30 Days Of Night, story by Steve Niles, artwork by Ben Templesmith, lettering & design by Robbie Robbins. IDW publishing. ©2007, $17.99.
  
        Longtime readers know I'm a fan of comic books as I've reviewed graphic novels here in the past.
        I recently discovered an author whose work I was unfamiliar with due to the fact I got into an advance screening of the movie "30 Days Of Night."  Shortly afterwards I received a copy of the 30 Days Of Night graphic novel.
        For those who have seen the movie, but haven't read the work it was based on, I will let you know that there are very little changes between the novel and the movie.
        There's only one major deletion between the two medias.  In the novel, there's a group in New Orleans that wants to prove the existence of vampires. This subplot doesn't make it into the movie.
        For those who haven't seen the movie or read the book, the main setting is Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city on the North American continent where it stays night for 30 straight days out of the year, hence the title.  Our story begins November 17th, 2001, the last day of sunlight.
        Because of this, a group of vampires decides that this will be a good place to haunt their prey.  With it being perpetual night, they don't have to sleep or worry about anyone finding them while they sleep.  To the vampires, it seems like a great idea.
        And for awhile, it appears to be working out the way the vampires planned.

        Of course, if things went the way the vampires wanted, this would be a short and boring novel, but there are a few obstacles in the way.  The biggest one being Sheriff Eben Olemaun.
        Though the novel is about vampires, the main protagonist is the sheriff along with his wife Stella.  Eben is the one who figures out how to defeat the vampires.
        And the vampires in this novel aren't easy to defeat.  They aren't like the vampires in other novels, trying to blend into society; they're just out to drink the blood of any human they catch.
        As for blood, there's a lot of it being shed in the story and in Templesmith's artwork.
        For those who seen have seen the movie but not read the book, the novel continues a few pages past the movie's ending.
        This book is for those who like graphic novels and want their vampires to be monsters.
        The trade ends with a preview of the next book in the series: 30 Days Of Night: Return To Barrow.
  
  
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