By Dustin Cabeal

I’ve read a lot of 30 Days of Night. At one point it was the comic that put IDW on the map, and the offshoots were a staple in their monthly publishing line. When I saw a new 30 Days of Night I wondered, what the hell is this then? Even after reading the issue I was a little bit confused until I saw an ad for it in another IDW comic. It’s a re-imagining of the story “for a new era.” This era doesn’t feel vastly different from the era in which it came, but it is over fifteen years since the original series released. It feels like ages since that shit fuck movie as well.

I don’t know why people on the publishing side of the comic industry are so afraid of the word “reboot,” but that’s all this first issue of 30 Days of Night is… a reboot. The art is different; the story is drawn out more because it’s a known entity now. The publisher can take a risk on it because they move books with variants and they make plenty of variants. The risk is no longer there so now Steve Niles can let the story breath. Make no mistake though, this is a reboot, and that’s okay. That’s the comic industry and why not? Again, the first series was only three issues and starred Ben Templesmith’s artwork. I love Templesmith’s art, but there are things that get lost in the design. The story doesn’t flow as naturally as other artists, and so it’s best to customize the story around that, which rarely fucking happens.

My confusing about if it was a reboot or not was more along the lines of… are they really just going to softball a reboot for this series? I say that because there’s no teeth to this first issue. If you already know what’s coming, then its test of patience more than anything. How long can you suffer through pointless dialogue and weak attempts at developing characters that may or may not prove useful to the story?

The story quickly introduces the reader to six characters. A guy “looking for work” as everyone is leaving town for the winter, the Sheriff and deputy who will be familiar to anyone that read the previous series, a drunk and his abused wife, and lastly a guy that looks a little too much like Santa Claus hunting on a snowmobile. Incidentally, the drunk isn’t allowed to drink, probably for obvious reasons, and there’s a lot of dialogue about that. What if people see, what if I tell the Sheriff, what if you could hold down a job without drinking? A bunch of readers are ready to call this guy “Pa” and dodge his hand from the sound of it. There is very little set up for the plot of the series. It’s a slow burn, which is weird. It’s like Niles is banking on you already knowing what the series is about and so he’s just taking his time. In the original, there was a rush to get to the plot, and it was better because of it. Because the premise is stronger than the beforehand character development. The characters should have been built up during the event rather than before.

The art is competent, but it’s dull and lifeless. For being a horror comic, it felt more like a drama. Hell, it’s a reimagining, so maybe it is a drama. Perhaps the supernatural element has been removed from the story. While that could be interesting to read, I don’t know if I would stick around based on how it’s going. The art is very detailed, the characters have realistic designs, but none of it feels or looks like 30 Days of Night. Horror franchise are defined by their look and style as much as they are their story, and so it’s strange that this new 30 Days would abandon the look its known for, but also the look that it introduced to the world of comics. It’s competent artwork for sure, and in another book, it might even be great, but here, it’s a poor fit that deflates any interest in the story.

Part of me wants to keep reading this series out of curiosity. I wouldn’t be surprised if that were half of the pitch, “People will buy it because they’re curious.” That’s how all reboots go; they get you out of familiarity and nostalgia. The other part of me has fond memories of that first series and the few that followed. Hell, even the shitty ones towards the end that you wished didn’t exist. It was a time in comics that was fun because the idea was fresh, the art was creative, insane and beautiful. This new series might be back a bit too soon, but who knows, maybe Niles and company can clean it up and produce a long-running story that isn’t full of plot holes and road trips around America.

Score: 2/5

30 Days of Night #1 (2017)
IDW Publishing