Vampires in Alaska~ "30 Days of Night, Night, Again" by Joe R. Lansdale

Published by:  IDW

Release Date:  December 6, 2011

Writer:  Joe R. Lansdale

Artist:  Sam Keith

Overview:

Fleeing the site of a secondary vampire infestation in the cold, wilds of Alaska, a band of survivors arrive at a climate change facility during the final days of a long period of extended daylight. The inhabitants of the research compound are trying to determine the nature of a strange object found in the ice when the survivors arrive, leading to a frightening and bloody confrontation between humans and vampires - and an odd and unexpected guest!

Written by acclaimed horror writer Joe R. Lansdale and featuring horrifically beautiful art by Sandman co-creator Sam Kieth! 

The Dame's Blood Dripping Review :

There's a connection between October, 1943, the Nazi submarines..and a vampire hunt taking place in 2004 desolate, Alaska.  It's not clear even slightly, however, until the discovery at the end of this blood and guts graphic novel.  Still, we have to wait until the next in the series to find out exactly what that connection is...and I, for one am hanging on tethers until then.  Well, not literally tethers, those you can see first hand in this gorgeously pictured gothic cum graphic novel.  Vampires loving to string humans up, after all.

What I love best and hate most about "30 Days of Night..." is the gore.  I'm an admitted vampire lover.  And, let's face it, it's the gore, the vicious throat-ripping, blood-dripping that charges us up.  We don't like to admit it.  It's not something we like to share over dinner and in groups with our vampirish reading friends.  But we know it deep in our hearts.  That being said, it was difficult to see in Sam Keith's colored drawings.

His vampire queen wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense.  She's monstrous.  Not much to recommend her in physical attraction.  What she does have is power over the men and a sympathetic side when she talks about her hunger.  But, I wish she'd wipe her mouth after "dinner!"

I felt more for the leader of the non-vampires, Trudy, who was encouraging them on a search to find those left behind for the vampires to chew upon.  She's the beautiful one on a good mission...but that can eventually get boring, can't it?  I'm waiting to see...

This is a graphic novel series I'm going to be collecting.  It's gorey, it has some really x-rated language which means I can't recommend it to everyone, but it has a storyline that appeals to the vampire lover in me.

For those of you who harbor the vampirish in all forms, you may want to sneak this one past the wimps in your association.

4 blood-curdling stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Fallen Skies" Dark Horse Comics Series Is Fantastically Painted and Written!

Published by:  Dark Horse Comics

Digital Comics

Creators Are:

Writer~Paul Tobin

Artist~Juan Ferreyra

Colorist~Andrew Dalhouse

Cover Artist~Juan Ferreyra

Based on TV program from DreamWorks Television

Starring Noah Wyle

1# in the Fallen Skies series

This comic/graphic art series is fantastic!  You can actually visit Dark Horse Comic's website and get a preview of this first book in the series, which is just amazing.  As far as I can tell, at this point there are about 6 books so far.  I may be incorrect about that, it was difficult to tell.  At any rate, here's a little blurb about the series from the site:

In the heart of Boston, following the devastating events of an alien invasion, history professor Tom Mason and his sons Hal, Matt, and Ben are just trying to survive. After an extreme firefight with the aliens, Ben gets kidnapped. Determined to get his son back, Tom joins forces with the 2nd Mass, a militia group that is taking the fight against the aliens. But with the group’s munitions supplies running low, Tom must locate an old friend to equip himself and his team in order to ensure the survival of the human race!

• Based on the 'Falling Skies' television program from DreamWorks Television and starring Noah Wyle!
• Executive Produced by Greg Beeman and Dark Horse alum Mark Verheiden!


Fallen Skies #2

This is the most beautiful of the covers, I think, from artist Juan Ferreyra. Andrew Dalhouse, the colorist for the series, has also done a superb job of making Ferreyra's drawings come to life.  It does justice to the work we see within the pages of both of the comics I read.  I'm agog at the range of drawing and conceptual imagery the artists have.  There's a lot of pure entertainment just in that fine detail in this series. 

The characters are not only well defined in drawing but they also come alive with their vocabulary.  Writer, Paul Tobin knows just the right thing to have them say to keep our interest whetted.  Pictures alone cannot do this...can't tell an absorbing dystopian story of this kind without the development of characters and relationships.  It all works in Falling Skies.

The aliens are such a wonder to observe!  The claw-suspended brainiac aliens themselves are called "Skitters" by the survivors, and their gigantic, robotic battle/weapons are called "Mechans."  I loved seeing every detail of these creatures.  Such imaginations...but not so far-fetched that one couldn't imagine them being real and the "mechans" being easily made by a capable scientific world such as ours.  Hmmmm   

I loved the humor in this series, too.  Lest we forget that comics are supposed to be comical...the picture of an alien-as-deer-head on the front of a truck was killer!  LOL

I'm a new convert to comics/graphic novels.  Dark Horse Comics is actually the conduit I've chosen to lead me through my baby steps.  My experience has been very positive.  I love the quality, the variety of choices and the ease of shopping with them directly from their own website.  I also love the comics and creators they use...absolutely excellent quality all around.

Look for my other reviews on Dark Horse Comics coming very soon!

*  Do you have any memories of favorite comics from days past?   I used to love Superman when I was a young teen living in Augsburg, Germany, as a military brat...no tv!! :]

5 stars for fun and fabulosity!

Deborah/TheBookishDame