“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…”
In my time with AIPT, I’ve reviewed hundreds of comic books. But few have stuck with me so intently as Nights. Creators Wyatt Kennedy and Luigi Formisano have used Nights to tell a perpetually quirky, sometimes unsettling tale of family, identity, and what happens when we face monsters (in the world and those of our own making). After reviewing the initial 12 issues (aka the “first season”), I missed out on February’s issue #13 following a brief hiatus from the site. Now that I’m back, I’m ready to catch up with a double feature of issues #13 and #14, which represent a new prequel arc for Nights.
Expect a return to regular Nights coverage/geeking out with April’s issue #15.
Nights #13: “Viva Las Gray-Gas”
Courtesy of Image Comics.
In the early part of Nights, we were introduced to the intense and mysterious Director Tsukumari, who ran the supernatural policing outfit CHIMERA (where our girl Gray was once employed). If you ever wanted to know about the mysterious man before he became dinner for Ivory’s Roggenwolf, Nights #13 kicks off his “origin story” with a proper bang.
In many ways, Tsukumari’s whole shtick — lone wolf agent in a sick blazer, on the hunt for vamps and witches — is diametrically opposed to Vince’s distinct role as “naive entrant/stand-in for the bizarre world of Nights.” Tsukumari has a force and intent that feels practically undeniable, and that connection is very much in line with this series’ lineage of important character work. It’s a dynamic further enforced by the art style, as Formisano (alongside colorists Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli) skew some of the charming, Seinfeld-ian moments of Nights S1 for full-blown action shots that lean more unnerving over “Hey, that’s dope.” That pace and tone isn’t just about giving this book its own identity, but further building the layers and lore of this larger world through feats of visual might. (See the intro, which is basically Jason Statham as James Bond in a remake of Hansel & Gretel.)
What we get with this S2 debut, then, is a book that’s very much its own thing, and yet it maintains just enough of a connection to the core story that we can easily trace the shared humanity and humor (even as this latest arc is immediately and viscerally darker than S1). It’s a load of fun to navigate the past: There’s story and art references that help facilitate the process wonderfully, but we’re also made to feel that this book is in its own weird little corner. (The ’90s-ish energy with the giant cell phones is so unbelievably perfect.)
Plus, for a sudden enough pivot, it works — the Tsukumari-led story doesn’t hold your hand but continues Nights‘ freewheeling tendencies to carve out a story that’s fun and breezy with ample layers to be discovered by readers. It’s a different book as much as it’s more of the same exploration of growing up and seeing the true world, and you just have to replace wacky teens with surly young government agent types. If you can get over that minor obstacle, Nights‘ second season is more must-read TV.
Final Thought: This may be a new story direction, but you’ll love it all the same.
Score: 9/10
Nights #14: “Some Enchanted Evening”
Courtesy of Image Comics.
The most exciting aspect of Nights #13 was this idea that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” And that’s doubly true of Nights #14.
After teasing their daring getaway at the end of #13, we get to really delve into the dynamic between Gray and her old beau, the witch Erik. And that pairing absolutely smacks of Gray and Vince in a way that had me feeling so profoundly jealous, which I assume is the point. (Or, my immersion into Nights has truly gone nuclear, and I’m never coming back.) We see Gray as we never have before, both in ways that are unflattering and still speak to some sympathetic quality of her feckless, pre-Vince life. It’s more top-notch character work that’s essential to this whole series, and brings us in deeper in a way that’s almost physically affective.
But we also get ample time with young Tsukumari, who continues to smell just enough like Vince (the confusion and uncertainty) while being his own man (he’s decidedly savvy for this world, and his dark history paints him in a fresh light). As we learned in #13, Tsukumari has something of a fling with the then-current CHIMERA director, Quinn, and their dynamic is only a little like Gray and Vince. Instead, Tsukumari’s stuck between his duty and his feelings, and that unique struggle connects this to the heart of Nights while making it altogether more sticky and complicated than ever before. It’s also their scenes that, from a visual aspect, feel more tender than some of the Gray-Vince stuff, and I love the tone shift for an arc that is, in many ways, decidedly more dark, complex, and layered (which is saying a lot).
It occurred to me that it may not be fair to compare Nights‘ two arcs as I have thus far. But it’s the way that makes the most sense — Kennedy and Formisano are trying to tell the same story but with different players, and so this feels less like a burdensome prequel and more like a larger view of the robust “Nights-verse.” Yes, S2 is more “mature” in some ways — the visuals in #14 show a more direct level of supernatural intensity, for example — but it’s all at once a huge, utterly compelling story that explores the same kind of flawed people simply trying to find their way.
You might like S1 over S2 (or vice versa), but you can’t deny that Nights is building in a way that feels organic, thoughtful, and undeniable. I can’t wait for #15 to see how this mad, beautiful beast further shapeshifts in front of our very eyes.
Final Thought: The warmth of familiarity, the exciting sting of something entirely new.
Score: 9.5/10
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