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30 Days of Night #11
30 Days of Night, Vol. 11: Beyond Barrow
After years of attacks and then several without, the citizens of Barrow have become united against random attacks on their city by the undead. Unfortunately, the same does not apply outside of Barrow or the rest of the mysterious Arctic Circle.
104 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2008
About the author
Steve Niles
830 books464 followersSTEVE NILES is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence, and was recently named by Fangoria magazine as one of it's "13 rising talents who promise to keep us terrified for the next 25 years."
Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.
Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.
--from the author's website
Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.
Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.
--from the author's website
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 17, 2017
Steve Niles' writing remains at a merciful minimum as Bill Sienkiewicz's gorgeous and intoxicating art consumes the page. Every page feels like a painting with a range of expression comparable to Edvard Munch. His use of exaggerated colors are often startling, and his use of abstraction evokes atmosphere and horror rather than confusion and frustration. Then a panel will surprise with the clarity of its explicitness. He's a true great that I wish had written more of his own work. Stray Toasters is a grungy masterpiece that screams to be put back in print. Sienkiewicz is the kind of experimental artist that Templesmith wishes he could be. Oh, and this comic is about some rich assholes who go vampire hunting near poor beleaguered Barrow and end up lunch for some ancient Inuit bloodsuckers.
May 17, 2013
Beyond Barrow is the 9th volume of the 30 days of night saga and Bill Sienkiewicz takes on the artwork which for me is a major talking point. The artwork is a mismatch of good and shockingly bad, unfortunately there isn't to much of the good. Done in the style of a vivid oil painting, which with snow falling does a good job of obscuring detail to the point where each character has to have a stand out feature to even recognise them, for example orange hair, massive red glasses or a Santa Claus type beard. The artwork is an attempt to fall in line with the series as a whole but at times there's just to much colour and trying to portray blizzard like conditions gives the impression of a sloppy attempt to tell the story. The original 30 days of night is dark, with the only colours being pastel, nothing vivid except the blood red, this creates the terrifying atmosphere and looking at the story's together you see immediately where the artist has gone wrong.
The story opens with a group of vampires heading towards Barrow, they meet something on route, something even more dangerous than themselves and get wiped out completely. The vampire's of the snow covered region have evolved into something more alien in appearance something similar to the movie Priest, bringing another player into the action..
The billionaire Richard Denning and his entourage also arrive in Barrow with the intention of finding a vampire, Denning appears to have a deathwish and is destined to run into mayhem.
Add to this the return of our old friend John Ikos and the ingredients are there for another violent, action packed deluge of blood soaked chaos, unfortunately it could have been better.
The story opens with a group of vampires heading towards Barrow, they meet something on route, something even more dangerous than themselves and get wiped out completely. The vampire's of the snow covered region have evolved into something more alien in appearance something similar to the movie Priest, bringing another player into the action..
The billionaire Richard Denning and his entourage also arrive in Barrow with the intention of finding a vampire, Denning appears to have a deathwish and is destined to run into mayhem.
Add to this the return of our old friend John Ikos and the ingredients are there for another violent, action packed deluge of blood soaked chaos, unfortunately it could have been better.
October 11, 2023
We end up in Barrow again, and find there may be things worse than vampires there. (And in this series, worse than vampires is pretty damn bad!) We get to see more of vampire hunter John Ikos, which is always cool.
Even though it gets surreal at times, this was some of the best Bill Sienkiewicz art I think I've seen. Great use of colors, and he made the most of the swirling snow and ice that accentuate most scenes.
A good installment of the series overall.
Even though it gets surreal at times, this was some of the best Bill Sienkiewicz art I think I've seen. Great use of colors, and he made the most of the swirling snow and ice that accentuate most scenes.
A good installment of the series overall.
January 24, 2023
The artwork was amazing for the first two volumes, but I have no idea what happened in the third one that it became extremely underwhelming and lazy at times. At least the story for this one was interesting (though the ending was, too, very underwhelming).
