30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales
Book #4
Story: Steve Niles & Matt Fraction
Art: Kody Chamberlain & Ben Templesmith
Letters: Robbie Robbins & Tom B. Long
Design: Neil Uyetake
Edits: Chris Ryall
IDW Publishing
30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales is the collection of two stories the first being “Dead Billy Dead” that revolves around a young man who becomes turned into one of the walking undead after surviving the attack of a vampire. Also included in the collection is “Juarez or Nova and the Case of the 400 Dead Mexican Girls” that tells the story of Lex Nova and his investigation into the disappearance of an alarming amount girls in Juarez, Mexico.
I just want to start by saying at this point I have read a pretty large chunk of the 30 Days of Night story arcs and I have to say that I am really impressed with how each of them become tied to one and another to some degree and still remain completely unique experiences. I prefer this to each story arc simply being its own separate entity every time a item or a character shows up from a prior story it creates a “Ah-Ha” moment for me satisfying the backstory nerd that lives inside my brain and ads a little extra something for those who have invested time in the franchise already.
“Dead Billy Dead” once again ads a strong human element to the vampire, we get to see ones journey from the very beginning with the moment they were changed unknowingly and without consent which I’m sure is the case with most newly created vampires. I also love how Steve Niles creates such naturally flowing and authentic dialog causing the characters to come to life and seem less like figments of someone’s imagination and more like real people with real struggles. The chemistry between Billy and Maggie and Brian Goodis’s dedication to his job and being a good honest cop are perfect examples of life like and believable scenarios created with strong dialog and spectacular story telling. The traces of dark humor found within many of the 30 Days of Nights remind me a lot of James O’Barr’s The Crow one of my all time favorite comic series I always enjoy when a writer can work in some laughs even in the bleakest and most sorrow filled situations. “Dead Billy Dead” is one of my favorite stories within the 30 Days of Night universe and should be read by all fans of horror comics.
The next story “Juarez or Nova and the case of the 400 Dead Mexican Girls” is the first story in the franchise to be written by someone other than Steve Niles featuring a story by Matt Fraction (Uncanny X-Men, Fear Itself) and art from the legendary co-creator of the series Ben Templesmith. I love the art style of this story Ben Templesmith is one of my favorite artists and he never fails to please my eyes with ample amount of visual candy. Once again, the story is solid and moves at a steady pace with an arsenal of interesting characters my personal favorites being the members of the Zero Family Circus a traveling vampire side show. “Juarez” is by far one the strangest stories to come out of the 30 Days of Nights universe. If they ever decide to make further 30 Days of Night films I think this story would be a very interesting story to present in movie form it would leave so much room for interesting visuals and a very dark and twisted story full of memorable characters to work with.
Out of all the collections I have read so far 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales is in my top three right below 30 Days of Night: Red Snow and 30 Days of Night: Three Tales these are wonderful stories to digest all at once in collection format and should be picked up by all die hard horror fans in my opinion. Once again, I walk away nothing short of ecstatic with the time I spent with yet another awesome piece of the 30 Days of Night series.
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