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The Midnight: Shadows

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Join THE MIDNIGHT, one of the world’s top synthwave bands, comprised of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, on an electrifying and original sci-fi graphic novel adventure inspired by the poetic storytelling and the neon-soaked aesthetics of their music.

Jason has spent his life running from his problems, but now he and his childhood sweetheart are on the precipice of parenthood, and he’s struggling with the loss of his adolescence. Then he re-discovers his favorite old video game, THE MIDNIGHT, a nostalgic 1980s fantasy adventure about a helmeted hero who travels to a cyberpunk world to save the people from eternal darkness. Seeking to repair his broken game, Jason ends up at a mysterious arcade in an abandoned 1980s mall, where he plays the old arcade game of The Midnight and suddenly he’s transported to…

…a post-apocalyptic Neverland in the year 2085. A world of perpetual night where time stands still. A final bastion of humanity in a glistening futuristic city. And a shocking reveal – they know him as the hero who once vanquished the shadow monsters, and they believe he’s returned to his true reality to do it again. More surprising, his wife is here, but only with a memory of Jason as this world’s hero. As this lost boy tries to embrace his new hero powers, with the help of his true love and her cyberpunk warriors, he must face the responsibility of protecting an entire world from danger and discover which world he truly belongs to.

For The Midnight fans and newcomers, created by rising comics writer, Zack Kaplan (Break Out, Mindset), artist Stephen Thompson (Star Trek, Batman Beyond), artist Jahnoy Lindsay (Superboy) and The Midnight, follow your dreams to a visually stunning cyberpunk metropolis, find love in the darkness, defeat shadow monsters and explore what happens when we hide in our fantasies. Are we escaping life’s monsters or simply escaping ourselves? The answers lie in the Midnight Graphic Novel.

136 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2024

5 people are currently reading
45 people want to read

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Zack Kaplan

113 books44 followers

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5 stars
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51 (41%)
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40 (32%)
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Alexander Peterhans.
Author 2 books302 followers
September 17, 2024
This one is based on the lyrics (I think) of a modern electronic beat combo by the name of The Midnight, and I had never heard of them - there's a track directly connected to this book on Spotify, so I had a listen to that. Read on to find out whether I enjoyed it. (I'm trying teasers now.)

The book itself is one of those "transported to another reality where all the people look like people in the original reality", except here we haven't seen most of the people in the original reality, so you get the main character saying "hey, don't I know you" and I couldn't tell you.

Our main character's wife is pregnant, he's just lost his job, and he tries to distract himself with an old videogame, called The Midnight. And that's basically what this is all about: growing up, accepting your life, being present in your life.

Sadly, the characters spend quite some dialogue directly discussing these issues. It's just so clunky. Show, don't tell is a cliche in its own right, but having characters say the quiet bits out loud feels a bit patronising towards the reader.

The main character gets sucked into the game, and has to fight creatures called Shadows. There's also a 'mysterious' big bad where it's so obvious who they are, it's actually kind of funny. There are two instances where the MC tells his videogame friends he has to fight alone, and there is no real reason for him to say that, except for That's What Happens In Stories.

There is some obsfucation about which of the two realities is the 'real' reality, but that never really goes anywhere much.

The art is by several artists (maybe three or four?), and there's a pretty distinct visual style for each reality; the videogame reality looks a lot better than the Earth reality.

Thank you for reading this far, here's the payoff: I really hated that Midnight track.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
Profile Image for Massimo.
17 reviews1 follower
November 10, 2025
The Midnight is my favourite band so I had high expectations for this one. I left disappointed with a lackluster storyline which felt generic and failed to really get me invested. The easter eggs and references to lyrics were a little blunt, but overall appreciated the ones that were a little more subtly integrated.