March 8, 2025
This could have been a solid volume. The concept of a billionaire vampire tourist and his entourage being stranded in the cold, dark Alaskan countryside is an entertaining enough idea. Too bad the artwork is even worse than usual for the series. Pretty colors, but hell if you can follow anything that is happening.
August 20, 2012
Beyond Barrow brings us back to, well, Barrow in the midst of the days of darkness. Kitka and Ikos return, and the curious people who venture up hoping to get good photographs of vampires - dead or alive. Needless to say, those out of towners get a heck of a lot more than they bargained for.
The writing in Beyond Barrow was fairly good, but not as compelling as previous installments (notably Return to Barrow, Eben and Stella, and 30 Days of Night itself come to mind...) but the storyline is a rather good one. Rather than dealing with vampires, this book brings about an entirely new villain.
The four stars are for the artwork, the furthering of the vampire mythos. The artwork was truly amazing, and as stark a contrast as the original [30 Days of Night] artwork was from, say, Dave Gibbons and other more general comic book artwork. The stark use of colors reminded me a little of Sin City but even better, mixed with the watercolors of the Northern Lights.
What made the series work originally has come back here - the cold, the isolation, and the sense that you'll never get out no matter what. It's fascinating, and plays upon the psyche as much as it preys upon the heart. It's good horror, and a nice mini-series. I'd recommend the Eben and Stella line above this mini-series, but it is still a darn good installment and a nice return to the seriousness that some of the previous installments lacked.
The writing in Beyond Barrow was fairly good, but not as compelling as previous installments (notably Return to Barrow, Eben and Stella, and 30 Days of Night itself come to mind...) but the storyline is a rather good one. Rather than dealing with vampires, this book brings about an entirely new villain.
The four stars are for the artwork, the furthering of the vampire mythos. The artwork was truly amazing, and as stark a contrast as the original [30 Days of Night] artwork was from, say, Dave Gibbons and other more general comic book artwork. The stark use of colors reminded me a little of Sin City but even better, mixed with the watercolors of the Northern Lights.
What made the series work originally has come back here - the cold, the isolation, and the sense that you'll never get out no matter what. It's fascinating, and plays upon the psyche as much as it preys upon the heart. It's good horror, and a nice mini-series. I'd recommend the Eben and Stella line above this mini-series, but it is still a darn good installment and a nice return to the seriousness that some of the previous installments lacked.
January 31, 2016
One feels like Steve Niles conceits are running a bit thin in book and while Bill Sienkiewicz's art keeps up the tonal and expressionistic quality of the Niles and Templesmith books, it doesn't quite have the same energy. It also so atmospheric that it is hard to tell characters apart and precise action. In that sense, this book is far more style and atmosphere over plot and artistic clarity of action. In some ways, these thin plots work for a honor comic with such an established feel and setting, but the characters don't quite feel lived in enough to matter to the reader. Niles and Sienkiewicz just seem to rely too much on prior work, prior tropes, and a twist that isn't all that twisty, or even unexpected. If one is a 30 Days of Night completist, I would suggest it. It is also a pleasant read and reads extremely quickly, but it's about an inch deep.
February 25, 2013
quite frankly i thought this was a bit pants. a story that would have just about made a decent annual is stretched to three issues. lots of 'open/ loose' art, some of which is good a lot of which is 'oh really'.
the writing is fine - but the whole 30 days of night thing is a bit stale and almost forced now.
wanted to like it, didn't quite hit the spot.
the writing is fine - but the whole 30 days of night thing is a bit stale and almost forced now.
wanted to like it, didn't quite hit the spot.
November 30, 2009
I was able to almost enjoy the first issue but by the end, I could not stomach the art. It felt lazy, splashed with color, incoherent panels. I'm all for originality but this just felt insincere, not what I've come to expect from this series, which started out so much better than this...
September 10, 2008
I do enjoy the 30 days of night line, but this wasn't the best of them.
couldnt-finish
December 20, 2009An appalling end to a series. The artwork is disgusting, the plot fails.
