an alien and well... it ends abruptly, so I hope that there's more coming out soon.
Currently reading
May 7, 2011it was good
September 29, 2015
Review soon to come...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews