In 1920s New York City, Professor Ernest Baxter, an expert in all things arcane, Mindy Markus, a scrappy flapper and Roscoe, a gargoyle from the Bronx, are The Night Owls. Together they solve crimes no one else can, specializing in the supernatural, in this first volume collecting the short stories that make up their webcomic adventures.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
On the heels of their successful printings of Bayou and High Moon (both 2009), DC’s innovative Web-comic imprint is offering the first collection of this Sunday-funnies-format strip. A trio of detectives—nerdy scientist Ernest Baxter, spunky flapper Mindy Markus, and wiseguy gargoyle Roscoe—investigates supernatural cases in Prohibition-era New York. Their main adversary, Mr. You, is a blank-faced baddie who rips off people’s faces to wear as his own (don’t worry; they slip easily back onto their original owner’s heads), but they also tangle with Bluebeard and Rumpelstiltskin, not to mention a few vampires, werewolves, mummies, and a giant owl creature. It’s a glib, retro blend of tried-and-true elements—black-and-white noir, fractured fairy tales, and Dick Tracy–worthy villains—with plenty of humor, light romance, and jaw-socking action. Though not specifically aimed at kids—there is some mild raciness of the negligee variety and a few bad-guy deaths—the tone makes this just about right for middle-schoolers with a hankering for old-timey detective stories. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t also swell for teens and adults, natch. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By F. Jones
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Funny, heartwarming, intelligent...
Those are some adjectives that describe Night Owls. I followed this comic when it was debuting on Zuda comics. When it came out in print, I immediately picked it up. Having the comics in print makes it all the more better. Each major character seemed to leap off the page.
You will follow Ernie, Mindy and Roscoe as they solve supernatural mysteries, find love and hotdogs. I guess you could compare them to Scooby-Doo except this is much better written, but has no theme music.
Those are some adjectives that describe Night Owls. I followed this comic when it was debuting on Zuda comics. When it came out in print, I immediately picked it up. Having the comics in print makes it all the more better. Each major character seemed to leap off the page.
You will follow Ernie, Mindy and Roscoe as they solve supernatural mysteries, find love and hotdogs. I guess you could compare them to Scooby-Doo except this is much better written, but has no theme music.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By thesarahbiz
Format:Paperback
I'll keep it short and sweet: Night Owls was so much fun.
I purchased it to give as a gift and peeked at the first page. Then I peeked at the second page. Then I read the entire thing before I gave it away. I know. I AM A RUDE GIFT GIVER (or a book addict). But that is hardly the point of this review.
The point of this review: The story lines are creative and funny and sometimes really sweet. The art is terrific. If you like comics and detectives and people from a bygone era (and you're reading the review below this book, so I suspect you very well might enjoy all of these things), you should probably buy this book.
And I should buy my own copy so I can keep my greedy mitts off of the one I gave away.
I purchased it to give as a gift and peeked at the first page. Then I peeked at the second page. Then I read the entire thing before I gave it away. I know. I AM A RUDE GIFT GIVER (or a book addict). But that is hardly the point of this review.
The point of this review: The story lines are creative and funny and sometimes really sweet. The art is terrific. If you like comics and detectives and people from a bygone era (and you're reading the review below this book, so I suspect you very well might enjoy all of these things), you should probably buy this book.
And I should buy my own copy so I can keep my greedy mitts off of the one I gave away.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.
The Night Owls is a humorous and unique take on the noir detective story of the late 1920's. Professor Ernest Baxter, who cannot go out in the daylight, and his assistant, flapper Mindy Markus run the detective agency, The Night Owls. Along with them is their sidekick the gargoyle, Roscoe. Working only during the night hours, except if Mindy must make a daytime outing, the agency deals with crooks of a supernatural nature such as Mr. You who has no face of his own and steals other people's faces to commit his crimes, werewolves who murder young women, vampires who kidnap Prof. Baxter thinking he is one of their own killing his own kind and an ancient American Indian monster, Big Owl who seeks revenge against Prof. Baxter. Of course, there is also the unrequited love story as Ernie Baxter loves Mindy from afar. Being the typical shy professor he is too afraid to ask her out or tell of his feelings. We can see Mindy is eager for him to ask her out but since he doesn't, she has plenty of others who do and she is a flapper who loves to have a good time.
