Advance Review: Aliens Are Among Us In ‘The Ministry Of Compliance’ #1

For a series about a decades-long alien conspiracy to subjugate Earth, The Ministry of Compliance certainly starts off with a bang.

Within the first few pages, the body count hits double digits, primarily thanks to a no-nonsense. sword-wielding minister. Avigail Senna, the head of the compliance, is in charge of keeping her fellow alien bureaucrats in line. When they succumb to baser human emotions like greed and start stealing from the other ministries, Avigail carries out her duties with extreme prejudice. Usually that means beheading the scofflaws.

In the story from Oscar-winner John Ridley, we learned that the aliens have been on the planet for 39 years. While it seems that the alien overlords age differently from us, it’s clear that nearly four decades on Earth is more than enough for most of them. They carry a fair amount of angst, which makes Avigail’s job that much more difficult.

Ridley makes the most of this oversized first issue, giving readers plenty of action but also firmly establishing his plot as well as several side stories that will likely complicate matters for the ministries in future chapters. There are some biracials, products of alien-human breeding. The extraterrestrial prime minister has been recalled to the homeworld, which doesn’t portend well for the aliens left on Earth. And some humans have figured out that we are not alone in the universe.

Artist Stefano Raffaele takes advantage of the story by crafting well-composed fight scenes that are clear despite the bloodshed. He does devolve into gore when the script calls for it, including a particularly nasty scene in which a character has a hole blown through his body. He also paints great imagery of multiple landscapes, from rice fields in Vietnam to London’s diverse skyline.

Given the amount of carnage in this issue, colorist Brad Anderson shows remarkable restraint. Half of the panels could – and perhaps should, given the ferocity and the body count – be swimming in ruby-red blood. While Anderson shows readers plenty of plasma, it won’t cause any fainting spells.

The creative team gives readers plenty to think about in this premiere issue. It will be interesting to see where they take us from here.

The Ministry of Compliance #1 will be available for purchase on Wednesday.