MIDNIGHT, MASS. #1
"Bluebeard's Castle"
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: John Rozum
Pencils: Jesus Saiz
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Noelle Giddings & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Editor: Heidi MacDonald
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
I honestly didn't know what to expect from Midnight, Mass. The title really tells us nothing about the book, and the advance solicitation, though accurate in its description, didn't really tell me if this was the kind of book I'd enjoy or not. After reading this first, my interest has been piqued, though. Though in keeping with the supernatural tone of the Vertigo line, Midnight, Mass. has an odd sense of humor to it as well. It's like Hart to Hart meets The X-Files.
Jenny has just landed an unusual but exciting job: assistant to world-famous paranormal investigators Julia and Adam Kadmon. She moves to their hometown of Midnight, Massachusetts, and she quickly discovers that the Kadmons' daily routine lives up to all of the hype. She starts her first day on the job by laying eyes on an exploding goblin and three-armed assassin, and equally as bizarre is the Kadmons' home.
I honestly don't know how I feel about the art in this book. Saiz's style suits the supernatural story elements. His presentation of the twisted creature in Boston is convincing and appropriately bizarre, but other aspects of the art aren't as engaging. The main characters are rendered inconsistently, and the art flops back and forth between clear and focused to sketchy and lacking in background detail. Giddings does a solid job with the colors, though, establishing an excellent balance between the darker moods and the lighter moments.
Though I like the playing-card design of the cover, its tone doesn't really reflect what lies within. The book is far more playful than this dark image would indicate, especially with those surreal and unsettling colors.
The book's greatest strength is its script. Rozum's narration and dialogue really gives the reader a feel for the characters, and he manages to convey a lot of information without the script coming off as being too heavy on exposition. The writer manages to establish atmospheres of mystery, adventure and humor that don't conflict with one another, that work together.
I'm surprised that Midnight, Mass. is just an eight-issue limited series. This first issue certainly reads like more of a starting point for an ongoing book. There's certainly plenty of potential in the basic premise -- almost like Scooby Doo meets Moonlighting -- to keep it going.
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