The art and colouring of this graphic novel is amazing though. Really captured the visual essence of the band’s sound and is a wonderful execution of the nostalgic, neon nightscape that is quintessentially The Midnight.
Profile Image for Dan Brown.
9 reviews1 follower
November 29, 2024
The art is outstanding! As a huge fan of The Midnight, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride this takes you on. My only bit of constructive criticism is that some of the references feel a little forced. There were many references that were more subtle, and I enjoyed those.
Profile Image for Katie.
52 reviews1 follower
October 13, 2024
Enjoyable enough read. Lots of Easter eggs like song titles, lyrics, and neon Medusas, for midnight fans.
Profile Image for Jimmy.
5 reviews12 followers
October 23, 2024
Shoving song lyrics into the text as dialogue does not an Easter egg make. I expected so much better from this, especially because the midnight is my all time favorite band, and this was just… ugh
Profile Image for Sebastian Berthelsen.
1 review
January 12, 2025
A graphic novel straight out of the midnight universe. Filled with easter eggs and hints and references, it covers a story of good vs evil and coming of age.

It's got some heavy Tron vibes for me, and does at times move a bit fast in pacing. But it's captivating from start to finish and i thoroughly enjoyed it and with an open ending, one can only hope for a volume 2 in the future.
Profile Image for U N G Y Y.
7 reviews
March 25, 2025
I can see what people mean when they say some of the lyrics are forced in but the rest do flow in nicely! Love the story behind it and the artwork is amazing!
9 reviews
October 12, 2024
If you love the midnight, you'll love this. Dripping in neon coated nostalgia, full of nods and references and lyrics you'll notice straight away. The world of the music has come to life, and it gives you the same feelings as hearing the Days of Thunder EP for the first time back in 2014.
Profile Image for L. .
316 reviews8 followers
May 11, 2025
Disclaimer: very biased, but trying to be objective review incoming.

The Midnight is my favorite band. There is nothing quite like their music, and there is nothing quite like how their lyrics make me feel -- sad and hopeful and nostalgic for a life I never lived. At my lowest point, The Midnight's lyrics ripped me out of the darkness and back into myself -- inspired me to want more from my life; to be "ready to live my life again, like there's a chance worth taking." There truly aren't words to describe how they make me feel, and until I heard their music, I didn't think I could ever have a favorite band because I just loved all music so much. But then I found them, and everything changed.

So I am predetermined to like this graphic novel, from a conceptual standpoint. It is very The Midnight -- as in it both beautifully depicts the synthwave sound and stylings of their music and also doubles down on the... aesthetics and themes of their songs: being both lost and found, the anxiety of growing up, wanting to runaway, needing to fight against external and inner demons, and most of all the "mono no aware" of life -- the sad beauty of seeing time pass; the awareness of the impermanence of life; and the knowledge that in the future, the now will be something we can only visit in memories.

When looking at the graphic novel as an extension of these ideas, the songs of The Midnight, and the world they have created within their music, albums, and overall aesthetic, I really like it. The graphic novel fits in well with the lore and vibe The Midnight has crafted. But when I look at this graphic novel as a piece of literature, I am underwhelmed.

The plot is very, very jumpy. At best, it feels like the writers and artists had an interesting and fleshed out story to tell, but they ended up being constricted by page count and had to chop it down to fit. At worst, it feels like someone just went through the motions of writing an isekai coming of age story; they knew all the major character and plot beats that needed to be hit, but they didn't know how to tell a cohesive story around those points, so they just hit those points and called it good. Which really sucks, 'cause makes the plot lackluster and extremely predictable. And I am not against predictable plots; I like it when a story is so well structured that I can see where it is going through appropriate foreshadowing. But I don't like it when a story is so predictable it feels like reading it is just going through the motions and hitting the mandated plot beats without any sense of motivation or purpose behind the characters' actions that makes their decisions regarding those plot beats feel authentic.

This choppy writing doesn't just hurt the plot though; the characters and world itself suffer from the lack of space given to them. Because we are rushed so quickly from major plot beat to major plot beat, we aren't given any time to connect with the world. It's beautiful to look at, but there is no emotional tether that makes me care about the city when it gets attacked. I am told I should care, like I am told (not shown) about the city and it's history, but that is not enough to make me invested.

And because we only see characters in these major plot beats, they are not given downtime to grow or be fleshed out. All the side characters (which is about two characters) feel like archetypes of the genre, and we don't get to know anything about them outside of their archetype (gruff combat solider and all knowing seer). Our main two characters, Crystalline and Lost Boy, are a bit more dynamic, but their arcs are so predictable and their characters so underdeveloped that it's hard to care about what they do or understand why they're acting the way they are. I am almost glad that different characters repeatedly said Lost Boy was 'running away like [he] always did' because that made me go "oh, this is a coming of age 'you can't just run away from the hard things in life' story" and allowed me to have a character archetype sitting in my mind that provided the context behind Lost Boy's actions.