Incredibly disappointed.
Incredibly disappointed.
September 16, 2019
Hey, who wants “to go vampire-hunting in Alaska for a vacation“? Maybe hide out in a cave? Just the idiots in this book? Okay...
Well, as much as I love watching dumb, rich, white people get slaughtered, there really isn't much to this tale. And personally, I had an incredibly hard time reading the red lettering with the black background. Frustratingly so! It actually made me want to chuck the book in the trash, but it's a library copy, so I couldn't. Maybe they could send the person who did that format on a trip to a cave just outside of Barrow, Alaska. Say maybe between the days of November 18th and December 17th?
Well, as much as I love watching dumb, rich, white people get slaughtered, there really isn't much to this tale. And personally, I had an incredibly hard time reading the red lettering with the black background. Frustratingly so! It actually made me want to chuck the book in the trash, but it's a library copy, so I couldn't. Maybe they could send the person who did that format on a trip to a cave just outside of Barrow, Alaska. Say maybe between the days of November 18th and December 17th?
November 17, 2023
En este cómic se sacan de la manga un monstruo, que no encaja mucho con la historia. Unos seres que se alimentaban de los exploradores del siglo XIX pero que nunca han atacado a nadie de Barrow porque han decidido dejar de comer hasta este arco argumental. Además, se supone que son protovampiros, aunque los vampiros de 30 días de oscuridad no venían de Barrow. Una historia efectista de las de porque sí, con un dibujante al que se le entiende aun peor que a los anteriores. Muchas veces no sabía ni lo que había dibujado en la página.
February 18, 2018
* Reading these comics has almost become a game at this point, like how bad will this one get?
* Note to self: explore future drinking game possibilities.
* The art is confusing and headache-inducing and makes it impossible to tell what's happening most of the time.
* But Arctic vampyres! That's cool anyway.
* Note to self: explore future drinking game possibilities.
* The art is confusing and headache-inducing and makes it impossible to tell what's happening most of the time.
* But Arctic vampyres! That's cool anyway.
November 14, 2017
Well this was just awful :(
It could have been a great volume, but the artist totally fucked this one up!
I wasn't able to tell who was who or what...
Too bad, because I really liked the series overall..
imho, you can just skip this one entirely
It could have been a great volume, but the artist totally fucked this one up!
I wasn't able to tell who was who or what...
Too bad, because I really liked the series overall..
imho, you can just skip this one entirely
December 7, 2019
Une horreur. Quel brouillon! Vraiment déplaisant à lire. Le traitement des couleurs que j'aimais tant dans les tomes précédents sont souvent tel le gribouillage d'un enfant. Une surenchère de style. A vouloir trop en faire, les auteurs on fait n'importe quoi. J'abandonne cette saga.
July 11, 2017
Poor art made the story difficult and occasionally impossible to follow.
December 31, 2018
Still a great concept, still horrible gutter language [showing a stilted, juvenile, limited vocabulary] and artwork ranging from brilliant to sloppy.
July 16, 2020
this was okay but not my favourite story from this world.
September 14, 2020
Adventure tourism in ancient vampire territory just as night falls. Hubris at its worse.
June 19, 2016
The world at large now knows about the vampires that come to attack Barrow, Alaska during the 30 days in winter when the sun never rises. This leads to possibly the stupidest of all plot devices - the rich American tourist who comes along for the chance to hunt a vampire and who usually drags along a group of less than willing people, most of whom are going to die, because they never listen to the people who might have saved them (i.e. the locals).
While it's an exciting if predictable story in some respects, it also throws in a few curve-balls - such as the existence of an entirely different group of vampires that are apparently the vampiric equivalent of polar bears in that they have adapted to live permanently in the subzero temperatures of the arctic (cold slows and weakens the normal vampires). The other problem is that the story just *stops* once most of the hunting party has been slaughtered with only the teenage daughter surviving, naturally enough. It's far too abrupt an ending for the story, especially as the idea abut the polar bear vampires is given more than one beginning which further muddies the waters.
