Daleks, Skrulls, Martians and ALFs

I’ve been dreaming a lot lately, and the weirder, more vivid ones had appearances by non-traditional aliens. I didn’t notice until now that that’s what two very short dreams had in common. One had the extraterrestrial characters of the old scifi TV show Roswell, but the flashy scenes looked as if the series had a big, movie-sized budget. The other one involved Cybertronians, specifically the Autobots, who appeared in what looked like a low-tech, no-budget movie. Maybe I’m having these dreams where I’m watching them because I’ve been exposed to some comic book and TV aliens lately.

I just finished the first season of Doctor Who a few days ago. It’s a smart show; it just has some uber-campy moments and ideas that you really can’t take seriously. But it’s tightly scripted and most episodes have lasting emotional impact, so I can say that it’s one show that I’m going to follow. Christopher Eccleston plays the mysterious Doctor (above), a time-traveler who grants a young woman, Rose Tyler (remember Billie Piper, ‘90s teen pop singer?), the chance to take part in extraordinary adventures across time and space. He’s the arch-foe of the unfeeling Daleks, a powerful alien race that once menaced the galaxy.

Aliens are nothing new in comic books. One can easily read about the exploits of Kryptonians, Martians, Rannians, Thanagarians and others in the DC Universe. I finished Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War early this year, a space saga that involved representatives of practically every sentient race. Also, a xenophobia angle was successfully mined in a timely storyline that starred the revived pre-Crisis Legion of Superheroes, which has mostly non-humans in its roster.

While Marvel’s Annihilation: Conquest wasn’t as big or inventive as the seminal crossover, it was still an enjoyable read. Alien races likewise made their presence felt, albeit on a smaller scale. And then, of course, there’s Secret Invasion, a massive event centering on some fanatical Skrulls’ plan to subjugate the Earth. The shape-shifting race (male pictured below), however, has its share of good and bad individuals, just like Earthlings. Queen Veranke and her loyalists are nutty extremists, while Lyja and the outcast Cadre K sided with human heroes in old stories.

Speaking of invasions, I also re-read one of Grant Morrison’s simpler, more enjoyable stories, the White Martian arc that ran in the early issues of JLA. And speaking of shapechangers, the Dire Wraiths were badass aliens that kinda freaked me out as a kid. The female ones were especially creepy, because they had barbed tongues that stabbed foreheads.

Yes, there could be life out there. Maybe humans aren’t the center of the universe, after all. Whether there are advanced or primitive civilizations out there or not, we may never know. In the meantime, the more adventurous, imaginative or flamboyant interpretations grace the pages of comics, as well as the big and small screens, trying to cater to humans that seek an escape from the occasional ordinariness of Earth life.