graphic novels

Being a new fan of Mr. Niles work, I picked this up and quickly read it. I admit that the story has weak plot elements to it, namely the end (which I wont spoil). I felt a bit betrayed by the conclusion but understand its horror and shock value. Overall well done and the artwork continues to be top notch, one of the best. The setting moves from a forlorn Barrrow, Alaska to sunny Los Angeles (which makes for a great contrast). I wish the some of the minor characters had more development, but understand the limitations of this genre. I highly recommend it.

Perfection? Not necessarily. But a great read? Absolutely.

Having already read (and reviewed) "30 Days of Night" by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, I already had a pretty good idea of what to expect from them: angry, bloodthirsty vampires. And that's what you get in "Dark Days", the sequel to the last trade. "Dark Days" is composed of six issues, providing a chronicle of the vampire-hunting career of Stella Olemaun.

Stella is the wife of the sheriff killed in the aforementioned book, and these issues sees her tracking down the wife of the vampire that led the original attack on Barrow. She's had to evolve into a hard-as-nails hunter with issues with trust. This makes it even more difficult when she is forced to take a vampire into her confidence. The storytelling is not exactly revolutionary, but Niles still puts out an extremely competent storyline.

For me, however, its Templesmith who makes these stories. No artist better captures the horror and paranoia that go with the story as well as him. Eyes wide in terror, mouths screaming for blood...no one draws the fear and the fearsome like this guy. Combined with Niles' story, you have a hell of a combination: a story for any comic collection, provided you don't scare easy.

I love Steve Niles work, and became interested in his stories after reading 30 Days of Night. I found Dark Days to be an excellent read, picking up the comics as they were released. Niles tells a great story revolving a survivor from Barrow trying to convince the rest of the world that vampires do exist. While character development may not be great, for a comic its good enough. Besides, most of the character development was done in 30 Days of Night, and doesnt need to be rehashed here. Templesmiths artwork, as always, is great and lends itself well to Niles storytelling. If you enjoyed the first book, I highly recommend this sequel.