2 TPBs today and 1 original graphic novel and more to come. I am a fan of IDW’s product, and company outlook. But I would like the company regardless of whether I like their product. Ted Adams and Beau Smith worked through the difficulties of starting up a company in the midst of the industry's dark times. And they are doing well. With their stable of talent, marketplace outlook, and willingness to maintain their own sense of individuality, I think IDW is an unclonable, wonderful player in the industry.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT: RETURN TO BARROW TPB
By Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith
$19.99
The tragic events of the 30 Days of Night, and the fall of the Dark Days due to the human wars on the vampires have led to the Return to Barrow, by all sides of the conflict. Humans are not enough to defeat the vampires who hunt with added desparation, and vampires are not always what they seem. The results of the wars and attempts to survive lead to strange, very strange alliances. Niles and Templesmith work together is sublime. I know that some readers will have tired of this particular set of scenarios as war and grim fates exhaust the reader. But both Niles and Templesmith realize that the measure of how well a horror story works is the human content and emotional attachment readers have with the characters they see the event through. As much as there are vile creatures here, there are equal parts of honor, courage and love. Niles has a formula (I have heard from other reviewers), but I cannot see it. What I do see is a world made dark, with humans fighting their way out of it. Templesmith’s art excites me, it is emotive, beautiful and intelligently done. The two together have created a trilogy of titles that deserve a place on any horror fan’s bookshelf. So yeah I liked this, I liked it a lot. I thought that it was great. It should be looked upon as a classic.
RICHARD MATHEWSON’S HELL HOUSE Book Adaptation/Original Graphic Novel
By Ian Edginton and Simon Fraser
$6.49
A wealthy man faces death in a different manner than most. He wants to know what he will face upon death. So he ponies up 300,000 dollars and engages a physicist and two mediums to seek out evidence for life after death, and to detail it in such a way as to be convincing evidence that there is something in the beyond. The Hell House is an abandoned mansion, where it is clear that any who stayed there went insane, temporarily or permanently. Edginton and Fraser do a perfectly good adaptation of the classic by Mathewson. It was very true to the source material. The original title was excellent, so I could argue that they simply interpreted a genius work. But it is not always easy to adapt another person’s creative product. We live in an age where, due to technological advances, we are moving from an author allowing the mind to draw its own images to having those images provided. Lord of the Rings is an example. For years no one could approach a work such as it due to the vagaries of fantasy writing and fictional heroic adventures. The trick I think is to allow the source material to be the template and then adapt how your mind saw it. This title worked well. Not my favorite title from IDW but still clearly good.
Will Eisner’s JOHN LAW DETECTIVE in DEAD MAN WALKING TPB
By Gary Chaloner, and by Will Eisner
$14.99
This volume was a perfect endmark to Will Eisner’s life. The character John Law is a bright fellow, dedicated to solving mysteries and crime. He has seen it all, he is tough, and has scars to match. His eye patch marks him as being mysterious. And his city, Crossroads, is a character in the tale as well. A dark world, lit with stage styled shadows and lights for dramatic effect, Crossroads is filled with evil, and, even, the Devil. Gary Chaloner is a talent from Australia, who is very familar with the character, and was hand picked, of sorts, by Eisner to revisit his character for the new sections of this volume. I have no doubts that purists might have quibbles, but I do not. This collection of new and old stories is seemless, and valuable for anyone who thinks the very talented Brian Bendis or Brian Azzerello created noir. The characters within are wonderfully done, and the settings and stories are well worth my time to read. The cost is reasonable and this is yet another quality book from IDW that deserves your attention.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Thanks to IDW. Whenever they send me their work, the next two weeks go by quickly as I read their books.
“ "The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are made of the same water. It flows down, clean and cool, from the heights of Herman and the roots of the cedars of Lebanon. the Sea of Galilee makes beauty of it, the Sea of Galilee has an outlet. It gets to give. It gathers in its riches that it may pour them out again to fertilize the Jordan plain. But the Dead Sea with the same water makes horror. For the Dead Sea has no outlet. It gets to keep." Harry Emerson Fosdick American clergyman 1878-1969
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