Top holiday gift? Jonesy the cat gets top billing in new Alien book

Review by C.J. Bunce

The ginger tomcat named Jones, aka Jonesy. He co-starred with human actor Sigourney Weaver in Ridley Scott’s science fiction classic Alien. Now nearly 40 years later, Jonesy gets his own book. Recounting from his perspective the events aboard the USCSS Nostromo on its fateful mission encountering xenomorphs, Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo is now available in bookstores. It is much, much, better than you might think. And it’s a contender for best gift idea for the holiday season, especially for anyone who likes cats.

Lots of books aim for humor and don’t quite get it right. The balance between cutesy and adhering to the parameters of the source material is not an easy thing. Writer-artist Rory Lucey has cats and he is a fan of Alien. When he showed the movie Alien to his wife for the first time, her natural question was: Does Jonesy survive? From there, Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo was born. And like a really fabulous look at a day in the life of a dog, Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye Issue #11 (2013’s single best comic book issue), readers will not encounter any actual words in this book. And that’s as it should be.

That’s the original Jonesy in *Alien* (left), and Rosie the cat (right), who is just a little afraid of what Jonesy might encounter in this new book.

Lucey takes his knowledge of cat behavior and fills in the blanks of the film–those times when we didn’t see Jonesy hissing at the xenomorph behind you, what was he up to? Scratching, taking a bath, sleeping, licking things he shouldn’t be–yes, all that, and much more. And all of it fits into the story from the original film perfectly. It’s even better than A Die Hard Christmas. Here are some images from the book:

Some Jonesy trivia: Since Jonesy was kept in cryostasis for 57 years, living to at least sixty Earth years in the Alien franchise, that makes him one of the oldest cats–ever. Jonesy also is the common link between the Alien series and both Halo and World of Warcraft. Jonesy can be found in both of these games.

Cat lovers will love Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo whether or not they love the Alien movies. And Alien fans with a sense of humor will see this as a worthy extension of the series, giving Jonesy his well-deserved day in the spotlight. You can order your copy now here at Amazon, from Titan Books.