30 Days of Night: Three Tales Book #5
Written by: Steve Niles & Dan Wickline
Art by: Ben Templesmith, Nat Jones & Milx
Letters by: Robbie Robbins & Tom B. Long
Colors by: Jay Fotos
Edited by: Justin Eisinger, Kris Cpriske & Dan Taylor
Book Design by: Neil Uyetake
IDW Publishing
30 Days of Night: Three Tales is a collection including Picking up the Pieces, The Journal of John Ikos, and Dead Space. Each of the three stories included in this collection will take readers on interesting treks into the vampire-infested world of 30 Days of Night and is sure to grab the attention of any horror fans out there craving some blood soaked entertainment. With the recently explosion of popularity of The Walking Dead I recommend all of you check out 30 Days of Night which I consider to be the vampire equivalent.
30 Days of Night: Picking up the Pieces takes place after Return to Barrow and revolves around John Ikos who has found one of the vampires frozen in ice and has decided to bring it back home with him leading to a very intriguing conversation between two very different sort of hunters. The conversation between John and the once human vampire is a moment I will never forget my favorite moment being John claiming he eats what he kills and the vampire replying, “So do I” I always appreciate when writers go that extra mile to remind you of the human element that resides inside a turned vampire. Although this mini story is very short its worth the read and is a great addition to the on going 30 Days of Night world.
Next in the collection is the 30 Days of Night: 2005 Annual entitled The Journal of John Ikos. As the name gives away, this story revolves around John Ikos once again and finds him leaving the confines of Barrow and heading to the big city Los Angeles. While in the city of angels John crosses paths with a group of vampires who call themselves The Night Crew lead by Santana (no not the musician but the bloodsucker). I absolutely love the art style in this story its so gritty and dirty looking like the bathroom floor of a dingy punk rock club tinted with a layer of filth and blood perfectly creating a big city friendly atmosphere. The vampires are depicted artistically in a awe-inspiring fashion, by far from a art stand point this is my favorite story in the collection the story is also solid The Night Crew and Santana end up being very memorable adversaries for the legendary hunter John Ikos.
The final story of the collection is 30 Days of Night: Dead Space a three part mini series where NASA is preparing to launch the Icarus on a mission to restore the nations confidence in the space program. The mission instead turns into a battle for survival as the crew realize they are not alone on the ship, soon the blood begins to shed as a vicious vampire makes his presences known. Once again I really dig the art style this time around it’s a watercolor / marker looking style that is very eye pleasing and creative. The story is very interesting and sets a mood of pure dread and fear imagine being stuck in outer space with a creature that wants your blood for a snack. The confined atmosphere beautifully creates an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach as you really analyze the situation the crew find themselves in.
30 Days of Night: Three Tales is an excellent collection and a great read for both newcomers to the franchise and long time fans. For you readers curious to where to begin with this series I would recommend starting with the original 30 Days of Night novel then move onto Red Snow followed by Three Tales by the time you reach the final panel of Three Tales I have a strong feeling you will be running out and purchasing the other books of this wonderful horror franchise.
Related articles
- 30 Days of Night: Red Snow (comicsforge.com)
- Kolchak: The Rise and Fall of Carl Kolchak (comicsforge.com)
- The Kolchak Papers (comicsforge.com)
- 30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella (comicsforge.com)
- 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow #5 (comicsforge.com)
- Horrorcide #1 (comicsforge.com)
