First published back in February of 1993, issue twenty-four of Epic Comics’ serial adaptation of Clive Barker’s ‘Nightbreed’ sported the subtitle ‘A New Midian Part One: A Lonesome Road’.
The first four issues of the ‘Nightbreed’ comics closely followed the storyline of the film, only slightly veering away from it with minor details. The twenty-one issues that followed continued on with the Nightbreed legacy – creating whole new spin-off storylines that would eventually bring in aspects from some of Barker’s other work.
This issue formed the first part in the ‘A New Midian’ two-part mini-series to conclude the graphic novel series with.
DLS Synopsis:
DLS Synopsis:
Steve Marvant had broken down in the middle of nowhere. It was late at night, and the shadowy woods around him were creeping him out. However. The nightmares that lurk in the darkness are far more terrifying than the reporter would ever have dreamed possible. Nightmares he was about to encounter in the flesh.
The Nightbreed were on a search for somewhere to settle. Somewhere safe they could once again call home. However, ever since Lori joined the Tribes of the Moon, she’d felt lonelier than ever. And the idea of this being her new life, he only life now, angered her as much as it depressed her.
The Nightbreed were on a search for somewhere to settle. Somewhere safe they could once again call home. However, ever since Lori joined the Tribes of the Moon, she’d felt lonelier than ever. And the idea of this being her new life, he only life now, angered her as much as it depressed her.
Now they were on the road again, she didn’t want to see Boone and Shuna Sassi together. So, Lori had decided to sit up front with Guido in the camper van instead. Doing so would get her away from the two of them and give her someone to talk to. Someone who she could unload the whole pitiful story upon.
Thankfully Guido was a good listener. Besides, he has his own story to tell too…
DLS Review:
Author and Chatterer Cenobite – Nicholas Vince – returns once again with the penultimate comic in the Nightbreed series, setting in motion the final parts to the whole mythos.
With this being another two-part mini-series, here we have Vince setting down the beginning threads of his last slab of offering to the Nightbreed universe. And it’s a story that’s very much embedded within the backstory of Boone and Lori’s meeting and her floundering trust for her lover.
Oddly, a sizeable chunk of the comic is taken up with revisiting the original Nightbreed story, with the whole Decker shenanigans, along with the Breed’s battle against the Naturals that saw the Nightbreed banished from Midian.
With Lori spilling the beans about her past, and how she died to join with a man she feels doesn’t love her, Guido joins in with his own sorrowful backstory. It’s one that takes us back to when he was a young bratty teen, dabbling with a Ouija board with his pals.
The comic is bookended with a small side-story involving a reporter who encounters the Breed. In itself the story isn’t a fundamental aspect to the overarching Nightbreed tale, however, it does form a loose bridge between this comic and the next. An interaction between the Nightbreed and the Naturals that could endanger their collective future.
The comic is bookended with a small side-story involving a reporter who encounters the Breed. In itself the story isn’t a fundamental aspect to the overarching Nightbreed tale, however, it does form a loose bridge between this comic and the next. An interaction between the Nightbreed and the Naturals that could endanger their collective future.
It’s an oddly erratic storyline that eventually weaves itself to Greg’s Gator Farm where he meets with a crazy-ass amalgamation of Rawhead Rex, Eigerman, Theiron, and Ashberry. An abomination named Ismael. We’re talking a fucking weird mutation of a beast, with heads for nipples and its groin. Absolute over-the-top mania.
It’s certainly interesting to see more of the backstory for the Nightbreed characters, however, once again for a Vince offering, the story as a whole feels quite erratic and disjointed with no sense of purpose or obvious direction.
I guess we’ll see where it all goes in the final comic.
The comic runs for a total of 28 pages (plus an additional page for the usual ‘Breeding Ground’ readers’ letters).
© DLS Reviews
