Sci Fi Channel Launches Comic Book Series The Stranded

The Sci Fi Channel is getting into the comic book business. They’ve partnered up with Virgin Comics to launch a 5-issue limited series called “The Stranded”, which has a pretty nifty premise. The idea is to develop the property first as a comic book, and if it works, then launch it into movies or, more likely, a TV series.

The Stranded definitely fits that bill. TVGuide.com was given an early preview of the first issue (out of five in total), which was written by Mike Carey and is accompanied by incredibly detailed art by Siddharth Kotian. The story follows five “regular” people who suddenly discover that they’re aliens. When they are awakened to their new heritage, a ruthless alien force wants them dead. Lucky for them, a mysterious (and curvaceous) woman named Tamree has made it her mission to protect them. Though setting up such an elaborate story in 29 pages can be difficult, the book does a good job of hooking the reader with a satisfying mix of character development and killer-robot action.

I’ve started to get back into comic books after a long lay-off, and will probably give this series a shot. I’ll do a review when I get my hands on one. Meanwhile, here’s the cover of the first issue.