NIGHT #2 by Sarah Haslett
Published By: Jester Press
Writer: Troy Hasbrouck
Artist: Buddy Prince
Reviewed by: Sarah Haslett
You ready for a second helping of classic horror meets gangland USA? I sure am!
The protagonist of this story is one David Skinner. He’s a nice guy, but he’s got the werewolf curse. Last issue he got caught up in a gang war and was taken in by one side, The Reds. Unfortunately, one of the gang members slipped him some drugs and it triggered his transformation. Also, hot on David’s trail are two FBI Agent, Sabrina Voght and Andrew Whildon. The end of the first issue showed Sabrina finally finding and confronting David.
To her surprise, David doesn’t wanna play and he leaps right over her and gets away. This puzzles her because she can’t understand why a werewolf wouldn’t attack her. One the funniest, yet cruelest moments of this issue is when David, still a werewolf, finds the guy who slipped him some drugs. David scares him so bad that he messes his pants, again. To avoid giving it all away, I’ll just say that the end of this issue begins a showdown of unusual proportions that will be concluded in the next issue. David ain’t the only one in town who ain’t human. But unlike David, the other guy, Mr. E., wants to control the whole city. David just wants to be left alone.
The story and characters are developing quite nicely. I’m very interested to see how this will all play out. There are some pretty funny moments, like when David is fighting and none of the guys he’s beating up speak English. He says, “Damn, this outsourcing is out of control.” That had me laughing pretty hard, but I have to say that the X-Files encounter felt forced and clichéd.
David and Sabrina are the most dynamic characters in Night and I’m quite curious to see how they develop. I was quite relieved to see fewer characters in this issue. Meeting two whole gangs last issue was quite overwhelming, though I was very impressed that each one looked different. No two gang members were alike.
That’s what I got to say is the best about the art – everything and everyone is unique. A lot of detail and attention was put into creating this world and these characters. And the art improved in this second issue. The action was depicted more realistically. Though, some of the perspectives and body proportions still looked off. A lot of the characters looked like they were striking a pose rather than standing normally. But I expect that time (and practice) will improve this.
I highly recommend you give this a try. If your local retailer can’t order a copy, check out http://www.jesterpress.com
[Known as Silva Shado on many boards, Sarah is most frequently found at HeroRealm.com and MightyMiniCon.com. She is a reviewer, moderator and columnist for both sites. At MightyMiniCon, her column "Under the Radar" looks at those comics that go unnoticed by the majority of comic book readers. At HeroRealm, her column "Independent Forecast," co-written with Juan Gamez, looks at the non-spandex titles in the current Previews. Most recently, she started doing web comic reviews for ComicWorldNews.com. Check them out around the 15th and 30th of every month.
My first web comic review is up at ComicWorldNews.com. Read all about the Gods of Arr-Kelaan at http://cwn.comicraft.com/cgi- bin/index.cgi?column=reviews&page=124
