Rating: 
Summary: a good sequel
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible! Trees died for THIS?
Review: Being moderately intrigued by the Thirty Days of Night, I decided to pick up the second installment. While the first book didn't blow me away, it was decent enough. This book astounded me with shoddy writing, character development, and UNFORGIVABLE transparency in regards to the plot and the "shocking" developments thrown in by Niles. The art is solid the entire way through, but essentially we are given cardboard cutouts of characters that are supposed to be edgy and cool. The few characters that do have some depth are instantly thrown into ridiculous situations by Niles that defy belief. I felt punished reading this comic. In reality, I didn't care when the secondary characters got cut up, sliced, diced, etc. In any circumstance if there existed were an obvious choice to be made by the writer, it was made with lightning speed. I wonder who thought that this script was anything even approaching acceptable? Not to mention the "SHOCKING" ending sequence that was mind-numbingly dumb. I am still so angry after reading this comic, not because the ending did not please me, because the ending was obvious. Perhaps someone thought, "This will be edgy, they won't expect it, it'll be cool." WRONG WRONG WRONG. I want my twenty dollars back. Since the rights to Thirty Days of Night were bought for a hefty sum, I think that someone owes me some money. I will not read anything by Niles again. This comic is so self-aware in its attempt to be edgy and hip I could hardly stand to read it. Niles does not impress in this unforgivably lame excuse for a horror comic. Just terrible. Stay far away! Don't buy this if you value your time, money, or sanity. Horrible beyond comprehension.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible! Trees died for THIS?
Review: Being moderately intrigued by the Thirty Days of Night, I decided to pick up the second installment. While the first book didn't blow me away, it was decent enough. This book astounded me with shoddy writing, character development, and UNFORGIVABLE transparency in regards to the plot and the "shocking" developments thrown in by Niles. The art is solid the entire way through, but essentially we are given cardboard cutouts of characters that are supposed to be edgy and cool. The few characters that do have some depth are instantly thrown into ridiculous situations by Niles that defy belief. I felt punished reading this comic. In reality, I didn't care when the secondary characters got cut up, sliced, diced, etc. In any circumstance if there existed were an obvious choice to be made by the writer, it was made with lightning speed. I wonder who thought that this script was anything even approaching acceptable? Not to mention the "SHOCKING" ending sequence that was mind-numbingly dumb. I am still so angry after reading this comic, not because the ending did not please me, because the ending was obvious. Perhaps someone thought, "This will be edgy, they won't expect it, it'll be cool." WRONG WRONG WRONG. I want my twenty dollars back. Since the rights to Thirty Days of Night were bought for a hefty sum, I think that someone owes me some money. I will not read anything by Niles again. This comic is so self-aware in its attempt to be edgy and hip I could hardly stand to read it. Niles does not impress in this unforgivably lame excuse for a horror comic. Just terrible. Stay far away! Don't buy this if you value your time, money, or sanity. Horrible beyond comprehension.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good sequel to 30 Days of Night
Review: Dark Days is Steve Niles' sequel graphic novel to his critically-acclaimed 30 Days of Night. Once again, his brutal and tense prose is backed up by Ben Templesmith's unique illustrations that really helps Niles' story with its horrific and disturbing images.
Dark Days continues the events which transpired in Barrow, Alaska except this time the story is set in Los Angeles and its sunny atmosphere. The story this time is really one of revenge and redemption. The major characters, from the good guys to the villains have revenge as the common denominator linking them throughout the lenght and breadth of the graphic novel. There's one character who straddles the line between light and dark who is the most interesting in the bunch.
The story itself is not as powerful as 30 Days of Night. Dark Days is similar to James Cameron's Aliens --- when compared to Ridley Scott's Alien --- in that there is more action in Dark Days than its predecessor. There is still a heavy dose of horror, but it doesn't suffocate as much as 30 Days of Night's did. Dark Days even has more of a film feel to it that 30 Days and maybe thats why its horror is less, but I am not complaining too much. And yes, Dark Days would also make a fine sequel to 30 Days of Night if the original ever gets on celluloid.
Dark Days' ending does owe alot to shock value, but it just shows that Niles' take on horror as something that shouldn't really have a nice, sunny ending. Fans of the original graphic novel won't be disappointed with this sequel. Steve Niles is a master storyteller and I hope he continues the saga he began with 30 Days of Night.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic sequel
Review: Having only discovered Steve Niles' work a few months ago, he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite comic book creators. In "30 Days of Night," a small Alaskan town was beset by bloodthirsty vampires during a month-long period of darkness. In this series we follow one of the survivors, the wife of the sheriff who sacrificed his life to save the town, as she fights to make the world believe in the menace that destroyed her husband.Niles has an incredible ability to take concepts as old as vampires, zombies and werewolves (in his Cal McDonald stories) and find new and intriguing angles to view them through. We get to see a woman try to convince a skeptical world that vampires are real, that they have worked for centuries to cultivate the belief that they are fiction, and that they are very dangerous. Niles doesn't go for the easy ending, either -- this is a story even more brutal than "30 Days," and one that leaves you shivering. Ben Templesmith's artwork isn't something I'd always go for, but it fits the tone of these stories perfectly -- scattershot, disjointed... horrific, but with a strange elegance to it. This is one of the best horror comics on the stands these days, and I can't wait for the paperback of the third book to hit the shelves.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic sequel
Review: Having only discovered Steve Niles' work a few months ago, he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite comic book creators. In "30 Days of Night," a small Alaskan town was beset by bloodthirsty vampires during a month-long period of darkness. In this series we follow one of the survivors, the wife of the sheriff who sacrificed his life to save the town, as she fights to make the world believe in the menace that destroyed her husband. Niles has an incredible ability to take concepts as old as vampires, zombies and werewolves (in his Cal McDonald stories) and find new and intriguing angles to view them through. We get to see a woman try to convince a skeptical world that vampires are real, that they have worked for centuries to cultivate the belief that they are fiction, and that they are very dangerous. Niles doesn't go for the easy ending, either -- this is a story even more brutal than "30 Days," and one that leaves you shivering. Ben Templesmith's artwork isn't something I'd always go for, but it fits the tone of these stories perfectly -- scattershot, disjointed... horrific, but with a strange elegance to it. This is one of the best horror comics on the stands these days, and I can't wait for the paperback of the third book to hit the shelves.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Vampire story that looks perfect for Cameron to film
Review: I've become a great fan and follower of Steve Niles' body or work. Once I saw that he was going to write a sequel to his 30 Days of Night comic miniseries, I knew I had to pick it up. I read through the graphic novel in under an hour and I wasn't disappointed with Dark Days. Steve Niles has penned himself another classic horror story and I hope it becomes a film.
Rating:
Summary: a good sequel
Review: 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.
|
