The six issue mini series of vampiric proportions ends this month as Stella, the frigid town of Barrow's deputy (now Sheriff, through attrition) attempts to halt the blood shed against all odds.

Capturing the attention of your audience.

While the last issue of a series is rarely a time to jump aboard, the covers produced along the way have been astounding, including that of issue six. I wouldn't be surprised if IDW snagged a few extra sales of this issue based on the cover art despite the series coming to an end.

Issues 4 and 5 were my favourite covers. I was lucky enough to have been able to pick up the uncoloured retailer incentives.

For me however, these are the issues that began to drag the series into predictable gore lacking in a great deal of story-telling nuance. If you could only spare the money for half the series, the first three issues were golden. Let your own mind decide the fate of the story including whether or not you'd see Stella's husband, Eben once again.

The finale ushers in the return of Sheriff Eben.

The leader of another vampire group confronts a reckless blood-sucker claiming their actions have spoiled their good thing in Barrow. I will spare you the countless panels of vampire fighting that may appeal to a younger audience and would look fabulous on the screen because it is really just eye candy. I've got a sugar-induced headache and I'm in need of a rest and lot of water.

I feel somewhat frustrated that the story began so delicately and teased out some nice relationships. A sheriff and his wife, a beaten wife and her abusive husband, not to mention all the potential for the towns' children to formulate a plan for survival. We have seen the success of stories that place some impetus on younger people to help solve the story's conflict (Stranger Things and IT). I would have appreciated more of the kids getting involved.

Eben appeared dead at the end of issue one.

He was found in the snow then later disappeared from the town's morgue. In this issue, he simply arrives to "save the day" or night, as it were.

Probably my favourite panel of the issue, Eben's new vampiric powers give him some serious head-punching oomph.

Eben explains that his new urges are hard to control, as the town goes up in flames around them.

Blood-lust and evil clearly don't go hand in hand in 30 Days of Night.

Eben was bitten. Not to the point where his head was ripped to shreds or he was missing his heart. He was simply love-bitten, so to speak. This granted him the same power and desire for blood as the other vampires. However, they were all portrayed as a bunch of evil maniacs who cared not for the people they were killing. We aren't even talking humane slaughter here. They were instilling fear in their victims.

They were vampiric, yes. But they were all psychopaths.

Eben showed no signs of developing an altered personality after he was bitten. He didn't show any desire to kill the innocent or mock those about to die. He just had a new hunger for blood.

This issue simply raised too many questions.

Eben made the choice to leave with the psychopathic ass-hats, presumably only to return to kill people, right? I'm assuming his blood-lust wasn't transient.

Couldn't the survivors donate blood for Eben to dull his "urges"? Why would Eben leave his wife after everything that has happened? And why on Earth would he leave with the evil villains of the story that started the whole mess?

An imbecilic Eben leaves his wife (to deal with the aftermath of a massacre) for his new killer friends.

You'll be left feeling like you want to knock out his teeth. Selfish rat.

The Verdict.

Issue one was certainly devine. The art felt icy cold and the relationship between Eben and Stella forced an emotional investment upon you. When you see Eben's body in that last panel, you feel a real sense of loss for Stella.

However, save yourself the mental anguish of attempting to make sense of such poorly thought out plot lines and avoid the latter half of this six-part series. It will leave you feeling like nothing's happened. The books are short on dialogue in favour of action and you feel it. The pages fly by far too quickly and you feel you've been ripped off.

And what's with this ending? Steve Niles, I think you owe us an explanation.

All the best,

Nick.

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All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [12 July 2018]

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