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‘The Midnite Show’ TPB (review)

Written by Cullen Bunn
Art by Brian Hurtt
Published by Dark Horse Comics

 

I’m a Monster Kid from way back.

Some of the earliest movies I remember watching on TV were horror movies—House on Haunted Hill, The Headless Ghost, and Earth vs. the Spider.

My first vampire movie was Dracula-Prince of Darkness (oddly double-featured with the Adam West Batman movie!).

By 1969 I was hooked on Famous Monsters of Filmland and our own local horror host here in Cincinnati, The Cool Ghoul, was introducing me not only to the classic Universal Frankenstein and Dracula films but also to movies directed by the likes of Mario Bava and Jean-Luc Godard!

All through the 1970s, Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula was one of my favorite comic books! Even today, I collect Dracula movies. I currently have nearly 100 with the bloody Count!

It stands to reason then that I am literally part of the audience for which The Midnite Show was created. Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Brian Hurtt—both new-to-me creators—the book collects what I presume (and hope) was a four-issue mini-series. It has a beginning, a middle, and an ending and it all flows nicely. To continue beyond this point would be cheapening this initial effort.

In the beginning, the reader is given the set-up that a famous horror director, the fictional Basil Saxon (Great name!), disappeared years before, leaving what was to have been his masterpiece, God of Monsters, unfinished and unreleased.

He had written and starred in the picture as well, playing all the monsters—Count Dracula, Frankenstein (with the doctor’s brain!), a living mummy, a werewolf, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon-type water monster. (I was personally reminded of Paul Naschy, the Spanish writer/director/actor known for playing all the classic monster types in his movies.)

The Midnite Show opens at a special once-in-a-lifetime screening of the fabled unreleased creature feature. We’re introduced to a diverse group of likable characters—a typical grown-up Monster Kid and his uninterested girlfriend, a couple of young folks who work at the theater, an ex-horror-host, a former horror film scream queen, and a vlogger, and then, as in a modern slasher movie, they slowly start to be killed off as the movie essentially “comes to life” around them, complete with its settings and all its violent monsters. It seems they’re all competing in a kind of celluloid “unreality” show to see who earns the title, God of Monsters.

Luckily (?), we also meet Professor Van Helsing, the legendary vampire hunter, also a refugee from the movie and, like the others, a heavily made-up Saxon.

The artwork is smooth, simple, and clean (well, clean except for the bloody bits) but mention must also be made of colorist Bill Crabtree and, in particular, letterer Jim Campbell, who provides us with different fonts and colors in the word balloons throughout to differentiate the different accents. Even the balloons are sometimes in different shapes!

The dialogue is also sharp, reflecting a more modern style as well as vintage film script styles and clichés. I believe I only noted one use of the dreaded “F-bomb,” which, while it fits in context, could probably have been left out, making this fully acceptable as a teen graphic novel. As it is, I’m sure every single teen has heard worse.

The story itself barrels along at a breakneck pace, with all the requisite thrills, chills, suspense, surprises, and actual jump scares one expects from this type of fare. I read all 114 pages in a single sitting right up to the suitable, satisfying, modern twist ending that I should have seen coming…but didn’t!

If you, too, were a Monster Kid back in the day—or still are—The Midnite Show will resonate with you all the way through. Grab some popcorn, turn out the lights, and…No wait. If you turn out the lights, you can’t read it. Anyway…!

Booksteve recommends.

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