30 Days of Night, Vol. 4: Return to Barrow

30 Days of Night #4

by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith

The 21st century has seen a horror comics renaissance, and it all started with Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's frostbitten vampire saga 30 Days of Night. The original three issue series spawned a major motion picture and grabbed the attention of thousands of fans longing for an innovative tale of terror.

In Return to Barrow, Niles and Templesmith bring us, once again, to the snow-crusted Alaskan town where the setting sun ignites a new winter of terror for the beleagured townspeople. Brian Kitka is desperate to find out what happened to his brother three years ago, and becoming the new sheriff may get him the answers he needs. But some things are best left in the dark, and Brian will need more than just the help of a few old friends if anyone's going to be alive come sunrise.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Vampires, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

STEVE 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

Reviews

[Justin Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first graphic novel! Probably should have started with Book 1, but a trusted source recommended this as a good intro into what graphics can achieve. Indeed, it is a wonderful blend of written and visual mediums.

The attention to atmosphere is stellar. I can't get enough of the gloomy, frost-bitten color scheme. Much of the characters are disfigured by shadows and inconsistent moonlight. This makes it hard to discern who's human and who's vampire. So creepy! Danger lurks in every frame and when the surprises occur, it's actually jolting.

This is only a slice of a much-larger plot, so I don't have much to say about how it moves the story forward or connects to the series at large, but I can say the characters are instantly engaging and the mysterious elements serve well as immersion into this bleak world. Action is non-stop, so there's never a dull moment. I also appreciate that the dialogue is sparse and carefully used. If this is a unique quality of graphic novels, I may be reading a lot more of them. I like a story where there are no slow parts. It all moves fast, and it all moves forward. No time wasted!

So thankful to my friend who finally pushed me to try graphics. Anybody else have series they would recommend?

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 30 Days of Night saga comes to its circle!


This is the third TPB in the series.


Creative Team:

Writer & Co-creator: Steve Niles

Illustrator & Co-creator: Ben Templesmith

Letterer: Robbie Robbins


RETURN TO BARROW

Three years later, Barrow, Alaska is still on the map.

Humans have lots of guts or they’re simply too stubborn…

…but the thing is that Barrow, Alaska, is again a living town, a pale shadow in comparison to the original numbers of population, but the humans are back and they are making their stand against the Vampires,…

…since November 18th is coming again, and the Vampires want to play with their food.

Humans have guns, but guess what?

Vampires know how to use guns too!

In the middle of this bloody war, new players risen, a new kind of protectors have come to Barrow, but it will be still enough of Barrow to be saved?

The third act of 30 Days of Night is here!

And it's quite relevant to read since it brings to a closure of what started in the first TPB.

[Ken W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great addition!

The 30 Days of Night graphic novel series is excellent! I will definitely continue into the next book soon! 4 stars!

[Tony Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

In brief, a Return to Barrow is a recycling of what made the first volume of this franchise novel without much improving on Niles and Templesmith's weaknesses as a writer and artist (respectively). Undead bloodsuckers continue making pilgrimages to Barrow during its annual month of polar nights, some to pig out on the town's residents who for some reason didn't move after the first few massacres, others with the intention of scouring the earth of these people who could unmask vampires as real threats. If you pause to consider the previous sentence, you'll realize none of this makes any sense. But the vampires have assault weapons this time, so the ensuing video game shoot out really only lasts one out of the thirty nights. There is that, I suppose. This installment brings back several of the undead characters from previous volumes, but really doesn't do much more than have them splatter others, or be splattered themselves, across various impressionistic panels. It's probably a saving grace that, though repetitive, this installment is just the first volume redone as one long action sequence. The small scope keeps Niles from doing the howlingly bad plotting that plagued 30 Days of Night, Vol. 2: Dark Days, but he is still wildly inconsistent on what will or won't kill a vampire. And Templesmith keeps on doing his mixture of half-assed Munch and cartoonish characterization. He's consistent at least.

[Kristijan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. zvezdica za artwork - što dublje zalazim u "30 dana" sve mi se više sviđa Templesmithov stil. Apsolutno odgovara tematici i settingu i tonu novele i morbidnosti i hororu,...
2. zvezdica za Nilesov smisao za humor
3. zvezdica za odličan tempo novele - nema dosadnih ni suvišnih momenata
4. zvezdica za vampire koji su još opasniji "bad MFs" nego u prva dva dela :D

nedostaci:
1. novi šerif i njegov sinek su mogli biti malo podrobnije iznijansirani
2. lako je predvideti završetak novele
3. sama priča ne nudi mnogo novih momenata ali ipak u globalu zaokružuje priču započetu u prvom delu.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, just as the title suggests, shows a return to Barrow. This time the humans are prepared for the the vampire invasion, but preparation only goes so far against a horde of deadly vampires. Thankfully that get a little familiar help.