The art is by comics legend Bill Sienkiewicz, and is just as atmospheric as you might expect from him. Pity about the red on black text used, which was very hard on my ageing eyes.
While it's an exciting if predictable story in some respects, it also throws in a few curve-balls - such as the existence of an entirely different group of vampires that are apparently the vampiric equivalent of polar bears in that they have adapted to live permanently in the subzero temperatures of the arctic (cold slows and weakens the normal vampires). The other problem is that the story just *stops* once most of the hunting party has been slaughtered with only the teenage daughter surviving, naturally enough. It's far too abrupt an ending for the story, especially as the idea abut the polar bear vampires is given more than one beginning which further muddies the waters.
The art is by comics legend Bill Sienkiewicz, and is just as atmospheric as you might expect from him. Pity about the red on black text used, which was very hard on my ageing eyes.
February 9, 2014
Usually I love the abstract style of the art in these comics, but this one, while full of pretty colors, is almost unreadable, especially the second and third issues. The coloring in a lot of the frames made the lettering nearly impossible to read because of the high contrast. Some of the frames look like something a kid would do in art class--or snapshots of an acid trip, which would be cool, if this were a story about killer psilocybin shrooms from Hell, but it's about vampires. It's nice to, you know, be able to decipher what you're looking at, rather than thinking "What the fuck is this shit?" with every other page. The change in style would be refreshing if I had any idea what I was looking at. I don't know if the artists were trying to be different or just feeling lazy, but I for one don't see nondescript gore and think "I have no idea what's going on but obviously it involves blood and that's awesome!" They're great as one shots, but not so much for actual story-telling. Kind of a weak story, too. I'm all for dumbass tourists in Barrow getting what they deserve, but still... weak delivery... and the ending was as flat as my chest at my first school dance. Pretty meh :/
July 24, 2014
This is better than some volumes before, but, it felt a bit empty.
The art is very original and colorful, and even remains dark. The only problem is that more of the time you don't know what is going on.
The story is not bad, but it could be serialized like a short story, or a one-shot, I don't see the point of making it last 3 issues.
So, well, I don't believe this series will get better. Anyway, I'll continue reading it.
The art is very original and colorful, and even remains dark. The only problem is that more of the time you don't know what is going on.
The story is not bad, but it could be serialized like a short story, or a one-shot, I don't see the point of making it last 3 issues.
So, well, I don't believe this series will get better. Anyway, I'll continue reading it.
May 4, 2009
Story was okay- but I read this for Sienkowitz- who is simply nutz. All the other artists who ever did a 30 dyas of night owe everything to him, and I was surprised to see he finally stepped up to give it a whirl. 2 pages towards the end looked a bit lazy, and he resorted to some photoshop blurring, but most of the panels are incredible and bring the horror big time.
May 1, 2019
Love the artwork on this one - I prefer templesmith but sienkiewicz has a rapid style which at times borrows for Creep and the likes. I like it and I like the chaos. The story however is less strong in this volume but it’s worth reading for the unique monstrosities we meet and then of course for the artwork.
October 7, 2016
I like Bill Sienkiewicz and he obviously had a bit of fun with this. But if you compare the script of issue #1 with his artwork a lot of sometimes necessary detail is missing. The story isn't very good, the characters are forgettable and the storytelling really suffers from Bill's very free approach.
February 20, 2014
Picked this up because I've enjoyed most of the series and I usually like Sienkiewicz' art. Unfortunately the art is incoherent and in service of a poorly paced story with an anticlimactic ending.
I'm unsure if it's the worst of the series but it's definitely the most disappointing.
I'm unsure if it's the worst of the series but it's definitely the most disappointing.
October 3, 2009
Dull story; freaky art.
Read
August 7, 2011L'épisode de trop
March 15, 2012
I enjoyed the more surrealist bent of the illustrations in this edition. Another plus was that it was a self-contained story, rather than part of the silly "vampire queen" storyline.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews