Review: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT #1

30 DAYS OF NIGHT No. 1 (2017)
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Steve Niles
ART: Piotr Kowalski
COLORS: Brad Simpson
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
COVER: Ben Templesmith
VARIANT COVERS:  Piotr Kowalski with Aurore Folny; Ashley Wood; Ben Templesmith
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2017)
DIAMOND CODE: OCT170412 – Wednesday, December 20, 2017

30 Days of Night was a three-issue horror comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles and drawn by Ben Templesmith.  IDW Publishing originally released the miniseries in 2002 (August to October).  30 Days of Night takes place in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States.

It is so far north that during the winter, the sun does not rise for 30 days.  This is the perfect scenario for a group of vampires that take advantage of the prolonged darkness to invade Barrow and openly kill the townspeople so that they can feed at will.  A small band of humans, led by a young sheriff, struggle to survive this monstrous onslaught.

The original 30 Days of Night was followed by numerous sequel and spin off comic book titles.  It also yielded a line of novels and was adapted into a 2007 theatrical film and a direct-to-DVD sequel.  Now, IDW is rebooting the 30 Days of Night comic book franchise in a new comic book series, entitled 30 Days of Night, of course.  It is written by Steve Niles; drawn by Piotr Kowalski; colored by Brad Simpson; and lettered by Tom B. Long.

30 Days of Night #1 opens in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost community in North America.  Here, the sun does not set between May 10th and August 2nd.  It also does not rise between November 18th and January 24th each winter.  And the temperatures average below zero.  Many of the townspeople are leaving before this year's time of darkness, but those who stay behind in this isolated Alaskan township will have to survive a new evil that emerges to terrorize the town.

Nothing happens.  30 Days of Night is practically 20 pages of nothing.  What little suspense, mystery, or intrigue, this first issue does not have enough of anything scary to qualify as a horror comic.  It is not that Steve Niles' writing is bad; this 30 Days of Night #1 is simply first-issue introduction by decompression gone really bad.

Nor is Piotr Kowalski's art poor.  It is simply as generic as Niles' writing.

5 out 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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I Reads You Review: Clive Barker's NIGHTBREED #1

CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED #1
BOOM! Studios

STORY: Clive Barker
WRITER: Marc Andreyko
ARTIST: Piotr Kowalski
COLORS: Juan Manuel Tumburus
LETTERS: Ed Dukeshire
COVER: Riley Rossmo
VARIANT COVER: Christopher Mitten (B); Mike Mignola (C); Matthew Roberts (Cards, Comics & Collectibles Exclusive Cover); Tony Harris (Phoenix Comicon Exclusive Cover)
24pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S. (May 2014)

Suggested for mature readers

Famed horror author, Clive Barker, adapted his 1988 fantasy-horror novel, Cabal, into a film entitled Nightbreed.  In both the film and the novel (sometimes listed as a novella), the focus is Aaron Boone, a young man who is an unstable mental patient.  Boone believes that he is a serial killer, because his doctor tells him that he is.  Events lead Boone to an abandoned cemetery connected to a deserted town named Midian.

There, he encounters a community of monsters and outcasts (also called the “Tribes of the Moon”), known as the “Nightbreed” (called “Night Breed” in the book) that hides from humanity.  Boone becomes one of them and protects them from an assault by outside forces, including his doctor and local police.  Boone soon becomes the Nightbreed’s savior, as he leads them on a quest to find a new home.

Released in 1990, Nightbreed was not well received, at the box office or with critics.  However, I loved the movie.  I loved its characters, concepts, setting, and Danny Elfman’s dark and beautiful score.  To be honest, I thought that there were things about the film that needed improvement, but I still loved me some Nightbreed.

In the early 1990s, Marvel Comics published Nightbreed, a comic book follow-up to the film, which ran for 25 issues, and there was also a two-issue crossover with the Hellraiser franchise (also a creation of Clive Barker), entitled Hellraiser vs. Nightbreed: Jihad.  Boom! Studios returns Barker’s “Tribes of the Moon” to comic books in a new series, Clive Barker’s Nightbreed, written by Marc Andreyko, drawn by Piotr Kowalski, colored by Juan Manuel Tumburus, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire.

Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #1 opens in the present, where we meet Dirk Lylesburg, leader of the Nightbreed, who acts as a sort of narrator.  Then, the story moves into the past.  The first tale takes place in July 1857, in a swamp outside Lacombe, Louisiana.  Two runaway slaves, a man and woman who are apparently a couple, desperately try to avoid a slave patrol.  However, an encounter with Peloquin will change their lives, especially for one of the slaves.  Next, the story moves to Boston, Massachusetts in April 1945.  Senator Harold Emery separates from his friends so that he can visit a local cathouse, where he will meet Shuna Sassi.

Normally, I would admit that there is not enough in this first issue to render judgment on the series or even to give this first issue a grade.  But as an African-American of possible Nightbreed extraction, I am so very happy that both my peoples are represented in this fine comic book, so I will give it a good grade.

Seriously, the storytelling by artist Piotr Kowalski is moody and alluring, drawn in a sharp line and with matter-of-fact compositions.  Juan Manuel Tumburus’ rich colors are vivid during the violent scenes and shimmers to give the Boston house of ill repute a magical quality that it needs within the context of this story.

Writer Marc Andreyko gets it, and what is “it?”  It is the thing that is Nightbreed, and if we can’t have Clive Barker, Andreyko is the surrogate who will return us to the world of Midian and her children, the Tribes of the Moon that are the Nightbreed.

A

www.boom-studios.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.