30 Days Of Night: Beyond Barrow (#1-3)

"Poor stupid bastards.  I almost feel sorry for them"  - John Ikos.

This is going to be the last visit to the world of 30 Days of Night (I have sadly had to skip the Eben and Stella mini due to the art making it impossible to tell who was who half the time) at least those collected in the two omnibuses.  In case you've missed any of my other looks at the various 30 Days of Night miniseries, the titular "30 Days of Night" are those experienced by the Alaskan town of Barrow when there is no sun for a month in winter.  Some enterprising vampires took it upon themselves to go and feed off the townsfolk and many of the inhabitants were killed.  The town sheriff Eben Olemaun injected himself with vampire blood and kept his sanity long enough to kill the head vampire and frighten the rest off.  He died sitting with his wife Stella when the sun finally came up.  Stella wrote a book about the incident called 30 Days of Night and became a veteran vampire hunter.  But she missed Eben too much and through a blood ritual bought him back and he promptly turned her into a vampire. However both kept their humanity and when vampires tried to attack Barrow again, they wiped the vampires out and promised to watch over the town for the foreseeable future.  We have also seen vampires in Mexico, on the Eastern Front in World War 2 and witnessed the crazed experiments of a vampire fetishist.  This final mini of omnibus two returns to Barrow many years after the last attack and is written by series co-creator Steve Niles with art by the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz.

It begins... with tiny red lettering on black backgrounds which I need a flippin' torch to read, dammit!  But anyway, start again.  It begins.. with a potted history of Barrow. That the three things the town is used to are below zero temperatures, living in darkness and vampire attacks.

Narrator: "For creatures who fear the light and thirst for blood, Barrow and the entire Artic circle are heaven on Earth.  Hell on Earth if you are human."

We a small group of vampires walking through the snow towards the town.   The woman says they should not be here, that the townspeople are prepared and the vampire elders have forbade attacks on the town.  The leader says they will "invade, feed and then leave. Nobody, not even our own will be the wiser".

Something worse than vampires appears.

One of the others points to a plane coming in to land, the leader says "more blood for us".  They start moving again when suddenly they all sense something ahead of them that alarms them.  Then suddenly they are surrounded by something that rips them apart leaving nothing behind but a stripped skeleton.

In Barrow Bob Huey, the man who has run the Barrow airport for years has let in a plane he shouldn't have, it should be closed to air traffic during the dark month.  But he needed the cash and the offer was too good to pass up.  The passengers are Richard Denning, a billioniare and self-proclaimed adventurer who has read that vampires live near Barrow. His wife Kelly who showed him Stella Olemaun's book and got him bitten by the vampire hunting bug. Keri their daughter who "would rather be anywhere else in the world."

Chris Miller and his latest girlfriend Tina who are along for the adventure are also part of the expediion. So is Nat Gilmore who works for Richard and has no choice and finally Scott Powell, Richard's friend who likes guns and photography and wants to be the first human to take a photo of a vampire - dead or alive.

Every man has his price.

Richard hands over the bribe to Bob for letting him land.  Bob asks if he needs any transportation while he is in town.  Richard says he doesn't plan on spending much time in Barrow and he brought his own transport.  The plane unloads a jeep with caterpiller tracks instead of wheels, he bought it from the manufacturers who make them for the Alaskan National Guard and has upgraded it with stereo, video decks and a full bar. 

Bob: "Folks around here are lucky if we can get chains on our tyres or run-down snowcat."

Richard: "Well folks round here should invest their money better".

Bob says he'll hide the plane but if anyone asks he'll tell them they landed without permission and he turned the runway lights on so "you wouldn't splatter yourself all over Barrow".  Richards says he'll back him up if they meet anyone in town.

Bob panics, he thought they weren't going into town. Richard casually says they'll tell his lie for him and his party depart leaving Bob with a handful of cash wondering if it was worth it, "even he knows deep down, if these jackasses go anywhere but Barrow they'll probably wind up dead."

Richard says to his party that he doesn't care if they do go into Barrow, it's too well defended, the real action will be outside its walls. His wife says she and Keri want to photograph Eben's grave and the remains of the Ikos diner.  Keri sulkily says she doesn't want to take any pictures.   Her mum wants to see all the sights because if they find a vampire she and Richard are going to write a book.

They drive to the town gate and are stopped by armed men.  Richard says they just want to see the sights then they'll be on their way.  To come into Barrow they have to show identification, and their teeth.  Once inside they find the graveyard and Richard, Kelly and an unenthused Keri pose in front of Eben's grave for a photo. 

A tacky photo.

Then "out of nowhere" Marcus Kitka now seventeen, who was a kid when the last major attack happened, punches Richard saying "Get out of my town you goulish sons of bitches!" John Ikos who survived the first ever Barrow attack pulls Marcus away saying the visitors better take care of themselves, "this ain't Disneyland."  Richard mumbles they read the book, "don't worry old man.  We can handle ourselves". They drive off.

Marcus Kitka's father Brian is the sheriff of Barrow.  He and Marcus get along but they weren't as close as they were before the first attack the lived through that Marcus still has nighmares about. Defending Barrow has become Brian's year round job and it takes him away from Marcus who goes to see John Ikos about something bothering him about the newcomers.

He tells John he can't stop thinking about them, "that daughter or the jackass you punched?" queries John.  Marcus wants to know why they let them go out there.  John says it isn't their business and they wouldn't listen anyway.  Marcus says they get killed:

John: "If the cold don't, somethin' else is bound to come along.  It's called thinning the herd or natural selection".

Marcus says that's cynical and John says you get that way when you've fought to live as many times as he has.  Marcus says he's the perfect person to help them then, but John refuses saying he can't help people who don't want help.  But he gives in and says they'll check as far as "Tartok Ridge" but if they aren't in sight from there they are as good as dead.  They pick up some flash grenades and head on out.

The party camp out.

The vampire hunting party have made camp, a tent extended from the end of the jeep.  Inside they are all chatting, apart from Keri who has stayed up in the jeep portion of camp. Her mother says she is such a curmudgeon and cackles that she was just like that at her age. Keri ignores her and fiddles with her phone which has no signal.  So she decides to watch a horror movie called "Suicide Stripper 2" to cheer herself up. She lights up a cigarette and rolls the windown down a little and suddenly notices the campsite is surrounded by what looks like rocks.

