Sometimes, life just calls for a gritty comic that defies all reason and sanity. An unapologetic deep dive into the minds of the ruthless and depraved. Night People #1 satisfies that desire within the first few panels. The first of four issues, Night People #1 is adapted from the creative world of Barry Gifford and his novel by the same name. The four issues may be different tales, but they are interwoven, providing the reader with an extreme look at evil that borders on sardonic.
In this first issue, we follow Big Betty Stalcup and Miss Cutie Early, the head-over-heels in love parolees version of Thelma and Louise, as they travel city to city with the only intention of grotesquely murdering men in order to rid the world of the patriarchy. Their over-the-top sweet romance counteracts the mutilated corpses left in their wake. They then kidnap a lawyer, Rollo Lamar, in a last-ditch attempt to reeducate just one man.
The beauty of the comic is rooted in the writing. Chris Condon shares his fandom of the novel in the pages of this issue in a way that tells you he’s obsessed with the work. It’s a good thing in this case, as the words from Gifford’s tale starring Bet and Cutie bleed onto the pages of the comic. It’s so difficult to find adaptations of any novel that pay such a tribute to the source material, yet here we are in Condon’s capable hands, promising us he will deliver this kind of homage in all four issues.
Brian Level’s artwork brings a 1990s, noirish, and in-your-face evil feel as each panel unfolds into the next. Backgrounds are used to convey all kinds of emotion, forcing the reader into the shoes of every character. The panels with sharp teeth are particularly shudder-inducing, while the colors from Ronda Pattison bring out the smallest of details. This is a comic that readers will want to study over and over, always finding something new. One mustn’t forget the sheer amount of work that went into the lettering, brilliantly done by Shawn Lee. The sheer volume of dialogue and narrative is handled so well, with the perfect words emphasized and additional writing between and within the panels, just waiting for discovery.
Night People #1 is the perfect start to a four-issue comic series. Once the reader is drawn in, it’s not easy to remove the talons of the story from the mind and soul. With the high factor of re-readability and so many layers to explore, readers will want to revel in the intense genius of this comic book literary masterpiece.
Creative Team: Chris Condon (writer), Brian Level (artist), Ronda Pattison (colorist), Shawn Lee (letterer), Barry Gifford (creator of the original novel, Night People)
Publisher: Oni Press
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