30 Days of Night by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of 30 Days of Night
Book Review: ...Apparently I don't "get it".
Summary: 1 Stars
After hearing mention of it (positively) in reviews for other books I've enjoyed and reading many of the (again, nearly all positive) reviews out for this book in particular, I was expecting a great piece of storytelling packaged with impressive "groundbreaking" art. I was incredibly disappointed.
Basic story as follows- City of Barrow, Alaska spends 30 days (according to the story) in near complete darkness as the sun passes over the Southern horizon. A group of vampires finally puts together the fact that 1) "30 days of night" means no interruption to their normal shenanigans will be caused by a sunrise, and 2) A small, isolated community in said darkness means little reason to hide said shenanigans.
Chaos and Terror ensue as the story unfolds concentrating on the struggles of the town sheriff and his wife's (also with the sheriff's dept.) attempt to guide the survivors through to the end of the extended night.
While the art was very impressive and done in a style that felt comfortable for the subject matter, there were many frames that got excessively sloppy and that, combined with the *lack* of writing, made it difficult to figure out exactly what was happening at some points. (Difficult beyond the "Hey that's cool, it's chaotic, the art reflects it, etc." way). Impressive and cool looking? Yes. A little over the top in an attempt to be impressive and cool looking? Yes.
The writing.... is awful. Many times throughout the read, I was actually double checking to make sure that my book wasn't missing pages or I had skipped over some. It wasn't, and I hadn't.
Zero character development, very little to any follow through on many events that happen, and to be honest, beyond the very general idea, a very boring and stereotypical horror story. I did make the mistake of ordering the following books in hte series at the same time, before reading this one. So maybe in those books we will actually find out who these characters who appear for 3-5 frames, yet are treated as key characters, really are. Or, "What ever happened to that video-feed that seemed to be such a huge big deal?" Or why I, as a reader, should really care either way about ANY of these characters I know nothing about? ...but I'm not holding my breath.
As I said in the title, apparently I just don't get it. Clive Barker (writes the forward if I remember correctly) seems to think this is interesting and original work. The vast majority of reviewers on this page seem to agree. Nearly every professional review I read seems to talk about how amazing this book is. I disagree.
Save yourself the money- buy a good horror novel/graphic novel with developed writing (I definitely recommend Robert Kirkman's "Walking Dead" series), and just look at some pretty artwork by itself.
Book Review: 30 Days of Night - Wow an original vampire story idea
Summary: 5 Stars
I really really like 30 Days of Night, I cannot stress this enough. 30 Days of Night is basically a vampire story centered on the fact that in Barrow, Alaska there is a period of time wherein the town is plunged into darkness for 30 days. The idea is so simple and yet so slick. What adds to Steve Niles story even more is the fantastic art of Ben Templesmith, this guy could draw grass growing and I think I'd buy it just for the illustrations. In short, if you like comics/like a good story/or just like Ben Templesmith's art style, read this trade paperback.Book Review: 30 Minutes of Crap
Summary: 1 Stars
I'll start by saying I love Ben Templesmith's art, and that is the only reason I will keep this book on my shelves.
That being said, I hate this book and consider it a pretty solid waste of money. It starts off well enough for the first few pages as the lead character and his wife hang out for a minute to watch the sun set, bringing on the 30 days of night for Barrow. It all goes downhill from there.
We're introduced to some characters who don't do anything that matters, and it's never made clear what their purpose is or why they're wasting valuable page space in this short comic book. Then the vampires arrive and supposedly kill just about everyone in Barrow. We're not really shown this. There's narration for about three pages that TELLS us the vampires are killing people, and Templesmith draws some random blood spatters and teeth all over the pages, but that's it.
The rest of the story is at best cliched and at worst imbecilic. The whole thing is supposed to have taken place over thirty days' time, but due to the piss-poor storytelling, it feels like it all takes place in about an hour. There is no, ABSOLUTELY NO character development in this story. The ending is incredibly stupid. None of the vampires have any personality at all, and are completely interchangeable. The entire thing is completely uninteresting.
I regret buying this book. It is not worth the cover price. I will not be buying any of Steve Niles's writing in the future. Don't believe the hype--30 Days of Night is 30 Minutes of Crap.
Book Review: A Creepy Read
Summary: 3 Stars
The thing that drew me to 30 Days of Night was the art. I love how it looks as if it's done with runny paints. Adds a certain creepy/grungy tone to the whole thing. I'd also seen previews for the film, though never actually saw it. It looked good, and I figured I'd follow the old saying, "Never judge a book by its movie." So I bought the book instead of seeing the movie.
The art, like I said, was great. No surprise there. Story lacked a little depth. Characters seemed to be kept at a distance. No one's true intentions were really made obvious, which could either be seen as a pro or con. I don't really mind either way. I enjoyed the story enough to give it 3 stars, but I probably won't be buying anything else in this series.
A good edition to one's collection, for sure.
Book Review: A Great Graphic Novel/Comic Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally, I don't read comic books, but I decided I'd give this one a try because I read about it in the July issue of "Fangoria."
Ben Templesmith has beautifully drawn grim and graphic depictions of vampires. Most of the artwork is kind of abstract, so it sets a great creepy feeling to the book. Steve Niles wrote this so that it reads exactly like a horror movie. If you like horror movies or comic books, then you should pick this up right now and look out for the movie based on this graphic novel/comic book.