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: Excellent art, mediocre writing
Summary: 2 Stars
Many people described this book as terrifying. Well, I guess it is kind of terrifying; the writing is terrifyingly BAD, while the art is terrifyingly GOOD. Seriously, this is the first book I've read by Steve Niles and it didn't scare me one bit. The concept is sort of original (vampires feasting on Alaskans during a month of darkness) but the plot and the dialogue are sub-par, to say the least. Here's an example for you, and I warn you don't read further if you're planning on buying it because this is a SPOILER COMING ATCHA: Hundreds of vampires decend upon the town of Barrow and ONE MAN beats them back by infusing himself with vampire blood...I just can't get over it. The vampires should have at least exterminated the survivors to preserve their precious anonymity since more of them survived than the townsfolk, who were being defended by a fledgling vampire at the time. So this Eben guy beats the hell out of the Lord of Vampires after being a vampire for only a short time WITH HIS BARE HANDS while dozens of vampires are crowding around him and the remaining Barrowites are completely vulnerable...I don't know, it just seems absurd to me. I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief while reading supernatural fiction, but to suspend LOGIC and COMMON SENSE as well? Give me a break, Steve Niles. I am very glad that I read this book though, because it introduced me to the art of Ben Templesmith, and I have been picking up a lot of his stuff since then, such as Fell: Feral City, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Tommyrot. All these books are absolutely worth it. Templesmith's art is not everybody's cup of tea because it's so hazy and unclear, like walking in a dream or through a nightmare landscape, but I love it. So, I guess I am glad that I do have 30 Days of Night in my collection just to gaze at the atmospheric and haunting images while ignoring the captions and dialogue entirely.Book Review: Excellent idea and execution
Summary: 4 Stars
"30 Days" has a couple of flaws, but it's an involving read.The writing is excellent, I think, well-suited to the medium. The concept is wonderful and certainly Niles doesn't spare the gore or pussyfoot around the concept of vampires ripping open throats. He puts in some disturbing imagery and his plotting is close to immaculate.
A moment to address the other reviewer's complaints about cliche: Yes, you're right. Now stop whining. I doubt much new can be done with vampires, and it's great to see the human battling with the throat-ripping beast without having to deal with Anne Rice's sexual peccadilloes or purple prose. If Lestat actually existed, I would have purchased a flamethrower for the sole purpose of shutting him up. And maybe I would have taken out that whiny Louis, too, while I was at it.
All praise and defense aside, I suspect Niles was given three issues instead of the four he asked for (or perhaps the four he should have written) and as a result his character development is lacking. While I think it's great the book hits the ground running, we only really get to know Eben and Stella, and those two we don't know very well, in the end; the townsfolk have maybe a panel or so (few are granted names) and then get turned into hamburger.
The art isn't to my taste; I think the murkiness enhances it quite a bit, and there is some absolutely beautiful work with what I believe to be watercolor, but I don't think it would have killed Templesmith to be a bit more traditional and realistic. The sheer beauty of some panels, especially that opening splash, is absolutely frustrating next to the sloppiness (which I suspect was intentional) of others. Still, I'll cheerfully grant that it suits the story well.
Overall, it's quite a fun read, a little too quick but definitely worth reading. I suspect the movie will be better, though.
Book Review: Fantastic art, but the writing is sadly lacking.
Summary: 3 Stars
The art is brilliant, no question. Moody and frightening, if you pasted a page on the wall above your bed you'd probably get nightmares for three days straight.The writing, however, is another story. After building the tension in a great set-up -- vampires come to an Alaskan town where the sun won't rise for another 30 days -- the writer throws it all out the window. "And then the feeding began..." And instead of a tightly-wound scary story we get a montage, and jump ahead to suddenly find our heroes holed up and hiding. Where are the moments of fear? Or scenes that fill you with dread over what horror might transpire next? It feels like the writer couldn't be bothered to think up the twists and turns of an actual story, and instead just cut to the gore.
Sadly, it's a pattern repeated throughout. It all seems just lazy, and a few unexplained plot devices (How did all them cell phones get stolen, anyway?), a dead-ended story thread, and some moments of klunky dialogue don't help, either.
If the cover blurb hadn't screamed how brilliantly frightening this was all supposed to be, it might not seem like such a let down. There are some genuinely great elements to this story. Yes, it's cool. It just needed some more thought and care in putting them together.
Oh, but the art is fatnstic! If you're a horror art junkie, you won't be let down.
Book Review: Feeding frenzy!
Summary: 4 Stars
Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith have really spun a brilliant vampiric tale set in the small town of Barrow, Alaska. Yes, Alaska. No sun for a good part of the months. Alaska + Vampires = A vampires heaven and of course one hell of a nightmare for mankind! I read these as first print comics then purchased this TPB as a reading copy. The cover is partial glossy and partially smooth finish with a sturdy thickness insuring a lasting product. The pages are glossy and thick splattered with amazing art work that is both original and gruesome. The art work in here was definitely a break from the norm at its release and spun a whole new style of drawing. The story is brilliant and suspenseful and moves along nicely.
30 Days of Night's popularity is both a mixture of the idea of its setting and innovative artwork which in turn has spawned its own cult following; truly a modern classic for its genre. This particular TPB is well worth the money and a fine edition to any collection.
Book Review: Flawed execution of a great concept.
Summary: 3 Stars
This graphic novel was suggested to me by a friend. I usually enjoy these types of novels and I was told this would hold up well. Unfortunately, this wasn't true.
The production quality is astounding. The pages are in full color and have excellent print quality. The cover has glossy elements and raised print. I imagine that this production quality must be where the price comes from. Because it certainly doesn't come from the physical content.
This book is really isn't all that large. My edition contained previews of the next two books in the series, which took up several pages. I didn't pay this kind of money to get big glossy advertisements and previews taking up a large portion of the book. The actual story could easily fit in one or two news stand comic books. The length of the story was disappointingly short. I found myself asking "is that it?".
The premise is certainly interesting, and it starts off very well. Unfortunately the story seemed to flatten out and speed up as I continued reading. Time, which one would be lead to believe is an important element in the story actually becomes wholly unimportant. The plot plays out like an old B movie, and has just as much value. I came away from reading this with the impression that the writer had become bored or hit a deadline and decided to just cut the story to a quick and dirty ending. There's a big void in this book that begs for 'more'. This is precisely what it needs to become a worthwhile buy. There are some glaring holes in the story as well that can't be addressed without spoiling it. However they become very noticeable as one reads through the book.
On the artwork: I found the artwork to be fantastic. I enjoyed the unusual appearance and the careful use of color. It really helped create a setting and is really the most solid element of the book for me.
However, I imagine that if it hadn't fit a niche in my idea of what good art is, I'd find the entire presentation annoying.
I think if I had paid less than half the price I did for this book, it would have been worth it. Unfortunately the hype about the book doesn't live up to the reality and it's horrifically overpriced for what you get: A short story, a bunch of advertisements for other books and disappointment.