30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella
Book #7
Written By:
Steve Niles
Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art By: Justin Randall
Letters By:
Chris Mowry
Robbie Robbins
Neil Uyetake
IDW Publishing
30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella fills in the gap between 30 Days of Night: Dark Days and 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow once again featuring ex Barrow Alaska deputy Stella and her resurrected husband and ex sheriff Eben. After writing, a novel about her ordeal in Barrow and how vampires took the life of her husband and much of the small towns population she feels insulted when the book is released as fiction.
She vows to prove that vampires are real and obtains the proof she needs to bring their kind out of hiding for all to see. Hearing of Stella’s plan the vampire’s new wannabe queen makes Stella an offer that she can not turn down her husbands remains and the means to bring him back to life in trade for the info Stella has in her possession. She should have known that what the queen meant by resurrection but her love for Eben was to great to say to no. Eben was back but he was one of them now and before she had time to even gathering her senses he bite her turning her into one of the very creatures she wanted to destroy.
Meanwhile the new aspiring queen of vampires and her gang of misfits are getting restless as the wait for a new leader to be named becomes too much. The next generation of bloodsuckers are tired of being treated as if they are inferior when they are the next stage of evolution in their minds. They have discovered a baby vampire that has been protected for generations the oldest of their kind after the death of their queen. Believing whoever controls the baby controls, the future the group obtains the child but just as quickly losing it as Stella steals the car, containing the child by mistake starting a chain of events that none could of foreseen.
Caught up in the middle of all this craziness is a vampire hunting couple Alice and her husband Kevin who are searching for the next queen in order to destroy her in hopes of putting a end to the vampire race once and for all creating a very Tarantino feeling story due to all the intertwining stories that come together in the end.
I had a blast with this collection after reading Red Snow then this I have to say I am becoming a fan of the franchise. My first exposure to the series I will admit was the motion picture, which I did not enjoy at all but later, I read the original graphic novel and realized it did not translate well to film but overall was a very intriguing story that leads to the creation to one of the most interesting vampire worlds.
The writing is always top-notch and the artwork always gritty and gore filled just as horror graphic novel should be fans of real vampires who don’t sparkle will fall in love with any collection featuring the 30 Days of Night namesake. If you have put off on diving deep into the 30 Days of Night franchise or were perhaps turned off by the motion picture due yourself a favor and check out this collection along with 30 Days of Night: Red Snow and I have a feeling you will be hooked.
Honestly though I can’t think of one book that Steve Niles has been involved with that wasn’t solid gold so its not surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did.
Related articles
- 30 Days of Night: Red Snow (comicsforge.com)
- Horrorcide #1 (comicsforge.com)
- Hack Slash Vol. 1: First Cut (comicsforge.com)
- Vampirella Return of the Blood Red Queen (comicsforge.com)