So, yeah... I was underwhelmed. This story could have been so much better if it was longer -- either a longer solo volume or broken into a mini series that allowed the world to be more fleshed out and gave the characters room to develop and feel real. This story could be impactful to young people if it was given the time to breathe and slowly develop and build its core message and themes authentically (and well paced) instead of falling into the trap of telling-not-showing and hitting you over the head with said themes so directly that any subtle meaning ultimately loses all value.

But I am still giving this graphic novel four stars, because I personally loved it. Not as a stand alone graphic novel, but as an extension of a universe I am already a part of. I am the target audience -- I am a fan of The Midnight. I already know the themes of their music and the aesthetics of their world. I have the background knowledge needed to appreciate what this story was trying to do, because I've already seen The Midnight do it in their music. I loved all the in references to their songs and lyrics (and I disagree that it was too heavy handed or that there were too many references in the dialogue, because I was actively looking for said references and outside of using several song titles as place/people names, I didn't really see that many explicit inclusion of song lyrics). I loved the aesthetics of the computer game world. I love what The Midnight was trying to do with this graphic novel, and I want to see more things from them in this vein. Much like when I saw "Crystal" by Cirque du Soleil, I wasn't upset because I found it a bit underwhelming and heavy-handed on the storytelling; I was excited because it was the first time they were trying something like this, and I wanted to see how they would improve it the next time. And that's the same feeling I have right now about The Midnight. This was a cool idea, and I want to see them continue to do interesting things like this. I want to see what they do next, and how they can learn from this.

Also, the accompanying song for this graphic novel is called "Chariot." If synthwave is your thing, check it out.
If 80s inspired pop/electronic is more your style, I recommend The Midnight's album "Heroes."
If you like feeling nostalgic for your childhood and teenage years, the albums "Kids" and "Monsters."
If you just like synthwave beats and an excellent use of the saxophone and driving in a rainy city at night, "Nocturnal."
If you like 80s horror movies, "Horror Show."
If you like synthwave and summer sunset vibes, "Endless Summer."
If you like synthwave and nostalgia in a more vague sense, "Days of Thunder."
Profile Image for Archer.
17 reviews
December 29, 2024
Pacing is quite quick, but overall a fun read with an interesting premise, awesome artwork and a perfect homage to the world created by The Midnight through their albums and songs. I really enjoyed all of the lyric and song title references throughout and the backdrops (eg the arcade and also the bedroom) from album covers. The overall message of the comic was great too, and in keeping the the message in their music. Very happy about being able to pick this up in person from my local Waterstone's. I would have loved if this comic had been a bit longer, as I feel it could have benefitted from some more depth in parts, but it still flowed well and was a very enjoyable read!
This comic had some very cool ideas and I loved seeing the places and characters from their songs come to life on the page!
Profile Image for Andi.
1,703 reviews
July 30, 2024
Seeing The Midnight release a comic takes me back to when Within Temptation released The Unforgiven.

All said in done, it's a beautiful comic, has an interesting theme of nostalgia, growing up, sacrifice, 80's / 90's , sunset, cars, future...

It's also like Tron, Last Starfighter, and all those movies / stories where someone is someone to them, leaves, comes back years later and the world has changed.

I guess I was lost on: what was the real world? Dream Again? The Midnight? I like to think he was ... both? That he lived in The Midnight, escaped to Dream Again, then returned to The Midnight after forgetting his memories.

But maybe it's the opposite.

