Mark Ricketts impressed with such graphic novels as Nowheresville and Whiskey Dickel, but his Dioramas didn't connect nearly as well. On the surface, Night Trippers -- a tale of vampires and the men who hunt them down -- is rather conventional fare for a creator such as Ricketts, but there's far more depth to this new graphic novel than one might expect. While the plot is driven by the typical vampire elements, the real story is Ricketts exploration of history and pop culture. Micah Farritor's art is as unusual and unique as Ricketts's script, and those looking for something different in comics literature that sacrifices nothing in sheer entertainment value ought to take a look.
Dorothy -- Dot to her friends -- feels lost in her career as a nursing assistant in the 1960s, but an unusual encounter with one of her elderly charges and the dark, mysterious beatnik figure known as the Chelsea Killer forever changes her life. Dot comes to the attention of Darien Pendragon, a music mogul and one of the most influential figures in Britain. Pendragon sees something special in Dot, a star he can mold and manipulate. But Pendragon isn't looking to make scads of money or entertain the masses. He wants to transform the world into a herd of sheep... sheep upon which he and his vampiric brethren can feed.
Farritor boasts an unconventional approach that seems a bit like a cross between the styles of Tim (Batman: The Long Halloween) Sale and Arthur (Kissing Chaos) Dela Cruz. The artist combines flowing, swooping curves with sharp angles to arrive at a style that captures the intensity of the supernatural elements and the pop style that's such an integral part of the story as well. His figures are exaggerated in tone. Dot's head, for example, seems too large for her frame, but not in a distracting way. It all goes to convey her unusual but singular look that draws Darien to her in the first place. The muted colors enhance the tense atmosphere and reinforce the monstrous nature that lurks beneath the facade of the vampire characters.
One of the more interesting storytelling choices the writer makes is doing away with thought balloons and conveying the characters' secret thoughts in aside panels, colored a distinct red. This approach of presenting the characters' contrasting thoughts and actions in separate panels is in keeping with the recurring theme that no one is as he or she seems. Obviously, the vampires are passing themselves off as Britain's youthful elite, but every other character is playing or portrayed in a role that's not really true. The dreaded Chelsea Killer is actually the hero of the piece, and the infirm men in the seniors' home are actually seasoned soldiers.
Ultimately, the most interesting aspect of the book isn't the battle with the undead but the social and cultural history Ricketts that serve as the villain's tools and the backdrop for the story. I love Pete's song-lyric dialogue, and the fashion sense and drug culture really come off as genuine. I also enjoyed how Ricketts allows us to get to the know the characters much better through those aside panels. The characters' duplicity, honesty, sensitivity and self-loathing really shine through. 9/10