Meanwhile John and Marcus are walking through the snow.  John is telling him about a man called John Franklin who tried mapping the Artic, he never returned from an expedition and his body was found frozen and stripped of flesh.  They could tell by the scratches on the bones themselves. Even his brain had been cleaned out. Marcus asks what the point of this gory story about people disappearing from where they are currently walking.  John just asks him how good he is with a gun these days.

Marcus: "One,  Yes I can still shoot. Two.  You are seriously freaking me out!"

Back at the camp, everyone is getting a bit tipsy.  Keri demands they take and look outside, so Chris peeks through the tent flaps and sees the same strange "rocks" surrounding them.  "They weren't there when we drove in and set up" says Richard suddenly serious.

Spooky story time.

Kelly says it must me some eskimo curse.  Keri tells her they don't call themselves Eskimos anymore, it was a collective term for the various peoples who live above the Artic like the Inuit and Yupik.  So Eskimo is out like Indian is for Native Amercians. Kelly says "we don't call them Indians because General Custard killed them all, thank God".  Keri says it's "Custer" and actually the Native Americans killed him, "rightfully so, I might add."

"Well look who's paying attention in class" says Richard. "Idiots" mutters Keri.  Then Chris looks out again and says the stones have gone.  Then suddenly he's wrenched out in a flurry of blood.  Richard, Kelly and Keri manage to get into the jeep as the tent is attacked and the others sliced to pieces.  The jeep drives through the black bodied beings who assaulted them and gets free.  "Richard,  I don't think these are the vampires from the book" says Kelly. 

The party are attacked.

As they drive, Kelly asks if Richard thinks the others are still alive.  Richard says he hopes not.  We cut to the ruined camp.  One of the men is still alive, though badly wounded.  He pleads with the figure standing over him to not hurt him.  His screams are heard by Marcus and John.  John tells Marcus that the party have fallen prey to the "unnuar amarok", all the disappearances round these parts are down to them. "Just keep them in front of you" instructs John "and remember one thing - nothing lives without a head."

Richard's panicked driving has got them lost.  The GPS system isn't responding and neither are the radio or satellite phone.  They are flying blind.  Richard says if they keep driving they should hit something soon. He and Keri bicker as she accuses him of being the idiot who wanted to go vampire hunting in Alaska.  Richard ungallantly says it was her mother's idea. Then they see a cave and they drive into it to hide.

Keri doesn't think they should be stopping. Richard says they'll conserve fuel, build a fire and maybe someone will find them in the daylight.  But Keri points out it won't be daylight for thirteen more days.  Then they notice the cave has a funny smell and is warm. Richard says it's probably an underground spring. They have supplies, they can hold out for a while. 

The "vampires" torture their prey.

Then they hear Chris screaming.  They look to where it is coming from and see him being held down and having his skin and flesh ripped off while still alive by black humanoids with almost lamprey mouths and no eyes or noses.  "We walked right into their lair" whispers Keri, "well mom, you got your vampires".  They rip and tear Chris who finally dies as they completely rip the meat from his bones and consume it.

"That noise is horrible!" exclaims Kelly stupidly loudly and the vampires turn and realise they have company.  Richard fires a flare gun at them as they approach. The vampires grab all three of them but Keri manages to struggle free though her clothes are ripped off in the process.  Her parents are killed and she stands frozen in a pond of blood.  One of them comes close and sniffs her.  Things look bad for her, then John shoots it in the head.

John Ikos to the rescue.

Then he blasts the others closest to her. He tells Marcus to get her out of there then tosses his belt of flash grenades at the advancing group of vampires and ignites it from a distance with a shot from his pistol, there is an almighty Fooom. Marcus drapes his coat round Keri and apologises for punching her dad.  When she asks for them he has to tell her they didn't make it out.

He takes her back to John's cabin where he is waiting for them.   Keri asks him what those things really were.  John says that some folks believe they are vampires who came and settled here a long time ago.  Their bodies adapted to the extreme weather conditions and over the centuries became a different species altogether.  Keri thanks him for killing them.

John: "Dead? I doubt they're all dead. They're survivors like us."

The story then comes to a close with the narrator saying that long ago, over many years, many braved the journey to search for new lands. And only a few ever returned. "And as the legend goes, some of the weary travellers stayed behind and became part of the land.  And part of the terror".  The end.

Only Keri survives.

This is a worthy note to end my looks at the 30 Days of Night series.  Human's can fight vampires and even win small victories, but vampires both ancient and modern still plague the world and Barrow will probably never be totally safe despite the ban the modern vampires are under from going there and the protection of Eben and Stella. The ancient vampires depicted here are horrifying blank faced monsters.  Acting on sadistic instinct there is no reasoning with them just death by dismemberment while you are still alive. Despite the generally unpleasant nature of the doomed hunting party (apart from Keri), and their monumental stupidity they didn't deserve to die the way they did.  John Ikos once again shows what a badass he is at killing vampires and the most likeable "Final Girl" escapes thanks to his efforts.  Bill Sienkiewicz's art is superb.  From frosty portraiture to the feeding of the vampires degenerating into thick black chaotic line work he depicts the freezing cold horror expertly.  His layouts especially capture the frenzy of the ancient vampire attacks.  I believe recently Steve Niles has started the 30 Days of Night's franchise up again after a break of some years and I may be seeking them out at some point in the future.  But for now this is the capstone on what has been a very high quality run of miniseries. Both omnibuses are well worth your expenditure if you enjoy tales of real, non-sparkling vampires.

30 Days of Night: Red Snow (#1-3)

"If we're going to survive those...things, we'll need a real plan and leadership" - Charlie Keating

More vampire shenanigans now, with co-creator Ben Templesmith on art and writing duties in this tale of historical bloodsuckers in this 2008 three-parter set during World War 2 on the Eastern front.  You probably know the score by now, but I'll recap:  30 Days of Night refers to the Alaskan town of Barrow, which experiences a month of darkness every winter and one year a group of vampires take advantage of this to nearly wipe out the town in a feeding frenzy.  They were defeated by Sheriff Eben Olemaun who injected himself with vampire blood and killed their leader and driving the rest off before turning to ash by the side of his wife Stella when the sun came up.  Stella Olemaun became an expert in vampire hunting but ended up bringing Eben back who bit and turned her, but the two of them went on to become Barrow's undead protectors.  Stella's research on vampires told us that they can pretty much only be killed by completely destroying the head, burning up or prolonged exposure to U.V. light.  Holy symbols, stakes through the heart etc don't work.  We also found out through her that vampires share a linked conciousness and often seek to "turn" people because their long lives render them lonely and desiring of companionship.  This story, being set long before the events of the original Barrow assault shows us that vampires have been around a long time and have always sought to take advantage of human strife, bloodshed and places lacking in light.