I loved the book! A fun bunch of stories quickly rolling together with repeat appearances of characters throughout the book. I'm not sure whether I'd call it a graphic novel though as it's storyline is not that of an actual novel. In reality what we have hear are a collection of one page web comix that were published previously and have been combined together into this volume. Sometimes one page is a mini-scene in the life of the characters. Then a story arc with unfold over a series of pages and be resolved. With the next case starting up right after one finishes. In this regard the book lacks the cohesive elements of a novel and instead is a collection of fast paced mini stories about the same characters that are kept together by the reappearance of characters, both good and bad guys, in future cases. There is a recurring theme of Mindy's relationships and Ernest and Mindy's "love" story which progresses very slowly.
So while I would call this a collection of comics, rather than a graphic novel, I really enjoyed the 1920's noir style detective stories. The characters were all a lot of fun and the bad guys, though of a supernatural variety, reminded me of the old Dick Tracy movies; I've never read the comics. In fact the whole book has a Dick Tracy atmosphere and Ernie and Mindy reminded me of an American Tommy & Tuppence. Certainly a lot of fun for the noir detective reader, if you don't mind crossing paths with werewolves, gargoyles and the like. The book ends right in the middle of the action, just as an epic fight is about to start, so there obviously is meant to be a book 2 but seeing as Zuda publishers has gone under, it's future is uncertain. But since Zuda was an imprint of DC Comics they certainly have the ability to continue publishing the series if they see fit, through another imprint.
While the book is most likely written for adults. I'd say it is a crossover that will be enjoyed by all ages down to around ten years old. There is a small bit of suggestiveness of the slight cleavage and garters variety but otherwise nothing of concern for age appropriateness. A good, fun read for middle graders, teens and adults!
The Night Owls is a humorous and unique take on the noir detective story of the late 1920's. Professor Ernest Baxter, who cannot go out in the daylight, and his assistant, flapper Mindy Markus run the detective agency, The Night Owls. Along with them is their sidekick the gargoyle, Roscoe. Working only during the night hours, except if Mindy must make a daytime outing, the agency deals with crooks of a supernatural nature such as Mr. You who has no face of his own and steals other people's faces to commit his crimes, werewolves who murder young women, vampires who kidnap Prof. Baxter thinking he is one of their own killing his own kind and an ancient American Indian monster, Big Owl who seeks revenge against Prof. Baxter. Of course, there is also the unrequited love story as Ernie Baxter loves Mindy from afar. Being the typical shy professor he is too afraid to ask her out or tell of his feelings. We can see Mindy is eager for him to ask her out but since he doesn't, she has plenty of others who do and she is a flapper who loves to have a good time.
I loved the book! A fun bunch of stories quickly rolling together with repeat appearances of characters throughout the book. I'm not sure whether I'd call it a graphic novel though as it's storyline is not that of an actual novel. In reality what we have hear are a collection of one page web comix that were published previously and have been combined together into this volume. Sometimes one page is a mini-scene in the life of the characters. Then a story arc with unfold over a series of pages and be resolved. With the next case starting up right after one finishes. In this regard the book lacks the cohesive elements of a novel and instead is a collection of fast paced mini stories about the same characters that are kept together by the reappearance of characters, both good and bad guys, in future cases. There is a recurring theme of Mindy's relationships and Ernest and Mindy's "love" story which progresses very slowly.
So while I would call this a collection of comics, rather than a graphic novel, I really enjoyed the 1920's noir style detective stories. The characters were all a lot of fun and the bad guys, though of a supernatural variety, reminded me of the old Dick Tracy movies; I've never read the comics. In fact the whole book has a Dick Tracy atmosphere and Ernie and Mindy reminded me of an American Tommy & Tuppence. Certainly a lot of fun for the noir detective reader, if you don't mind crossing paths with werewolves, gargoyles and the like. The book ends right in the middle of the action, just as an epic fight is about to start, so there obviously is meant to be a book 2 but seeing as Zuda publishers has gone under, it's future is uncertain. But since Zuda was an imprint of DC Comics they certainly have the ability to continue publishing the series if they see fit, through another imprint.
While the book is most likely written for adults. I'd say it is a crossover that will be enjoyed by all ages down to around ten years old. There is a small bit of suggestiveness of the slight cleavage and garters variety but otherwise nothing of concern for age appropriateness. A good, fun read for middle graders, teens and adults!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
bad paper quality
i wanted to have this great online comics in a real book.
not a good idea.
this is what you get when you decide to support the publisher and the author and actually buy... Read more
not a good idea.
this is what you get when you decide to support the publisher and the author and actually buy... Read more
Published on January 25, 2011 by Evzenie Reitmayerova
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timony Twins ROCK!!!
The Night Owls is a quick-witted, hell of a good time. Each of the characters are well developed in short snippets that will have you giggling or even laughing out loud. Read more
Published on May 27, 2010 by cap
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