Customer Reviews

Bloodsucker Tales, Volume 1 (30 Days of Night, Book 4) (v. 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first story, "Dead Billy Dead," written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Kody Chamberlain, is pretty good. The story is nothing great, but it's entertaining, but the art really stands out. It's very moody, with deep shadows and gorgeous coloring. I'd give it an "A".

The second story, "Juarez," by Matt Fraction and Ben Templesmith, started out great but completely becomes incomprehensible towards the end. This story is more complicated than the first one, and I respect that, but it's told in eight parts, the first six of which were really good, but the last two of which makes no sense at all. Overall, less enjoyable than the first, although I am a sucker for Ben Templesmith's artwork. I'd give it a "B".

It's not great, but good enough entertainment. Kinda expensive though. So you might want to skip it. Fun, but not good enough of a value.

Niles and Fraction deliver odd, twisted and gruesome stories worthy of the bearing the "30 Days of Night" tag. Established fan favorite 30 Days artist Templesmith delivers his usual top notch visuals and you can see where he had a little fun playing with his style a bit to suit the story. Newcomer Kody Chamberlain proves he's ready to be part of the big show. His use of line, color and texture deliver his story in an engaging combination of classic illustration, modern horror comic and horror movie splatterfest.

The first story, "Dead Billy Dead," written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Kody Chamberlain, is pretty good. The story is nothing great, but it's entertaining, but the art really stands out. It's very moody, with deep shadows and gorgeous coloring. I'd give it an "A".

2 stars granted to the talented artists who gave their all to provide us another beautiful chapter of 30 Days of Night. Ben Templesmith and Kody Chamberlain are now at the top of my favorite artists list.

Two very talented writers shamed themselves when developing a concept for this installment. Steve Niles, who hasn't been my main reason to read the series, hit an all time low in Bloodsucker Tales. He made a so-so story with an idiot as a main character. I won't even begin to recall the main character's name, but the guy is so anti-dramatic and spacey. I constantly got this "whoa dude" vibe from him and nearly skipped panels to find an interesting character. The doctor was the highlight of the story. I enjoyed all the subplot involving the doctor, however it's too bad that my enjoyment only lied there.

Now to Matt Fraction. You made Thor's Ages of Thunder! What happened? Lex Nova's drunken fiasco is like Devil's Rejects meets a Leslie Nielson spoof. Lex Nova, however original he is, is not a fascinating character. His noir narrative spoken aloud was just satire material. Since when did 30 Days of Night sink to the methods of a comedy. Again the highlights became the other characters, mainly the vampires. This is a terrible problem, because we need a main character to follow, not to hate. Lex Nova failed by the end of the book as Fraction's story turned into a disaster. I felt like I put all the pieces of the puzzle together and then Matt Fraction threw the puzzle off my desk for me to start over. The story makes absolutely no sense. You don't have to be intellectual or philosophical to understand this material. Fraction just got wasted and went backwards in storytelling. I will read it one more time to try and muster up some kind of clarification, but the first read was awful. Again, Lex Nova's story is just a mix-matched spoof of the series that loses any type of connection with the heart of the books.

Artwork. That's it. These aren't some stories that are hard to crack and understand, like Grant Morisson's work. These stories just don't compare at all to the excellent volumes that precede them. These writers have talent, but they just did not access it this time around.

I am not a big comic book guy. I own very few, but I find that the ones I do own get read pretty regularly.

If you have any interest in the horror/vampire genre, then this is going to be a good choice for you. It is a well put together story that leads well into the follow up volumes.

The only real complaint I have here is the art. It leans toward the abstract and while many would argue it fits in well with the dark over feeling of the work, I found it a bit distracting.

Despite that, you are not likely to regret picking up this first entry in the series. If it's not quite for you, you can just stop right there.

BLOODSUCKER TALES WAS OVERALL A REALLY GOOD BOOK. THE WRITING WAS OK, BUT THE ART WAS AWESOME. BEN TEMPLESMITH CONTINUED HIS STYLE THAT HE DID IN THE OTHER BOOKS, BUT NEWCOMER KODY CHAMBERLAIN WOWED EVERYONE WITH HIS EXCELLENT REALISM AND COLORS. I LOVED THE ART IN THIS BOOK AND WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Just as many fans of the 30 Days Of Night books i have to say that this is the most uncool of them all. I wont focus on the plot itslef (both stories are fine) instead, i have to warn you, if you appreciate well done drawings, then this book is not for you. Kody Chamberlain's work is ..... well, see for yourself, if you have the chance to do a web search, check it out and then you decide.
Ben Templesmith has proven that you dont need to be an excellent anatomist nor to have deep knowledge on prespective, you just need some creativity to make it work, in fact, Templesmith's drawings are so bad that they are cool and scary.
Im really sorry to say that "Bloodsucker Tales" would have better stayed on the shelf from where i took it from.
Its your call anyway.