It starts with a German called Klaus who has lost and eye staring out across the snowy landscape.  Another Nazi commiserates with him, and Klaus says it is freezing cold, "vermin" shoot at them constantly and they have to drink the "donkey piss" vodka.  The other Nazi who is called Trabant says the fuhrer will acknowledge them as heroes when all this is over.

Klaus the Nazi

Klaus says Tranbant seems very sure of himself.  Another Nazi SS Officer Hoeppner butts in saying they "swore a scared oath to the fuher".  He does not want to be here where it is dark for two months, he'd rather be fighting at Stalingrad or Moscow but he does what he's told:

Hoeppner: "He has chosen us to liquidate the slavs and Jews.  Kuchlerlebensraum.   For the glory of our fatherland the people must have room to breathe."

Klaus says he hasn't forgotten his oath and he knows there is not a man there who would not die for the Fuhrer. 

They spot a village in the distance and decide it needs "clearing". This will make pushing onto Murmansk easier.  Hoeppner believes that when the Soviets lose access to western aid they "will fold like a deck of cards" because they aren't made for fighting.  They make for the village.

Inside one of the village houses are a couple, a goat and a young son and older daughter.  They reassure each other that if the Germans come they can use the network of escape tunnels they have access too.  The man - Stefan - gives his son a gun and tells him how to use it.

You grow up fast in wartime.

We then join a Russian unit also close by.  In this unit is a Russian speaking Englishman. His name is Charlie Keating but the Russians just call him "Englishman".   Orlov one of the Russians says it is pleasing that Charlie's Russian is so good, he hates having to use English, "much better than that muck in your tongue" he says.

Galchenko interrupts saying Orlov is uncultured and the Russians really do appreciate the British help with their war effort.  He's been show Murmansk where the Nazi's were beaten back and they have mostly been killing off Nazi anti-partisan squads.

Then they come across some bodies ripped to bits.  Galchenko says angrily the Germans are animals who would eat human flesh rather than starve.  They see a panicking Nazi fleeing and the mounted Cossacks go to ride him down. The Naiz tries to sputter out a warning, but before he can he gets his head sliced off.  They spot more Nazis in the distance and give chase.

Vampiric evidence.

At the village the other Nazis have arrived.  They break down a door and a young boy appears.  Hoeppner shoots him in the face.  The father screams he'll kill the Nazis but is killed himself.  They are then to round every man up and shoot them by firing squad while the women and children all in one building. 

A bespectacled Nazi called Baum grabs one of the women and takes her off to rape her as the men are murdered.  After the men are shot, Hoeppner orders the building the women and children burned using their flamethrower.  Klaus looks down in what looks very much like shame.

The three Cossacks chase several Nazi's through a snowfield which starts sucking them down like quicksand and they are all pulled under.  In Stefan's house, the Russians come knocking and he goes out and greets them.  Galchenko praises the "stout Russian worker" who carries on and aids with the fight.  Charlie has more important concerns, do they have any tea?  "You English and your tea" says Galchenko.  A storm is coming so they all go inside.

But the storm brings monsters.  A small girl baring her vampire teeth is leading a group of vampires made up of soldiers from both sides, including the Cossacks.  Inside Stefan's house, Galchenko is suspicious of how they have so much food and drop heavy hints he thinks they might be "war profiteers".  One of the men goes to take a piss outside and when he opens the door he is shot in the face by the Germans.

Stefan's son, Nikolai wants to join the fight.  Orlov tells Charlie they are most like being attacked by a lost SS detachment looking to butcher easy targets.  Charlie isn't encouraged by this. As the Nazis dig in and fire on the house they spot the vampires walking towards them.

Vampires on the march.

Then Baum shoots the girl twice but bullets have no effect. The Russians spot the Cossack vampires in the distance thinking they might be reinforcements.  But the Cossacks are not on horseback.  The Baum stands frozen saying "I shot you" as the vampire bears down on him, and he gets a well deserved chomping by the little girl.

Hoeppner yells as Trabant to clear a path, Trabant says he's trying but "these things east ammunition".  There is a frenzy of flame and bloodshed as the flamethrower unit tries to kill them.   Hoeppner is about to be killed and Charlie shoots the vampire in its head and saves him.

Baum goes down.

When asked why he did that, Charlie says those things will come for them next, they need as many people alive as possible.  Galchenko roars that they will not cooperate with the enemy, then a pair or arms bursts through and grabs one of the Cossacks.  "The Englishman might have a point sir" says one of the soldiers.  Galchenko folds and then Charlie, who speaks German as well calls the Nazis into the house.  There is a rush of confusion as the vampires try to follow and in it Stefan get dragged off by the vampires who have his daughter, before they are beaten back but the house is damaged in the process.

Stefan's daughter shows them the hidden tunnels they can hide in now the house is no longer secure and the Russians and Nazis climb down. Stadler is ordered to set the room on fire as they move down.  Outside the long haired vampire says to the little girl vampire if this is it.  The little girl vampire thinks then says:

Little Girl Vampire: "I think not...Find them.  The village was already half deserted, we will be left hungry if we do not gather the rest.  Let none survive".

Hiding in the tunnels the soldiers try to figure out what attacked them.  Nevsky, a Cossack says he used to hear stories about creatures like them at the Northern Steppes.  Orlov says they are their punishment.  Or maybe the Nazis punishment, he hasn't heard a thankyou for saving them.

Charlie takes charge.

Charlie tells Hoeppner that these "animals" helped save him. There is some awkward introductions then there attention is taken by a soldier who was bitten and is trying to resist vampification.  He fails and his mouth bursts open full of bloody teeth, Stadtler can't use the flamethrower down there so Hoeppner says he's "my responsibilty" and cuts the man's head off with his knife.

Galchenko: "This is hell... this is just like hell... we're all going to die."

Charlie comments he didn't think communists believed in God. Rosa, the two women of the house now says there is a truck close by.  Charlie assures them they'll take them with them. Orlov says he'll have Rosa show him where the ammo is, Nikolai will show Charlie where the truck is.

There is plenty of ammo which Rosa assures Orlov was all going to the Soviet cause.  She is upset about the loss of her husband, Orlov says he cares for nothing except Stalin.  Then the little girl zombie appears. Before he can aim his rifle, she flies at his throat and rips it out. Rosa can only cry as she realises she is next.

Charlie hears her screams and goes back.  He finds the little girl hunched over Rosa's body.  He fires at her and knocks a hole in a fuel tank.  He lights the fuel with a match and sets her on fire.  She runs away and dives into the snow to put herself out. Her "Big Brother" asks her if it is his turn and she says they are playing "nasty games" and she wants them dead like now.

Tragedy strikes for Nikolai

Nikolai followed Charlie and finds him over the body of his mother.  She isn't dead but she'll change.  Nikolai knows what to do and takes Charlie's pistol and shoots her dead off-panel.  He then comes back to Charlie and says:

Nikolai: "I want to kill all of them Englishman.  Those things.  The Germans. All of them".

The vampires are making vampires of what remained of the villagers.  When they are done, they will chase down the soldiers in the tunnels.  The little girl says she "turns them into things of beauty" and likes having new friends to play with.

Back at the base in the tunnels, Charlie chews Hoeppner out for not providing support.  He says he could't care less about the "vermin and their spawn".  When Galchenko discovers Orlov is dead, he says he's the ranking officer.  But Charlie says "like hell" and a poll from the Russians and Germans left show support for Charlie's plan.

A plan is agreed on.

They put the escape plan in action, Stadtler uses his flamer to clear a path. He gets bitten though.  There is a general melee of fighting, and Stadtler begs to be killed before he turns.  Koeppler fires into the flamer fuel tank strapped to his back and there is a huge explosion.

Galchenko says it should buy them some time, but flaming vampires rush out of the conflgration.  One reaches Charlie, but before he can be bitten, Nevsky cuts its head off. They run for the truck and quietly Hoeppner says to Trabant that it will not hold them all.  They need to kill off the Russians. Hoeppner then shoots one to get started.  Trabant stands and looks at him, then kills the other one with them.

Hoeppner leaves him there and goes to commandeer the vehicle.  Charlie has managed to get it started, though it's too late for Tranbant who kills himself before he can be vamped by his attackers.  With Hoeppner on board the truck bursts through the garage wall and squishes several vampires.  Then Hoeppner shoots Galchenko in the head.

Never trust a Nazi.

Then he grabs Nikolai and throws him out.  In a rage Charlie flies at Hoeppner and knocks him out of the truck.  Then Charlie asks Nevsky to turn around and get the boy. Nikolai comes around and immediately is attacked.  Charlie runs to his aid and kills the vampire but sustains a serious chest wound in the process.

He tells Nikolai that Nevsky will see him right and take him to the next town.  It's the end for Charlie and he doesn't want to turn, so he hands his gun to Nikolai and tells him "you know.. what you have to do now."

The vampires congregate and the little girl says they won't get far, "there will be many more before this winter is over anyway."  Hoeppner wakes up and finds himself surrounded by vampires and with only a knife to defend himself with. "Let's get this over with" he says grimly and that brings this installment to a close.

Cue Bolvian Army Ending.

The art is as ever, brilliant.  And Templesmith shows some talent as a writer as well constructing a claustrophobic base-under-siege story where your allies inside are as dangerous as the monsters attacking outside.  We now know that vampires have been around feasting on darkness bound towns and villagers for a long time.  Unlike the people of Barrow after the first attack, their victims haven't been able to use technology to fight back.  And under the fog of war, whole towns can be wiped out; either eaten or vamped and nobody would expect a supernatural reason for it.  One thumbs up I am giving Templesmith as a writer is he makes and effort to mention character's names every now and then and uses props like hats and glasses to differentiate further.  Having read a couple of entries in the series where this doesn't happen and the characters all look the same has turned it into a real pain to write up.  But you can look forward to me moaning about that next month.  Anyway this is another chilly tale of vampires and humans and a great entry in the series overall.  You can buy it as a trade paperback, or find it in Omnibus 2 like I have.

30 Days Of Night: Juarez (Bloodsucker Tales #1-8)

"My name is Lex Nova.  I find girls" - Lex Nova

This is the other story that ran with Dead Billy Dead, which I looked at last month, in the Bloodsucker Tales miniseries.  It's back being drawn by Ben Templesmith, but it's the first story not written by Peter Niles.  Matt Fraction takes up the challenge of writing for the series with a very angry story about the disposable women of a Mexican town called Juarez. The star of the story is an private investigator from the US called Lex Nova who has read about the fact that up to four hundred women have gone missing over the years in the town and off his own back has decided to look into it as he thinks it might be connected to a case he's worked before. The storyline is actually a seven part main story called "Juarez or Lex Nova And The Case Of The 400 Dead Mexican Girls" and a one chapter prequel called sub-titled "Alex Gorodetski And The Case Of The One Missing White Girl or The Beginning".  Which is something of a mouthful, so for the purposes of titling this post I have simply used Juarez.  Lex Nova is a quirky chap, he has an internal "PI's monologue" that he unfortunately can't help giving voice to, which gets him into trouble a couple of times.  It's a pretty bleak story as it turns out normal people can be just as monstrous as vampires and it pulls no punches in its look at life in a dirt poor Mexican border town. We begin with the "Case of the 400 Missing Dead Girls."

It starts with a young woman, naked with ropes round her wrists running across the desert. She trips and falls and several people in black leathers and motorbike helmets surround her. Then blood starts flying.  We cut to Lex Nova arriving in town saying it smells like "tortilla and dead girl out here" and goes into a bar.

Lex Nova

He narrates to himself looking at a newspaper headline declaring "400 Dead Or Missing Girls in Juarez Mexico".  He tells himself that the girls work the nightshift at the local factories and:

Lex: "Some call it coincidence. Or a serial killer.  Or serial killers.  Or a serial killer and a copycat serial killer.  Whatever s'bullshit... I know who's killing those girls."

We then cut to the burial of Titania Acosta and the priest comforting her family.  Then we see a flashback of two of the town policemen, Garcia and Martinez finding the remains of the Titania the girl being chased at the start. She's been mutilated and her breasts cut off.

Back with Lex, he confronts Mr. Acosta saying to himself that he knows Acosta wants to talk.  When Mr. Acosta tells him he's saying that aloud, Lex pulls a gun on him.  Mr. Acosta tells him his daughter worked in a factory, like all the other girls in Juarez, "then one day she doesn't come home."  Suddenly three shadowy figures come into the bar, one armed with a basebat bat with nails in it.

A welcoming commitee

Then we cut to a vampire called Bingo who wears a clown nose, and his two girls, Halo and Echo (who is mute).  They are entertaining some normal men and then the whole thing turns into a bloodbath.   When it's over, Bingo spots the same newspaper headline about the four hundred dead girls and says to the girls, "we found Uncle Zero".

We then return to Lex driving a van he took from one of the men who attacked him, he pulls the spiked bat off his face and smashes a post box with it as he passes.  He goes to the Acosta house where there is a priest helping them pray.

Lex makes himself at home as Mr. Acosta shuffles off drinking.  Their son Joe asks him about LA where Lex used to live.   He thinks the girls are being killed by the chupacubra  The priest tells Joe to take his mum for a lie down so he can be alone with Lex.

Lex and the priest.

He and Lex sit on the back of Lex's stolen truck and smoke.  The priest says events in Juarez have caused him to lose his faith, he's lived there all his life and watched it turn into a "death camp".

Priest: "We made our daughter's slaves.  We made our daughters whores.  Now we've made them cattle.  And Juarez a slaughterhouse.  So fuck God."

He says he doesn't believe in God anymore, he just turns up for the comfort of the community. He tells Lex he might get some information from Pilar, Titania Acosta's sister. She works the factories then she works the town, "she is already lost".  But Lex goes to find her.

Bingo and his girls are waiting in the border queue to cross into Mexico and Bingo is getting frustrated.  When it comes to his turn he mesmerises the borderguard into thinking three scribbled on bits of paper are their ID.  Then Bingo tells him to blow his head off in front of the little girl in the car behind, and the man obliges.

Bingo in action.

We then see the two cops being reamed out by what appears to be the civic leader of Juarez for not finding who is killing all the girls.  When they leave however, two men come out of the shadows and the man, Eduardo Reyes, says the police have nothing, "I've run the maquiladora [factories] since before you were born. And I've been killing whores even longer."  If people get close they buy them or kill them:

Reyes: "Who cares for the whores of Juarez?  We give them lives.  We give them work. And then we give them death."

We then see Lex struggling through the mass of girls trying to find Pilar.  Then we join the priest, someone is in for confession.  It is one of Reyes's men and he starts to confessing to all the murders of the girls.

Pilar is in a truck cab with a fat guy.  She is about to suck his cock when Lex runs at the vehicle and punches him out through the window.  Meanwhile as the man - Paco - in confession keeps going through the names of those he killed, the priest explodes in rage and drags the man out of confession and beats him to death with a chair.

No Hail Mary's for Paco.

Bingo the vampire is just outside Juarez and says he can't smell Uncle Zero.  He puts Echo out on the road as bait. Lex is driving the fat guy's truck with Pilar still inside.  He drives past Echo and recognises her, saying that means "the whole Zero family circus is here."  She asks what he means when he calls them bloodsuckers and he clarifies he's talking about vampires.

He takes her to a house and tells her to get inside and he'll park the truck up outside town.  There are goats around the house, there won't be for long.  Then we see Bingo talking to Reyes and a couple of his men.  They've roughed them up and Bingo can't believe that "y'all been rapin' and killin' all these girls cos y'all are rich and bored and yah can. And there ain't nobody to stop it."

Reyes says the girls are trash and it is his right.  Bigo cuts him off saying he's a vampire who has done some terrible shit in his time because people are just food to him:

Bingo: "I do it - We do it - Because we have to.  You crazy bastards do it 'cuz you want to."

Bingo tells Reyes he wants to do business with him, then he and his girls go upstairs to sleep until sundown.  One of Reye's men says this is "evil".  Reyes notes the irony of that statement, then says "it's power" actually.  We then cut to the fat man whose truck Lex stole waking up in the back with a bunch of dismembered goats.

"Chupacabra!"

We then cut to Lex helping the priest bury Paco's body.   "Well.. he had it coming" says the priest when Lex comments on the situation.  In town the man who woke up with the goats is trying to get the cops to take him seriously.  The kid Joe does take it seriously as the chupucabra and reports it to a friend over the phone.

In the priest car, Lex tells him that there are vampires involved with these killings.  The priest asks angrily if he thinks everyone in Mexico is retarded?  Lex says he's a detective who gets the job done. The priest says, "There's no boogie man in Juarez.  Just us."

He tells Lex there are four guys behind the killings. "There crime is that they're rich. They're bored.  And they have the power to get away with it."  Lex asks what "this crazy fucking priest wants."  The priest says "I want them to pay".

Joe steals some cash from his mother's purse and starts to leave the house when Lex appears giving him a fright.  He tells Lex that his dad is at work and leaves.  He bribes (don't tell Donald Trump!) the border guard and cycles to El Paso and uses the resources there to look a LA Times newspaper story with the headline "Detective Sought In Missing Girl Case."

Back at the Acosta's, Lex has bought all of them bar Joe together.  He tells them they are still a family so "don't fuck it up".  And he departs with a shovel.   Before he goes, he takes the goat into the shed and feeds on it, confirming that he is a vampire.  Joe and his friends are peeking in through the window and believe it confirms he's the "goatsucker."

Lex's secret revealed.

Lex and the priest have a plan to draw out Reyes using Paco's phone.  Reye's takes the call.  When he hangs up he tells his men that Paco has been kidnapped.  His men are more worried about what Bingo is going to do now it's nighttime.

Bingo is pacing the room saying he's depressed Uncle Zero isn't here. When Halo tries to comfort him with all the feeding they can do he tells her to shut up and that he wishes Echo could talk so he could shut her up, but he does love making her squeal.

Joe calls in to the police he has information on a man connected with recent homicides in the town. The priest and Lex meanwhile are digging up Titania Acosta's body.   We then see Joe being interviewed by the police and he fingers Lex Nova for the murders.  He says he and the priest are together a lot because the priest wants to save him "because he's crazy and eats live goats."

