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It looks like comics events are back full force, and a cool one is coming to Portland, OR: Dark Horse Books and Tiny Onion Studios are teaming for an event on March 15th to celebrate the debut of Blue Book, the eerie “true life” series from James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming.

Blue Book follows true life strange events involving aliens – the first issue begins the infamous story of Betty and Barney Hill’s abduction and hits shelves next week.

The March 15th event takes place at Portland’s famed Hollywood Theatre, and includes a viewing of Spielberg’s classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (if you’ve never seen it or never seen it in a theater – recommended!) followed by a discussion of Blue Book with Tynion (Something is Killing the Children, Department of Truth) and Oeming (Powers, Murder Inc.), hosted by David F. Walker (Bitter Root, Naomi). Obviously, the topic of balloons and unidentified objects being shot down is bound to come up!

A special edition of Blue Book #2 will be available with an event exclusive cover (above) by Oeming. Fans can pre-order this special comic with their ticket purchase or buy it at the event— with a limited amount available for purchase from Dark Horse and Things From Another World. Tickets can be purchased at the Hollywood Theatre website.

Doors open at 6pm with the event beginning at 7pm! Seats are first come first serve.

This is the print debut of Blue Book, which was originally serialized on Substack, with lettering by Aditya Bidikar, and edits by Greg Lockard, but each issue includes bonus short stories. Tynion originally wrote on his Substack of the series:

We are going to start with one of the most famous UFO encounters of the 20th Century. The sighting and alleged abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in September 1961. Right now, the plan is for this story to run over eight chapters of Blue Book, taking us first through what Betty and Barney recalled and reported about their initial encounter, and then taking us through the nightmares they had about the encounter, and what further stories they told when placed under hypnosis. The Hill Encounter is notable for being the first widely reported incident of an alien abduction, and the details around it shaped how alien abductions have been discussed and portrayed in media over the last sixty years.

To get you in the mood, here’s a peak at issue #1: