BLUE BOOK: Betty & Barney Hill, Chapter 1

In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill had an encounter in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that would change the course of their lives forever.

Written and Created by James Tynion IV

Drawn and Created by Michael Avon Oeming

Lettered by Aditya Bidikar

Designed by Dylan Todd

Edited by Greg Lockard

Thank you for reading the first-ever chapter of BLUE BOOK. We will be releasing ten-page installments of the series twice a month on Fridays (Chapter 2 will drop on September 24th). While this first installment is free, to read future installments, you will need to become a paid subscriber to THE EMPIRE OF THE TINY ONION.

BLUE BOOK is a passion project for myself and Michael Avon Oeming. We share a lifelong fascination with UFOs and a lifelong frustration with how those stories have been adapted into other media. There is a strangeness in the original accounts of UFO sightings that usually gets swept aside, but Michael and I want to lean into the strangeness. These are human stories of ordinary people who brush against the unknown and must grapple with what they see there. There is a deeper truth, whether you believe in the accounts or not, that lies in the many ways people tell these stories.

The first case we’re exploring is the story of BETTY AND BARNEY HILL, one of the most famous UFO encounters in American history. The Hills’ account of an Alien Abduction still shapes the way we talk about abduction stories all these years later. This month is the 60th Anniversary of their fateful drive through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This story will run over several chapters. You can read it above, or click on the download links under the story to download it in either PDF or CBZ. We will have news very shortly on how you will be able to read this through the Panels app.

Much more to come!

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
9.10.21