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: Bloody and Brilliant
Summary: 4 Stars
Gore soaked, and lit in shadows, 30 Days of Night is one of the best vampire based comic books ever offered. Forget Joss Wheaton's lovable camp, or Morbius's dark brooding in the pages of Spider-Man. No, the vampires here are remorseless, brutal, and above all else cunning. They stop at nothing, and want only death. They are not harmed by wooden crosses, holy water, or stakes, nor are they stopped by running water.
The only thing that can stop them is the sun. Unfortunately for the residents of Barrow, Alaska, the sun has just set and will not rise for 30 days, and the vampires have arrived in mass, to kill, too feed. Though I will not offer spoilers I will say the ending is surprisingly touching, leaving a sweet, melancholy note to the entire affair.
Steve Niles's script is very good, better than most on the market, and Ben Templesmith reminds me very much of Bill Sienkiewicz, who's better known work includes Eletrka Assassin. Eclectic and energetic, the art is interesting and visually captivating.
Over all, this isn't the run of the mill graphic novel, and it has a very underground feel to it. It edgy and fun in a very dark way, and recommended to underground comic fans especially.
This graphic collects 30 Days of Night #1-3 and has the script for issue #1.
Book Review: Good art, interesting story, but poor value and plot holes
Summary: 3 Stars
*** Spoilers!!***
Nicely done artwork, refreshingly unromaticized vampires, and some engaging characters. Plot is clever in concept, but there are some credibility issues. The idea that someone could steal hundreds of cellphones from the townspeople without assaulting and / or alarming any of them is pretty ludicrous. And then all you need to screw the vampire master plan up is a single unaccounted-for cell phone.
Also, the initial killing of a Renfield-like surrogate with some vampiric super-powers by gunfire was very confusing. For the rest of the book I was wondering why the heavily armed townsfolk didn't just "shoot em in the head", and it was only the bonus storyboard script notes at the end that explained the reason why that one apparent vampire could be killed by a bullet in the head.
Next, the "voodoo documentarian" subplot made little sense and was a complete throwaway with little overall relevance that wasted time and pages in an already bare bones storyline.
Finally, at the end, the newly turned Sheriff beating the master vampire is already quite a stretch, but the idea that the other 18 vampires didn't just mob the town's champion and kill him either before or after he killed the eldest leader is just silly. I guess these are Bushido vampires who follow a code of honor in their personal fisticuffs despite being brutally evil in all other aspects of their behavior...
Anyway, all these logic gaps and plotting quirks aside, this would have been a more forgiveable purchase if this 50 page comic listed for maybe ten bucks. The idea of paying close to twenty clams (less with Amazon's pricing) for a story that can be read in a half hour is ludicrous. Please, publishers, either bundle these skimpy "graphic short stories" together in a combo volume if you want to charge a DVD level price, or just charge (much!) less for the little teeny versions.
Book Review: Why the hype?
Summary: 2 Stars
Ok, first of all i love vampires. but this?
Steve Niles comes up with an interesting concept here, with a town with 30 days of night, but the actual story reads like a high school short story collection entry. He seemed so wrapped up in the concept that he had no idea how to end the story. You can see how he starts off explaining in a huge info dump at the beginning of the story. This is prime example of the "Telling, not showing" which goes against most creative writing paradigms. Now, that being said, the story's weakest section is the ending. He just seemed to end it, with many loose ends and plot holes.
The artwork was interesting though. I will not go so far as to say i liked it, because it was too obscured and foggy for my taste, but i can understand the artist's intent.
This was just a book that was hard to keep in my hands, rather than hard to put down.
And now they are making a movie? there is hope for it, but they better not stay exact to the story of this comic book.
Book Review: An okay beginning...
Summary: 3 Stars
It is true that Mr. Niles does not take advantage of a wonderful idea, like he does in Return to Barrow, however it is still a great story, and it is also the beginning of an interesting trilogy. I was fortunate enough to read each comic as it came out, so I had the luxury of feeling the time seem to pass by inbetween reads. 30 Days of Night does not translate well into a graphic novel. It cuts off at points and is too fast of a read. Steve Niles does not take the time allowed to put the reader on the edge of his or her seat. But, it is the beginning to Dark Days and Return to Barrow, which are both far better developed.
If you are a hard core fan of vampires then get the book for its uniqueness. He does not make the vampire lifestyle romantic in anyway. However, if you are looking for a good read then pass this by and read Kingdom Come.
Book Review: Dark Brilliance
Summary: 5 Stars
I came across this Graphic at a local bookstore last year and I was totally entranced with Templesmith's art and Steve Niles has created the perfect modern gothic story. The look is familar with Tristan Shane and David McKean (both amazing artists) from the Hellraiser Trades, and serves to propel the horrific storyline along with a gritty and desolate feel.
I am definately pre-ordering the second installment and look forward to seeing this in film.