30 Days of Night
Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
IDQ Publishing
ISBN: 0-9719775-5-0
$17.99 USA.
Never been a fan of comics. Even as a youngster I used to read only one(1) comic; it was Eagle Magazine, filled with horror and adventure and a splash of SF. It was great. I never touched another comic when that company went bust and blended with another magazine, until my friend sent me a copy of 30 days of night.
The cover alone got me to open and read my first comic in over 17 years.
The story is about a group of vampires who learn that Barrow, Alaska goes a whole month without a sunrise.
Vampires swarm in and feed. The lead vamp, Marlow, contacts the number one vamp of all vamps, Vincent and tells him about this paradise. But Vincent is not a happy vampire, he is extremely pissed that Marlow has destroyed all the work, of making humans think vamps don’t exist.
Thrown into the middle of all this, is Eben — the local sheriff and his wife, Stella. Plus a handful of the small town’s residents who have managed to survive in an old industrial furnace. The extras are mostly fodder and complain: “We’re gonna die!” But, Alaska is so cold that the vamps sense of smell is all messed up and they can’t find the remaining few.
Eben take it on himself to be the hero, spying on the vamps he learns the only way they can be killed is by one of there own. He has a tough choice to make. And as the town burns, his choice is made.
Not only is this comic an excellent book, it also reads like a movie. Originally published in three parts, it has finally been collected into one thick A4 sized comic with gloss pages through out and vivid color. The artwork is awesome and I can see by the quality of work and production why there was a lot of talk about this comic’s series.
Clive Barker wrote the introduction for this comic and claims: “…raw, even brutal energy of a horror movie from the good old days…”
He is so right. If you love horror, stripped to the bare basics of what makes a good horror comic and great horror comic.
This is one to add to your collection. The price is high but the quality and binding (it has a spine) will last for years of horror reading pleasure.
Did I mention that this comic reads like a movie script? And at the back is the actual script for the first 19 or so pages.
That’s an added bonus (like on DVDs). Enjoy!
UPDATE (2007) PS: The movie was good as well. Not fantastic but watchable.
Graphic Book: 87%
Movie: 67%
