30 Days of Night

Niles, Steve & Templesmith, Ben. 30 Days of Night. San Diego: IDW Publishing. 2007

Annotation: Bloodthirsty vampires take over the small Alaskan town of Barrow just as the time of year arrives where there will be 30 consecutive days of darkness.

Justification for Nomination: With story by Steve Niles and compelling artwork by Ben Templesmith, this book melds together art and text beautifully to create an atmosphere both dark and eerie. The pace is fast and the deaths come quick and often as the vampires attempt to annihilate all human life in Barrow. The panels are easily followable, with stylistically designed dialogue; the vampires' dialogue is written as static and sharp, while regular humans have dialogue which is normal and rounded. Full page panels give the reader the full effect of certain dramatic and sometimes gory aspects of the action.

With the popularity of vampires today, this book will not fail to disappoint those young readers who have an interest in the gory world of the undead. The book is in color, but most of the tone is set with bleak black and white images, with an abundance of red to enhance the grisly atmosphere. The characters are well drawn, and the reader comes to appreciate Eben, the town sheriff, and all he has to endure in trying to save the remaining survivors. The story is well-developed and background information is provided to keep the reader informed and to keep the flow of the story going full throttle.

With lots of "SWAK!s" and "KASPULCHH!es" offered to elevate the action, the author, illustrator and letter designer do a marvelous collaborative job in bringing to the page a frightful yet compelling story that will be enjoyed by many of today's vampire-obsessed youth.

Genre: Graphic Novel