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Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith (IDW)
ISBN 0-9719-7755-3
This is the sort of book I just hate to review. Not because of a lack of quality but rather due to a stylistic dichotomy. The premise is sound and compelling for a horror movie (after which the creators pattern the tale) and details the last days of Barrow, Alaska, a town where the sun sets for an entire month at a time. So what happens when a posse of vampires come for an extended visit one sundown?
The dialogue is as realistic as any in a “slasher†flick. The narrative rattles along and the action is well-paced. But what about the art?
Ben Templesmith is obviously an accomplished illustrator and works well in an expressive, painterly manner, like a blending of Kent Williams or Jon J Muth’s watercolours with Ted McKeever’s figure work. And that’s fine for mood, but absolute anathema for those parts of the story where clarity is important. Like some of those later episodes of Angel on TV, too often I simply couldn’t make out who was doing what to whom.
Comics more than any medium depend on a willing and total suspension of belief and anything that breaks the flow must be hunted down and killed messily. This is a Good Horror Story but I can’t honestly call it a Good Comic Book.
© 2005 Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith. All Rights Reserved.