The Advance Team

by Will Pfeifer, Germán Torres (Illustrator)

Overview

From veteran graphic novel writer Will Pfeifer and stellar newcomer Germán Torres, a darkly comic science fiction thriller sure to grip readers!

Zack McKinley was just another twenty-something pizza delivery boy before he discovered that his pop culture idols are actually the advance team of an alien invasion.

Now, encouraged and aided by his (probably insane) uncle, Zack must track them down, one by one, and kill them before the invasion can begin. But the advance team has no intention of letting Zack get in their way, and soon the authorities are hunting for a celebrity serial killer in a pizza delivery jacket.

As his life slips out of control, Zack finds only more questions. Why are the aliens here? What do they have to do with him? Is it too late to stop them before the Earth is conquered? And what if he has simply lost his mind?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765327123
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/27/2012
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

WILL PFEIFER has been writing comics for the past ten years. His credits include Catwoman, Aquaman, Amazons Attack, Swamp Thing, Finals, Blue Beetle, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, X-Men Unlimited, Captain Atom: Armaggedon, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellboy: Weird Tales, and a story in 24/7, the all-robot anthology.

GERMÁN TORRES has worked as a penciller, inker, and colorist for IDW Publishing, Marvel Comics, Devil's Due Publishing, and Microsoft. He lives in Barcelona.

Editorial Reviews

Zack delivers pizzas and takes on all the abuse that comes with the job. But Zack is also hiding something he doesn’t even know about himself—that he’s the product of an intergalactic experiment and possesses incredible powers. Encouraged by his Uncle Archie, an old acquaintance of his deceased parents, Zack is sent out to take on an “advance team” of aliens masquerading as artists, music producers, and U.S. presidents. Zack seems able to take on just about any challenge, and therein lies the story’s primary problem. There’s no suspense as the same scenario repeats itself inexorably: Zack meets increasingly powerful beings and kills them without much fuss. Nothing can hurt this pizza boy, apparently. Krypton, anyone? Or at least, maybe anchovies. What this comic has going for it, despite the sophomoric plot, is some highly effective b&w art. The crisp, taut lines and the strong graphic feel of the pencil and ink drawings carry the day and make it enjoyable, flaws and all. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Now that I've read Finals, I've had a glimpse of the inventiveness and extremism of which he's capable. I hope the writer has a chance to bring us something just as zany and challenging in the near future.” —Don MacPherson, Eye on Comics on Finals

“Will Pfeifer routinely turns in some of the sharpest scripts in comics.... Assuming that you like things that are totally awesome, I doubt you'll regret it.” —Chris's Invincible Super-Blog on Catwoman

From the Publisher

Aliens-among-us yarn from veteran comics scripter Pfeifer (Amazons Attack!, 2007, etc.) and relative newcomer Torres. In the opening sequence, narrator Zack McKinley of Cleveland prepares to assassinate rock icon Orson Arson with a high-powered rifle. "Believe it or not," the caption advises us, "I wasn't always like this." Indeed. Previously, Zack eked out a living delivering pizzas while trying to summon up the courage to ask fellow-employee Vic for a date. Then one snowy evening Vic grabs Zack's phone, punches in her number and says the rest is up to him. Zack picks up a stack of pizzas and drives joyfully away—until a strange unearthly light kills all electric power and brings the car to a stop. Wondering what's going on, Zack climbs out. Straight into the arms of a bunch of thugs intent on robbing him and stealing his phone. Hardly knowing what he's doing, Zack beats them to a pulp. "Wow," he murmurs. He tracks down the artist who devised Orson Arson's logo, Anton Arvon. Arvon turns out to be a homicidal alien with super powers. After a struggle Zack kills him and runs home, where his Uncle Archie is waiting. Archie, who claims to be an astronaut and isn't actually related—in the artwork he resembles the Joker—explains that, 50 years ago, aliens opened up a wormhole on the far side of the moon and sent to Earth an advance team of invaders. Zack's part in all this is...well, Zack thinks Archie is crazy and blows him off. The story proceeds via abrupt cuts and flashbacks, with the details more convincing than the broad outline, itself not too much more than hackneyed science-fantasy wish-fulfillment. The blocky, rather messy black and white artwork brings to mind Mad magazine and fails to make the best use of the script. Come back, Alan Moore, all is forgiven.

Kirkus Reviews