In the truck with Titania's coffin in the back, Lex admits he woke up hungry.  The priest asks if it was for him?  Lex says human blood is a no no for him, "even though it's what you want the most".  Then he throws the priest out of the truck saying he's going to do the thing now.

Back at Reye's place, Bingo and the girls have been having an orgy of blood and murder having been supplied nine girls.  Reyes angrily tells his men to deal with them, "use fucking garlic.  Or crosses or whatever.  You've seen the movies."  He also tells them to "read that woman's book" referring to Stella Olemaun's "30 Days Of Night Book" on dealing with vampires.

He's about to buy a corpse "to keep the FBI up north" as he's been told it's a American one. One of the cops accompanys him.  They drive out into the desert where Lex is waiting. When asked his name he says "Don't say Lex Nova" four times, before saying "Cornelius".

Oops busted.

The cop says he is Reyes and says that this is the corpse of a girl Paco was screwing on the side.  Lex says she was a bad girl from Corpus Christi, ran away when her dad cut off the money. He saw her with Paco, then didn't see her with him no more.  Paco told him where she was when he popped him, so here we are.

"Reyes" asks what her name was.  "Olivia Honeycutt" says Lex. "Reyes" then points his gun at Lex saying the body is Titania Acosta and he's a cop.  We then cut to the Acosta's.  The mother tells Pilar she is a whore and to be out of the house by sunrise or she'll call the police.

Back with Lex. The cop is dead and Lex smells the real  Reyes lurking nearby.  He still has the blackmail money and as he drives off he says he'll give half to the Acosta's and half to the church.  A happy ending.  But the police are now on his tail.

At Reyes's place, his men burst in on Bingo armed with crosses and stakes.  They try and stake Bingo through the heart but he just regards it with bemusement.  He kills the man and the girls grab the other who has "some explaining to do."

Lex meanwhile is kneeling on the ground surrounded by cops.  Joe identifies him and they find the body of Titania in the back of the truck as well as all the cash.  Lex Nova is placed under arrest.  We return to Bingo who has Reyes hanging upside down and he quizzes him about Lex, when Reyes says he called the girl "Olivia Honeycutt" Bingo responds with "of course he did.".  He lets Reye's down after being told Lex is in custody by one of the cops.

Echo is locked in a cage.  Halo sneaks her a necklace and says she'll leave the cage open for her.  Bingo comes in, and says Lex, "the bane of my fuckin' existence." is now in a cage.  Lex is indeed in a cell and has been very badly beaten.  As he lies on the floor, Bingo and Halo come visit. He bends the bars and drags Lex out and tosses him around.  "Where's Olivia?" asks Lex.  Bingo doesn't want to talk about that.

Bingo beat a badly injured Lex.

He asked who helped Lex and Lex's internal monologue gives away the priest's involvement.  Bingo picks up Lex and carries him out of the building to the church.  Reyes meanwhile has called in on the Acostas about their daughter.  Pilar is talking to Joe about leaving with her before Juarez kills them both. But Joe says he wants to make a website of all the things he's discovered regarding Lex, and Pilar leaves.

Bingo dumps Lex in the church and leaves him.  "I was dying" Lex says to himself.  Pilar is thumbing a lift and Reyes pulls up and gives her a ride.  Lex is having a near death experience which involves being on the deck of the Enterprise.  Then he says he's just fucking around, all you feel is cold and darkness.

The priest and Echo find him and the priest desperately asks her to make him like her. So she cuts into the priest's throat and the blood splashes in Lex's mouth.  He rises up, totally animalistic and marches over to Reye's home where Bingo is sleeping. Reyes arrives at some sort of community centre and says the people killing all the girls are "sequestered in my home as we speak.  Join me and raze it."

Vampire Lex is not a nice sight.

As Lex, a snarling montrous beast starts fighting with Bingo, the house begins to burn.  The last we see of Lex is him screaming "Binnn..go It Endssssss".  Then we cut to the outside of the house as it burns up with Reyes looking smug as it does so.

Then we leap a year forwards.  Reye's gives a speach to the townsfolk that he is subsidising a new housing project and that anyone who lost a girl will qualify.  He says he has become friends with the Acostas especially after the loss of their second daughter (which confirms he killed Pilar). He walks through the room and says "your daughters are safe with me."

The priest is giving a sermon on greed.  He says it is the blackest of human weaknesses.  It creates dangerous, thoughtless humans.  No one is safe and only they can save themselves:

Priest: "Taking care of one another - struggling with that burden is when we are at our most divine."

When he finishes he goes outside with a bottle of booze.  He sits by a grave stone with "Lex 2005" written on it. "Fuck it we tried" he says as he sits by it and the sun starts to go down.  And that brings the "Case of the 400 Dead Girls" to a depressing close.

The priest knows the truth, though it doesn't help him.

But we have a prequel, "Alex Gorodetski and The Case of the 1 Missing White Girl" still to go.  It starts with him mulling over the fact that a missing white girl and a million dollar reward for finding her gets you a lot of media attention.  She is sighted everywhere including L.A.  And he thinks to himself, "if you had a dollar for every lost little girl in Los Angeles... you could actually afford to leave".

We then see Lex, although at this point in time he's Alex Gorodetski doorstepping someone as he investigates the missing girl. The woman asks if he is a lawyer and he says look at his car, does she know any lawyer in L.A who drives a "Nova."  He questions her and we see the missing girl is called Olivia Honeycutt.

He leaves, narrating to himself, although his monologues are just in his mind right now.  He is getting paid for this 800 dollars a day plus expenses.  "Olivia Honeycutt's been missing for 5600 dollars now".

Mr. Honeycutt asks him over the phone if he has found anything new.  Alex says that before Olivia disappeared there was a Halloween party. He found a photograph. Who was the clown?  Mr. Honeycutt says "I don't remember any clowns".  No one remembers the clown but he reflected in the mirror clear as day.  He manages to get all the photos taken that day assembled but still no one remembers the clown.

The Curious Case of the Clown at the Party.

After seeing one of the photographers, he leaves and the man calls up a "Mr Zero".  Later Alex is poring over the photos and talking to himself, back at his flat when a voice off panel says "what kind of detective talks to himself?  I'd want my money back".  Alex says he's the clown in the photo and the clown introduces himself as "Uncle Zero".

Next we see him hanging upside-down, Bingo is gloating over him along with Halo.  The girl in the corner, Olivia, says "the lady took my necklace.  Are you here to save me?"  Bingo says they have left Olivia's bloody nightshirt in his office and evidence of some other missing girls too.  "Not the most subtle frame job in the world but it'll get the job done".

