By d. emerson eddy — I'm told that ET was one of the first movies I went to in theatres. I say told, because I was only a year old or so when the movie came out. Who brings a baby to a movie? I don't remember any of it, which is about the same condition that Alan Moore & Jim Baikie were in when they were approached to create a thrill for 2000 AD to essentially be like our friendly little extraterrestrial's movie. When a Tau Ceti interpreter travelling home crash lands in Birmingham, we get Skizz from Moore, Baikie, and Tony Jacob.

The first serial of Skizz follows a similar initial concept as ET, as an extraterrestrial crashes on Earth and is hidden by a kid (or a teenager at least), which then spirals out of control as the government moves in and nasty stuff happens. That latter bit is more divergent, and the help that the kid has in a pair of her dad's friends are decidedly older and very British, but it's fitting with a 2000 AD story. Complete with some dry humour and the type of comedic relief character that would become a staple in many of Garth Ennis' stories in Cornelius, a laid off pipe-fitter that still has his pride.

I always find early British period Moore to be a bit strange. There's an approach to the storytelling, with more overt humour, a different kind of balance between character study and plot, and moral or social themes being present, but in some cases on the periphery (there are definite ecological themes here, commentary on how humans treat one another, and more that Moore would revisit in Swamp Thing and elsewhere), that give them a different feel. Also that they generally don't have anything to do with the superheroes that would come to dominate his more well known work. I always find it refreshing, and comforting, to go back and re-read some of this early work.

It's also a joy to look at Jim Baikie's black and white work. His style is consistent with other British contemporaries like Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Alan Davis here, with some nicely detailed characters, and an interesting design for Skizz himself, both weird and familiar enough that I think most people's reaction would be more to find him cute than terrifyingly alien. Baikie's facial expressions for characters are some of the best.

The lettering from Tony Jacob is quite good. An earlier collection of Skizz that only included the first serial was printed at fairly constrained proportions, rendering the lettering somewhat difficult to read, but that was fixed with the Complete Skizz collection. Here we get to better see the variations Jacob uses for electronic voices and the unique glyphs for unintelligible sounds.

Although Moore only did the first serial, Baikie continued himself for two more, expanding on Skizz's world and problems, as well as the fallout on Earth for those who had helped him. It's really rather worth it to read the whole thing. While Skizz from Moore, Baikie, and Jacob may have started out as a way to capitalize on ET, it's a rather wholesome, entertaining tale in its own right. A wonderful commentary on how we treat people different from ourselves and why the police aren't as good as madness.

Classic Comic of the Week: The Complete Skizz

The Complete Skizz
Writers: Alan Moore & Jim Baikie
Artist: Jim Baikie
Letterers: Tony Jacob, Tom Frame & Annie Parkhouse
Publisher: Rebellion
When interpreter Zhcchz of the Tau-Ceti Imperium crashed his ship into a small blue ‘Hellworld’-class planet, the odds of surviving were stacked against him.
Stranded in the polluted, hostile British city of Birmingham, ‘Skizz’ is befriended by Roxy, a plucky young local girl. But from bad food to Prime Minister Thatcher’s government alien-hunters, danger is ever-present; this E.T. may soon be R.I.P.
Collected in its entirety for the first time, this volume features the original series as well as Jim Baikie’s full-colour continuation of Alan Moore’s extra-terrestrial masterpiece.
Release Date: June 14 2017
Price: $9.99
Buy It Here: The Complete Skizz

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.