Mysterious extra-terrestrial Thomas Jerome Newton falls to Earth on a mission to save his drought-ridden home planet of Anthea from ecological destruction. Determined to find a way to transport water back to his dying world, Newton begins selling patents for advanced technology, but his success soon makes him a target for both the government, and a sinister rival corporation. As his mission drags into years, Newton finds himself seduced by the excesses of our world and becomes desperate to return home to his family...

The Man Who Fell to Earth: The Official Movie Adaptation takes the 1976 sci-fi movie and turns it into a lush graphic novel that is a thing of beauty. If you enjoyed the movie then you'll find lots to love here. Deve Pramanik's artwork wonderfully recreates the magic of the film.

Of course, if you didn't like the movie you could argue that there's no point in buying this. However, I still think that it's worth giving it a chance if you're a sci-fi nut. The story works well here and gives the rather dated looking movie a fresh, modern approach. Part of the issue people had with the film was that David Bowie, despite being an incredible artist and performer, just didn't have the acting experience to sell the movie. Of course it didn't help that some of the dialogue was a little lumpy. Thankfully acting isn't an issue in a graphic novel and so I think it's fair to say that this collection works much better as a medium to tell the story.

The back of the collection includes a few pages devoted to character design and the release also features a new article on the making of the movie, which includes some previously unpublished behind the scenes photography.

7

Nick Smithson