Then Uncle Zero, whose face we never see, says to bring Olivia closer so she can have her first feed.  She opens her fanged mouth and her long tongue comes curling out and then:

Alex: "You wanna know the stupidest thing I ever did?  I bit first.  And that was it for me. I couldn't hear anything.  I couldn't think anything".

He bites off her tongue and vamps himself. So Olivia becomes Echo the mute vampire from the first story. Now he's a vampire the others have no use for him and let him go.

And Alex's fate is sealed.

He returns to his home which has police tape outside.  A neighbour woman spots him and asks if he did all those terrible things to the girls they said he did.  "No I tried to save them" he replies.  Then he breaks her neck and sets the building on fire.  And that brings the Juarez storyline to a close.

Dark, bleak stuff.  Unlike the Barrow stories, this and Dead Billy Dead have given us evil practiced by non vampires.  Reyes and his men are complete monsters preying on the hopelessness of the town they rule over. With corruption running rampant they are able to rape and kill the "nothing girls" with impugnity and it takes an outsider in the form of Lex, who admittedly is there because he mistakenly believes vampires are responsible, to actually investigate the murders properly.  The fact that a priest who has lost his faith could be driven to murder when he hears the confession of one who is part of the girl killing ring pretty much sums up the level of frustrated impotence he's been toiling under as more people turn to him for help as their daughters are taken from them.  Lex is another vampire whose managed to suppress his thirst for human blood and just as well considering the raving monster he becomes when he drinks it.  The prequel showing that biting a vampire will cause you to become one yourself neatly ties things up with the revelation that Echo is Olivia and the one he bit and explains why she was willing to revive Lex so he'd kill Bingo who's been torturing her ever since.  Ben Templesmith's art is excellent as usual and Matt Fraction's writing is tight, funny in places and shows a deft talent for dialogue.  Good stuff, but not for the faint of heart.

30 Days Of Night: Dead Billy Dead (Bloodsucker Tales #1-8)

"I think we've played enough.  I'll have plenty of time to explore my theories once I'm immortal" - Dr. Saxon

Time for more vampire fun with a look at "Dead Billy Dead", a story which ran concurrently with another called "Juarez" (which I shall be looking at next month) in an eight issue miniseries called "Bloodsucker Tales" first published in 2005.  The original 30 Days of Night told the story of a vampire attack and feeding frenzy on the remote town of Barrow in Alaska, that experiences the titular "30 Days of Night" every winter.  A survivor of the attack, the deputy sheriff Stella, after her husband Eben sacrificed himself to become a vampire to save them, became an authority on sniffing out and killing vampires and wrote a book called "30 Days of Night" about her experiences and what she knows about killing vampires.  This book is important because it tends to show up even when the action is taking place elsewhere in America as a sort of spiritual linking device.  Stella resurrected Eben and was turned into a vampire by him, but both kept their humanity and have become the undead protectors of Barrow.  But the vampires are everywhere still and in "Dead Billy Dead"  we're given a young male protagonist whose crappy life is made even crappier when he has a run in with one who wants to feed from him and whose story gives us more of an idea of what it feels like to be newly turned.  This marks the first story not drawn by Ben Templesmith, instead Kody Chamberlain is on art duties with Steve Niles still writing.

The story begins with hapless young man Billy staggering down a deserted alley clutching his neck which has blood gushing out, thinking that he is going to die.  A shadowy figure is behind him and says, "where do you think you are going, little human?"  Billy collapses as the vampire looms over him saying his companion was recently killed up in Barrow (see 30 Days Of Night: Return to Barrow).  He doesn't like being alone and he wants Billy to turn into a vampire to keep him company.

Billy has other ideas, and manages to grab a broken pipe and stabs it through the vampire's head.  This kills the vampire, and Billy collapses again and dies.  He then wakes up and finds a rat on him which he grabs and takes a bite out of.  Then he staggers to a payphone and calls his ex-girlfriend Maggie, he tells her "something terrible happened".  Unfortunately he is discovered by two cops who want to know where all the blood on him came from.

Newly vamped Billy calls Maggie

They cuff him but he snaps them. They try to subdue him with a baton but that doesn't work so one of them shoots Billy in the gut, knocking him down.  They kick him to see if he is dead and he comes around, says "stop kicking me" and gets up and leaves.  The cops decide discretion is the better part of valor and don't follow him.  They decide to write it up as an encounter with a meth-head.

Back with Billy, he's come to a realisation that he is a vampire.  "I'd rather be dead.  Real dead.  Dead dead" he thinks as he arrives at Maggie's flat.  She lets him in concerned at all the blood on him, but gets more concerned when she can find no wounds and that Billy is rambling about being shot by the cops.  She has some clothes of his and tells him to get cleaned up and get lost, he tells her he was attacked by a vampire.

Maggie is a very understanding ex.

Back with the two cops, they have written up the encounter with Billy.  One of them wants to admit to what they actually saw, the other wants to keep his job.  The truthful cop then walks off and slides the book "30 Days Of Night" out of the bookshelf...

Back with Billy and Maggie, Billy admits that he is starting to feel "kinda good" now.  He wonders if the vampire finished turning him properly and if the cop actually did hit him.  Maggie is still concerned.  But then he vomits a load of blood in the sink and collapses whimpering about what to do now.  Maggie says sun will be up soon and she'll cover the windows.

The action then jumps forwards a few days.  The policeman is at home, engrossed in the "30 Days Of Night" book, he makes copious notes as he studies it then one night he gets in his car and goes for a drive somewhere.  Meanwhile Maggie is still nursing Billy, she brings him bloody steak but it barely makes a tiny dent in his feelings of hunger.

She says maybe they should talk to a professor called Saxon who specialises in folklore, he had Stella Olemaun, author of "30 Days Of Night" come do a talk at the university which got shut down by the police when a fight broke out between her and some vampires (see 30 Days of Night: Dark Days). She says she can call him now, but Billy yells "I have to have blood!" and crashes through her window and out into the night.

Saxon.

She calls Saxon anyway and he believes her, he reassures her and says he'll come over as soon as he's put the phone down.  Then once he has he he starts talking sinisterly to himself:

Saxon: "I found one.  Soon their secrets will be ours, Stella. And then, at last, I will find you again.  And show you how much my love has grown since we met".

