Graphic novel reading lists by author, series and subject

“The legend says that even the tiniest fragment of a vampire contains the essence of the whole… that no matter what is done to us… we can always come back… with a little blood… the right blood.”

TITLE:

DARK DAYS

SERIES:

30 Days of Night #2

CREATORS:

by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith

GENRE:

Horror Fiction, Graphic Novel (Collection), Adventure.

DESCRIPTORS:

Vampires, Monsters, Secret Societies, Small Towns, Isolated Towns, Survival, Sheriff and Deputy, Night, Predator, Prey, Winter, Militant Group, Author Tour, Revenge, Lost Loves.

SUMMARY:

Sixteen months after the vampires destroyed Barrow, Alaska, Stella Olemaun leads a small group of fellow survivors to Los Angeles to promote her book 30 Days of Night. She wrote it to draw the vampires out into the open so she could prove their existence.

In L.A. she meets Miss Judith. Her son Ali died getting photos of the Barrow massacre, which she has on CD-ROM. Stella also encounters a vampire called Dane. Dane had Eben’s remains dug up and brought to L.A. in a bid to avenge his friend Marlow’s death. Unfortunately Dane’s courier is intercepted by the Lilith, the powerful vampire wife of Vincente who begins her own bloody quest to avenge her husband’s death.

When Dane finds out that Vincente, not Eben and Stella, killed Marlowe, he begins to form an alliance with the ex-deputy. He explains how he intended to use Eben’s remains to restore him, still a vampire, back to unlife with blood and then kill him in front of her. Suddenly, Stella has new hope.

However, the agents of Lilith move in on Stella and her band of vampire killers. Dane suudenly finds himself siding with the humans against the vampires. However, with Stella’s crew destroyed or turned, will even Dane’s help be enough?

APPEAL:

The pacing is quick although the story slowed down for me a couple of time when I failed to understand the artwork that I was seeing. The painting, very stylish and evocative, occasionally got in the way.

The characterization was a lean, dealing mostly with Dane and Stella, the protagonists in the story. Stella is far more predatory than before and she revels in it. It was interesting that Dane is a vampire who reigns in his monstrous nature. His reasons for doing so were fascinating. However, while Stella and Dane are interesting contrasts, Stella and Lilith are two sides of the same coin — interesting foils for one another.

There were multiple storylines, but the story always came back to Stella. Dark Days was told in 3rd person past tense, limited view point with only a sprinkling of captions.

Dark Days works better if you’ve read 30 Days of Night because of the many references to it. In fact it opens up with an extended working of the last scene in 30 Days of Night

READALIKES:

Like 30 Days of Night, the sequel Dark Days is a dark, twisted and visually grotesque graphic novel. This kind of over-the-top graphic novel horror is popular these days. However, if you like the 30 Days of Night series you should try Steve Niles’ graphic novel hard boiled detective series about Cal McDonald, a hard drinking, pill popping wreck of a human being who puts his body and sanity on the line to save humanity and a hidden pack of friendly ghouls from the monsters who prey on them.

You can also try Dan Brereton’s The Nocturnals series. Doc Horror and his daughter Evening hopped from their doomed reality to another one where the horrors are hidden and the mundane humans rule the world. Over the years Doc Horror managed to carve out a new life in the criminal underworld and then as an underground hero combating a morally bankrupt company involved in genetic splicing monstrous slaves> Then the doom that destroyed his world suddenly shows up in his new home.

“This is the world of which they have only dreamed. Endless night, and an endless supply of blood and meat. This is how it is meant to be: humans, like bottles, waiting for their caps to be popped.”

TITLE:

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

CREATORS:

by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith

GENRE:

Horror Fiction, Graphic Novel (Collection), Adventure.

DESCRIPTORS:

Vampires, Monsters, Secret Societies, Isolated Towns, Survival, Sheriff and Deputy, Night, Predator, Prey, Winter, Alaska.

SERIES:

30 Days of Night Series.

SUMMARY:

In Barrow Alaska, the sun sets on November 17, and is not seen again for thirty days. It’s a fact of life the residents live with. But for Marlow Roderick, a vampire leader, Barrow is a lure he cannot resist and he leads his pack to the town in anticipation of a month long feeding frenzy.

Eben and Stella Olemaun are both husband and wife and Sheriff and Deputy of Barrow. First they encounter a “renfield”, a human agent serving the vampires, who is stealing all of the cell phones and destroying other means of communication. The Olemauns capture him and learn a little about the impending invasion before he forces the bars of his cell apart and attacks them. Stella shoots him but it takes her entire clip to put him down. The damage, however, is done. The vampires arrive and the town is both isolated and defenseless.

The Olemauns are among the survivors when the long anticipated Vampire Lord, Vincente, arrives. How much longer can the last humans of Barrow hide before they are found and destroyed? Eben and Stella realize that time has run out and that only one last desperate action can save the few who remain. But, if it works, will the victory be worth the price?

APPEAL:

The pacing is quick although the story slowed down for me a couple of time when the dark illustrations got in the way, making it difficult to understand what I was seeing. However, Ben Templesmith’s illustrations are very stylish and evocative. By the time I was finished reading the graphic novel the first time, I felt like I could “read” the art work too.

The characterization was lean, dealing mostly with Eben and Stella, the protagonists in the story. It was interesting that Eben the sheriff, was reluctant to use force while Stella emptied her clip into the “renfield’s” head. It’s a contrast to the way they handle their last gambit against the vampires.

There were multiple view points, but the story always came back to Eben and Stella. The story was told in 3rd person past tense, limited view point with only a sprinkling of captions.

The story took place in Alaska, a bitter cold place at a time when the sun would not be seen for thirty days. I enjoyed the ceremonial observance of the final sunset between Stella and a reluctant Eben. We did not get to see much of how the people of Barrow lived but what we saw rang true. Ben Templesmith does a great job of artistically rendering the nearly claustrophobic isolation of the town when cut off and under attack.

READALIKES:

30 Days of Night is a dark, twisted and visually grotesque graphic novel. It has spawned several sequels which were also collected into graphic novels, a couple — so far — mass market paperback stories and now a movie..

(Based on a post originally published in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

Written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield, Freakangels is a new webcomic. It comes out in weekly installments of eight bright, full color pages that fill your monitor with visions of a devastated future London. It is a great experiment that is worth your attention, especially if you have any interest in reading or creating web-based comics. And it’s Warren Ellis.

Freakangels is supported by Avatar Press who is hosting the webcomic and given Warren room to create Whitechapel, an online community where you can talk about Freakangels, comics, music and other stuff.

Leave it to Warren Ellis to transform a webcomic into an experience. . . and maybe a way of life?

Who is the Undead Rat?

Who am I Really?

By night I am the Undead Rat, your guide to finding the next good graphic novel to read. On other websites I find horror books and Ohio authors for people to read too.

By day I am Greg Fisher - husband, father, and a librarian assistant in a mid-sized suburban library. I have a Bachelors degree in history and religious studies. I don’t have a Masters Degree in Library Science and probably never will. Still, I have over 15 years of library experience so that counts for something.

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My name is Greg Fisher and I am the Undead Rat. And as the Undead Rat, I get to explore the world of horror fiction and share what I’m learning with people over the internet and in person. Horror is a great literary passion of mine.

But . . . (here is the confession)
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