30 Days of Night

I have a soft spot for the 2007 movie (Josh Hartnett in a skin-tight, sweaty thermal? I am so there for that!), and wanted the story to continue without subjecting myself to any of the sequels. I started with the original 3-issue comic book, because why not?

The story is there - the kernel of it anyway; it's much more terrifying and, um, fleshed out in the film - but the art is fucking horrendous. All of the humans look like funhouse mirror approximations of h. sapiens, and in many cases are more terrifying than the monsters themselves. It's just ... there aren't any words. I'm speechless.

That said, I'll keep reading, if only for sentimental reasons. (Film) Eben, what a babe.

I'm one of those people who saw 30 Days of Night the movie before picking up a copy of the graphic novel - written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. And while the movie is rather vague now - I must've watched it at least two years ago - I have to utter the unholy phrase of "I liked the movie better."

Don't get me wrong, the graphic novel's a must read - dare I say, a part of the ever growing canon of Vampire Literature. But it's lacks something that the movie offers: Build up.

Sure, I'm not a fan of plot devices, stringing the audience along and what not, but this leaves us hungry for more. It gives us little to work with. There isn't much character build up, isn't much plot build up and the climax is like an erection show more that grows flaccid immediately.

And I'm not cutting down on Steve Nile's story. The story is great, which is why I feel starved myself. If he didn't have the ability to tell it, or I felt that he was a hack, I wouldn't be here wishing there was more to this book than what was offered to me.

The edition I have - because I'm not certain that all the editions have this - also features the comic script written by Niles. It's pretty detailed for only a portion of the book. It also bears witness to the fact that he is a great and talented writer. So why is 30 Days of Night leaving me feel incomplete? I read a beginning and an end, but the middle was thinner than an bulimic prom queen.

I'm aware there are other books to the series, not just this one. But shouldn't I have been treated with something more in this novel? Or perhaps the novelization might come in handy, which I doubt as most of them suck anyway.

But to make up for the hunger of more story, I must admit that Ben Templesmith's artwork is beyond anything I've ever laid eyes upon. The man, like his writer counterpart, is a genius. These to are the dream team of Vampire graphic novels. show less

Short and quick. [b:30 Days of Night|831829|30 Days of Night, Vol. 1|Steve Niles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178747918s/831829.jpg|280664] is a brilliant concept that... well, I'm as surprised as [a:Steve Niles|58947|Steve Niles|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg] was that it hadn't been used before. In Barrow, Alaska the sun sets in November and doesn't rise again for a full month. Where else would vampires go, but such a place, for a feast? How would the townspeople react?

The story is simple, but the artwork is maddeningly beautiful. Each image is grotesque and stunningly rendered. The pictures are blurred, swirling, and close to having the same sort of impact that [a:Dave McKean|10365|Dave show more McKean|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1249142890p2/10365.jpg] has had on me in the past. All in all, wonderful.

The horror is the clever sort... the situation preys upon one's fear of cold, isolation, and the hopeless as much as it does the inhumanity of the vampires. The hunter and the hunted.

[b:30 Days of Night|831829|30 Days of Night, Vol. 1|Steve Niles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178747918s/831829.jpg|280664] deserves a place alongside the king's of vampire fiction. It is every bit as clever and well done as [b:I Am Legend|547094|I am Legend And Other Stories|Richard Matheson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317791583s/547094.jpg|2223519], [b:Salem's Lot|11590|'Salem's Lot|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891565s/11590.jpg|3048937], and [b:The Passage|6690798|The Passage (The Passage #1)|Justin Cronin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874267s/6690798.jpg|2802546]. show less

I think my best appraisal of this graphic novel is that it is a simple story executed with panache. Gorey, blood-spattered panache. It's characters are ultimately cannon-fodder, but the writing treats them with dignity. We don't learn enough about them to really know them, but we get enough to know that these are people, not red shirts. The art is well tailored to the content with it's rough edges and striking coloring meshing seamlessly with the chaotic violence and confusion of the story. The introduction it's self notes that the soft focus and minimalism of the frames eliminates unnessary distraction, drawing the focus to the most key elements. In doing so it maintains a fairytale-like vagueness. Here are heroes and a villains show more defined by the immediate action of the story. They are well defined roles, but they are never overwhelmed by more concrete detail. I appreciate the breathing room this level anonymity grants the story. show less

I remember hearing a lot of great things about 30 Days of Night before I read it. Someone at the local comic shop recommended it to me, and after seeing Templesmith's beautiful art style, I immediately picked it up. This was the first thing from Steve Niles that I read, and he quickly went to the top of my "creators to watch" list.

The whole thing is a wonderfully executed horror story with a very John Carpenter feel (in fact, you could almost say it's The Thing meets Assault on Precinct 13 with vampires). It's fast-paced and as violent as you'd expect it to be (unless you're a Hollywood executive, apparently... sigh... what a waste of a movie adaptation).

This one is always on my list of recommendations for anyone looking for some good show more comics to read... as long as they like horror and bloodshed, that is. show less

“Endless night, and an endless supply of blood and meat.“

Barrow, Alaska - a vampire’s wet dream! And such a great idea for a vampire story! Dang, I wish I had thought of it! This story moves quickly, and I think the ending is pretty good too! My only negative issue was that the artwork seemed a bit blurry to me, which sometimes made it a little hard to follow what was happening. For example, when the two vampires fight, I had no idea who had won!
But, I am in complete awe of this idea! Vampires go where the sun doesn't! Brilliant!

And, just like that, the undead stop laughing

30 Days of Night is one of my favorite vampire horror movies, so when the Film at 11 Halloween Bingo square got called, I knew exactly what I wanted to read for it. It turned out to be that rare creature of the movie was better than the book (graphic novel) for me.

I can't really review this without comparing it to the movie, I found the origin story to be very stark and more of an outline of the movie. Eben, Stella, Marlow, and a few of the others are all there and more or less match up with their movie characters. I will say, knowing the ending of the movie, which they kept original to the novel, made the beginning of the novel more poignant. However, I felt like the movie focused more on show more the humans and did a way better job of setting the tone and slowly bringing in that sense of horror and fear as the residents of Barlow, Alaska realize who is visiting their town.

The vampires in the novel get more speaking lines and this “humanized” them more, which made them less scary to me. This is a series, so I can see how creating storylines for the vampires makes sense and why the focus was on them more.

I did read this on Kindle, so maybe I didn't get the best effect of the drawings but I can't say I thought they were the greatest and added emotion to the story. The style came off as watercolor dark shadowy Monet, except with less clear humans instead of plant scenery. You can see the inspiration for the movie vampire looks from the renderings in the novel, though.

Was a little disappointed because I thought the novel would dive deeper into the story, this is Vol. 1 in a series, so I guess I'd have to read on for that. I hate to say it, but choose movie instead of this. show less