He calls in on a funeral home and tells the person there he'll give him $500 for a quart of blood drained from a corpse "and another $500 for your silence".

Billy is out hunting and catches and drains a cat.  OK fuck you Billy, kill all the people you like I don't care, but kill a cat?  You Monster.  He's hanging about the place where he died anyway, which isn't a great idea as the policeman has come to check it out.  He then has to contend with a vamped out Billy attacking him.  He shoots Billy and gets him to back off, Billy then comes too and when the policeman says he knows what he is, asks if he knows a way to cure him.

Brian the cop confronts Billy.

Maggie then appears as well and Billy scarpers.  The policeman introduces himself as Brian to her and when Maggie says Billy is ill, asks for confirmation that it's the kind of ill that has him wanting to drink other people's blood.  She evades the question and leaves and Brian calls into the precinct asking for her address.

Maggie walks back into the building and is stopped by an old woman asking if she has seen her pet dog "Mr. Wiggles".  Maggie says no, then enters her flat to find Billy feasting on Mr. Wiggles (seriously Billy, not making any friends here).  Unable to take much more of this, Maggie asks Billy to leave. Then Dr. Saxon knocks on the door, she lets him in and he tases her and fires a huge stun dart at Billy.  They both pass out.  Later Brian arrives at Maggie's address to find the door ajar and the room splattered with blood.

Brian calls a couple of mates in and tells them he's going to need some back-up, he pulled Maggie's phone records and found calls between her and Dr. Saxon so they are going to his place first. They go to his university office and poke around, they find a human skull with vampire teeth and the "30 Days Of Night" book open on the desk. 

The cops explore Saxon's office.

Brian and one of the other officers remember the ruckus caused by Stella's vampire lecture and how a strict gag order was placed on those involved in sorting it out.   The other cop demands to know if they mean there is a "goddamn Dracula loose in Los Angeles?"  Brian says he doesn't know, he just wants to find Maggie and make sure she's safe.

We then cut to Dr. Saxon, he has Billy strapped to a table keeping him paralysed by pumping "dead blood" into him, while Maggie is bound and gagged on a chair in the corner.  Saxon is rambling on about cancer and "immortal cells" being the key to vampirism.  Billy manages to say "let... her... go" but Saxon refuses saying his work is too important to let "a co-ed twit fuck it up".

Billy being vivisected.

He then starts slicing into Billy with a scalpel saying "I suspect you know less about what you are than I do".  He keeps up a running commentary as he cracks open Billy's ribcage, noting that the nervous system seems to slow down as the body absorbs the blood.  He wonders if he can use Billy to unlock the secrets of eternal life.

Saxon: "Can you imagine living a thousand centuries and never having to worry about the repercussions. Never having to meet your maker and pay for your supposed sins?  Can you?  I can."

Meanwhile, Brian and his two mates are sneaking up to Saxon's house as Saxon shows off his several people in cages who answered an advert he placed seeking vampires.  They weren't real vampires of course, but it didn't stop him injecting them with a concotion he had made him from samples from the vampire skull he retrieved after Stella's lecture.  That's when he had it confirmed, it was "in the blood".

Then he slits his throat and lets the blood splash into Billy's mouth.  Then he buries his head inside Billy's chest and then lies still.  The policemen burst in to be greeted with quite the grim tableau.  Brian goes to free Maggie, then Saxon rears up now a vampire saying this feels better than he ever imagined.

Saxon the vampire.

Maggie is freed and as the other cops struggle against Saxon, Maggie tells Brian to free Billy, he can deal with him.  As the pseudo-vampires take out one of the cops and Saxon the other, Billy his chest still open, his guts spilling out challenges Saxon asking "am I a success or a failure?" 

He tells Maggie and Brian to get out, or he'll kill them when he has finished off Saxon and they make their getaway.  Before they are fully out the door, Brian sees his mate half dead at the hands of the pseudo-vamps.  The man pleads "kill... me" so Brian does him that mercy, then he and Maggie are gone.

As Billy and Saxon fight, Saxon asks if he can feel all the other vampires around the world inside his mind? "Whatever we are, you and I are not the same" responds Billy.  He then snaps off one of his own ribs and stabs Saxon in the face with it.  Saxon collapses and Billy stamps on his head, crushing it, then he slaughters the pseudo-vampires.

Billy gets his revenge.

The other policeman is still barely alive, Billy says he doesn't know if he got infected by the vampires or not and uses his shotgun to blast the cop's head off with.  Then he sets the house on fire and takes his leave.  The story closes with his final thoughts:

Billy: "All of a sudden I felt okay about what I was...and really I looked forward to getting as faraway from my old life as possible. I no longer felt the maddening longing for Maggie or for any love.  I suppose if I had waited, none of this would have happened. But that's just me.  I could never live like people around me, and I can't even die like other folks. Maybe I'll have better luck being undead."

And so ends the story of Cat Murderer Billy. This is the first story not directly tied into the Barrow storyline though of course it gets plenty of nods.  And it's interesting getting a look at some of the aftermath of the anti-vampire lecture fiasco from Dark Days too. If I have one criticism it is that because this is much shorter than previous 30 Days Of Night stories the characters aren't as well explored as in prior stories.  Also the dialogue is quite sparse unlike the more verbose stories of the first omnibus, I could have done with a little more insight into Billy's feelings about what was happening to him or more conversations between him and Maggie, similar to those between good vampire Dane and Stella in Dark Days.  Of course the twist in this story is that it's a human who is the villain and a vampire the victim.  Saxon is truly monstrous, mutating deluded normal human beings and subjecting Billy to a live vivisection.  And I'm guessing Maggie wouldn't have lasted long if Brian and his mates hadn't turned up.  So Billy gets a happy ending of sorts, a misfit in life, maybe as he says he'll be better off Undead.  The art is..adequate.  I miss Ben Templesmith of course, who was illustrating "Juarez" in the same comic, but Chamberlain while not as good with the figurative illustrations, manages to match the moody quality that keep it the same tone as Templesmith's work.  So not a bad story all-in-all, it expands and builds on the vampire lore of this series nicely and tells a diverting story while doing so, it also appears to be creator Steve Niles's last story as sole writer of the series, from now on the 30 Days of Night franchise would also be in the hands of a variety of different writers as we'll see starting next month.