All in all, I enjoyed the comic, but I wanted more to it - depth and continuation.
Profile Image for Isaac.
6 reviews
February 14, 2025
This is a cool project by the band, but it can't really stand on its own. It feels like some cool drawings were thrown together with various song lyrics, and then a story was made to connect the dots. It doesn't have its own identity - it feels like it was made solely to reference the band's work as much as possible, and it suffers a lot from that. The references to The Midnight's song lyrics actively pulled me out of the story and worsened the overall experience. I really wish it had gone the route of crafting something new and unique with subtle nods to the worlds that the band's songs create instead of punching me in the face with song lyrics left and right. I love their music, and they are one of my favorite bands, and while their storytelling excels in songs, it falls flat in print.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.4k reviews1,061 followers
December 3, 2024
Some guys in a band I never heard of, The Midnight, created a comic to go along with their album. It's set in 2 different time, 1999 and a 100 years in the future. The guy in 1999 is starting a family and goes to play an old video game that may have transported him into the future. (It's never very clear which reality in the real one.) In the future most of Earth has been destroyed by some vague shadows. That's my problem with the whole thing. Everything stays very vague so they don't have to commit. There are also 3 different artists working on this and it can be some grating changes between them.
4 reviews
January 21, 2025
When you mix two things I love - my favourite band (The Midnight) and comic books (or I suppose in this case, graphic novels) then I know I'm in for a good time.
Loved the art work but you aren't going to get a graphic novel inspired by The Midnight without gorgeous colouring, and Thiago Roca nails the neon aesthetic. Speaking of aesthetic you won't get a more synthwave looking book than this.
The story is strong though I didn't LOVE it but that isn't a negative. If I could rate Shadows appropriately it would be more 3.5 than a 3. I anticipate a reread with The Midnight playing on vinyl in the background could add to the experience.
181 reviews7 followers
July 7, 2025
This should probably be prefaced with the caveat that I am not particularly a graphic novel girlie, and I bet if I were, I might rate this a little higher. The art is gorgeous and does a good job evoking the aesthetic of The Midnight's music. The storyline felt a little lackluster to me, but in fairness, that might be partly my unfamiliarity with the medium, ya know? Still, a fun read, and I enjoyed the creative nods to some favorite lyrics throughout.
Profile Image for Marcus Brown.
6 reviews
November 18, 2024
If you’re a fan of the band, you’ll absolutely love this graphic novel. It’s brimming with the vibes of the night, synth feelings and neon lights. The story holds up as a tale of teenage heroism without being cheesy or on the nose. Plus, the small references to songs from different albums is fantastic.
Profile Image for Carter Crafts.
3 reviews
October 24, 2024
Love the art! The story I wish was more fleshed out and had more substance but a good quick read! The Midnight is my favorite band so that probably makes me like it more than if it was by someone else.
Profile Image for Tarrah Sweatt.
242 reviews1 follower
December 9, 2024
As a Midnight fan, this is amazing. The artwork is perfect, and the reality is true. Looking back is hard as it's gone. The future is here and now. Goodbye malls, arcades, and the 80s. May they live forever through our memories.
Profile Image for Alex Mickelson.
47 reviews1 follower
February 6, 2025
Honestly for a graphic novel by a synthwave artist it was better than it needed to be! The art was gorgeous, and it explored the themes of nostalgia well. The tie-ins with the band's music was great too! Lots of lil Easter eggs.
Profile Image for Zee 💕.
112 reviews8 followers
October 15, 2024
Perfect for The Midnight fans. So many references to songs, perfect aesthetic. Listening to their music while reading this was sucha vibe.

Welcome back, lost boy. 💙
Profile Image for John Gilpin.
4 reviews1 follower
December 10, 2024
I finished this in one sitting. I wish it also came out as singles as I would amazing covers.

I am a bit biased because the Midnight has been my top played band two years in a row
Profile Image for Calvin Daniels.
Author 12 books17 followers
January 10, 2025
3+

A bit of Last Starfighter feel. Some Matrix. A dash of some car chase movie. Fine art. Solid.
Profile Image for Dustin Bielich.
5 reviews
November 14, 2024
For a fan of The Midnight like myself this is a 4-5 star read full of neon visuals, fun Easter eggs, and an adaptation that captures the soul of Tyler’s lyrics and Tim’s beats, and soundscapes. For a non-fan who stumbled onto this and gave it a go willy-nilly, then it’s probably a 3 or 2 star read with a story that’s clunky and fast but still fun and heartfelt.

A 2 would be pretty harsh.

I would love to see this adaptation be adapted into a film that indulges in long shots of the city making it its own character. I think that potential is where this story thrives and what nostalgia ultimately feels like making aspects that might’ve fallen flat or felt empty feel real and relatable.

Check out the band if you haven’t. They’re rad.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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