[João Teixeira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Achei o argumento desta história um pouco confuso, especialmente na sequência da batalha entre humanos e vampiros. Mete ali pelo meio fantasmas, pelo menos foi o que depreendi do salvamento do miúdo...
Ingenuamente pensei que este livro seria um one shot (coisa raríssima neste tipo de comics...) e claro, quando aqui cheguei ao goodreads, logo percebi que este é o quarto "volume" de uma série que não irei ler.
Mas enfim, para quem gosta do género fantástico que mete vampiros (assustadores, não daqueles românticos e/ou tolos), pode ser uma série a dar atenção. Eu só não dou mais estrelas mesmo porque este tipo de histórias não faz propriamente o meu género.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Left me bored and unimpressed.

The end sucked too.

Nothing happens. Just another year of Oh they're coming again, the world thinks we're crazy and liars but vampires exist. Let's prepare to fight them off and kill em all.

Vampires have guns too. Oh my. What terribly smart vamps and what a shock. Oh remember the main characters back from the first one? Remember the dramatic death which closed the whole story? Remember how cliche that was? Remember from the previous volume how we brought him back because duh?! Now we got the band back together just for the last page.

*Slow clap*

I Even grew new hatred for the artwork which pretty much looks like stick figures with dark colors and bright lights.

[Kandice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like these books! The artwork is just wonky enough to not be terrifying. It looks as if he takes a photo of the very middle of a face (nose,lips,chin) and then animates over that. I love the look of it. I can't wait to get the rest.

[Gef · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been over a year since I read 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, the second volume in the 30 Days of Night series, so I figured it was about time I hopped back on the bandwagon. After the first two graphic novels impressed me, I had some really high hopes for this third book.

Barrow is rebuilding, though it's a shadow of its former self, still heavily scarred from the murderous rampage of a vampire clan that descended on the remote Alaskan town. The new sheriff is the brother of a murdered resident who is skeptical about the stories of vampires and wants to find out what really happened to the town and his brother. Well, it takes no time at for him to figure out that vampires are real, because the vampires are back in Barrow.

Apparently, vampires hate loose strings. Stands to reason, considering they've been able to exist for centuries without detection. Barrow is as much a symbol of their potential ruin as it is an easy meal. Still, the vampires throw themselves at Barrow haphazardly, without organization or focus, until an FBI agent recently turned arrives with a desire for self-preservation--and revenge against the humans that would see him destroyed.

The initial setup for this book was great, and I was really looking forward to how Barrow would be depicted in the aftermath of what it went through, but this was a bit of a disappointment for me. The artwork is, again, top-notch. Templesmith does such a superb job of capturing the ferocity of the vampires and the desolation of an arctic landscape, every page was a treat to pore over. But there really didn't seem to be a lot of meat on the bone when it came to the story and these characters. The plot felt very rushed and often times like an abbreviated version of the first graphic novel. A couple of secondary characters, namely the deputy and the surly hunter, got a bit of the spotlight, but they didn't seem to have a really important place in the story, like they were there more for atmosphere than anything else. And with a lot of the mystique removed from the vampires in the first two volumes, the threat they presented in this book didn't feel nearly as imposing.

The book was a fun diversion over a weekend, but I found myself wishing I had the fourth volume to read immediately afterward just to see if the pace and depth of the story might increase. I dunno, but it seems like this third volume is one that readers could afford to skip and not risk missing out on anything hinged too tightly to the main story.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Returning to environment of Barrow, Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith move back to the where they have the most focus and where they were the most original. The color work here and textures works better than in Dark Days. Although the characters are new to the reader and have less depth by and large than in than Dark Days, the environments and enclosure really aids the story. That said, this story feels too much like a close re-rendering of the first story, hitting most of the same notes.

Dark Days had most of the ground work for it laid in first book, but this does not feel as explicitly thought out and the Deus Ex Machina ending seems like the only real tie-in. It is not that this lacks tension or narrative impetus, and it does tie up the story of the first two, but seems so easily and predictably in the same vein. Furthermore, Niles still feels rushed in his pacing in these stories and maybe that is a perpetual problem when trying to tell the fairly quickly like the medium demands. If you enjoyed the first two 30 Days of Night, you will probably enjoy this one; however, it will feel a bit familiar. Perhaps too familiar for some.

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story doesn't win any prizes with me, but it's a quick read that expands the story with new characters and a pretty major development which might just move the fight away from Barrow.

William Kitka was killed in Barrow, Alaska. His brother Brian returns to the town as its sheriff and wants to investigate William and his family's demise. It looks like William killed his family, then himself, but Brian is convinced that's not the case. He wanted to leave town with his son Marcus before the sun again sets for about a month, but they miss the plane, so they're stuck. The vampires want to silence the voices that try to reveal their existence, but the people of Barrow are ready this time.

William organizes the people of Barrow to ensure the town's security. Norris joins the main body of vampires who want to wipe out everyone in Barrow, while they are hunted as well by an unknown party. The humans push the vampires back with heavy losses on both sides, but they are fighting a losing battle.

In the end the mysterious figure saves them. It turns out it's Stella, now a vampire, who promises to watch over the town.

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems that vampires never left Barrow alone after the events of first TBP, but they keep coming back every winter. Now, people of Barrow are formed a militia with tons of guns and UV lights, barbed wire around town. There is another story about a new sheriff, who is a brother of police officer from the first TPB. An ex-FBI agent turned vampire. Eben and Stella. Another direct-to-video sequel that's far inferior in terms of tension and pretty much everything else.

P.S.
Templesmith does nice job when it comes to covers. However, for the art of the graphic novel itself... Most of the time it looks like doodling of a child in the kindergarten, where sometimes you have problems distinguishing characters from each other, or humans from vampires.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can never get the order of these goddamned things right 🙄 Apparently this is volume 4. I missed that detail, as the cover doesn’t say it in the digital edition.

This was alright. Artwork always shines with the core series, but the lingering mystery is resolved so fast at the tail end that it seems anti-climactic. The death toll is always so high death loses meaning.

I think the original luster of this series has long-since worn off for me. It is good, but the hype leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

[Leo Labs · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'histoire est malheureusement répétitive et manque d'originalité. J'ai eu souvent l'impression que les dessins ont été bâclés, typique de cette saga. Le traitement des couleurs par contre me laisse toujours admiratif. Je ne suis pas pressé de lire le prochain tome mais je le ferai.

[Carrie-Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5- I enjoyed the story and the art but it ended waaay too abruptly

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

All-out war in Barrow... loved it ;)
Great story, good characters, art splendid as always...
/Review

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last of this series I'm going to review because it's the last of the series available in my local public library and I'm not into it enough to purchase and collect (which is not to say that I didn't enjoy it).

Horror is very difficult to do well - on film, in comics, in short stories, or book length. There are so many different definitions of what horror really is for one thing, for another there are there are so many tropes out there that it's easy to be lazy about it.

I love horror done well and am frequently disappointed, perhaps because for me it's very much less about the brutally graphic (you can find plenty of that in your average history book) and very much more interested in the building of suspense and the stuff that flits by the corner of your eye and then reaches out and grabs you when you turn away. This means that Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House absolutely works for me while Richard Matheson's similar book, Hell House, doesn't work as well. I'm not denying Matheson's place in the pantheon of horror writers, I am Legend is absolutely classic and scary, it's just that in comparison between the two I like Jackson's ghost story better.

These days the best horror is few and far between, although there are many good practitioners of the genre. I loved House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box; The Shining and 'Salem's Lot still scare me. The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell is horror crossed with the post-apocalypse through way of Truman Capote and Eudora Welty - the writing is beautiful - its zombies more a part of the landscape and less the central fact of the book. [Yes, I know I haven't mentioned H.P. Lovecraft, but I just can't read him. Love the mythos, though.]

In comics there's the inimitable Alan Moore (who is one of the only writers who's ever given me real live wake up screaming nightmares), Garth Ennis' run of Hellblazer, and lots of other good series. Some people say Neil Gaiman's Sandman is a horror comic and sometimes it is, but not always as explicitly as some other series.

30 Days of Night is a good horror comic, although less for the story and more for the setting, idea, and Ben Templesmith's art. Return to Barrow is just that - a return to the original scene of the crime - sadly that makes it less interesting. The writing is decent, but because it's back in the same setting it has some limitations both artistically and as a story line. Same location, same atmosphere, hard not to repeat yourself (and hard not to ask why everybody there isn't dead with repeated attacks each winter).

Having fallen in love with Templesmith's art, however, I'm probably the last person in the world to know about Welcome to Hoxford and his Wormwood series - both are on my buy list.

It's hard to do horror well, but when it's done really well and the noises in the house make you jump it's like nothing else. 30 Days of Night does horror well.

[Paul Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world doesn't believe the horrific events at Barrow actually took place, the inhabitants of the rebuilt town are the only ones that know the truth and every year they prepare the defences for the 30 days of night. A steel fence surrounds the town and watch towers give the impression of a prison camp but when the vampires come, the town mobilises as one to fight the horde.
Templesmith's artwork sets the same haunting atmosphere and is as good as ever, however its all starting to feel a little familiar now but we do have new characters and a town preparing for the coming war changes the concept slightly. The return of two of the original characters all be it in a different prose but with the same intent peaks the interest and my overwhelming need to complete a series I've invested in means I'll definitely continue with the 30 days of night franchise. At the end of the day this is vampire horror done extremely well, extreme violence littered with grisly deaths. You never feel any connection with the characters but I guess that's not the intention, the main focus being the fantastic style, the violence and your imagination.

[Micah Siegmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

As indicated by the title, this book features a return to Barrow, the scene of the original story. It centers around Brian Kitka who is the brother of someone killed in the original attack. Despite a book detailing what happened, Barrow has been on its own fending off the vampires year after year because the general public still doesn't think they exist. Brian has second thoughts shortly after arriving but ends up stuck and has to join the town in defending itself against a large group of vampires bent on revenge. The story moves at a good pace and Templesmith's art is disturbing and beautiful as always. An enjoyable series.

[Јордан Kocevski) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to v1 and v2 I find the story better. It starts kind of slowly and finishes fast. Much more action. The end was... well, expected.
To be honest, I think the whole series is over rated. Or maybe I set my expectations too high...

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some would call it a retread, but returning to the beginning is used as a launching-pad for more story rather than being used as a crutch by a flailing author.

[Paul Manytravels · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you ever had to read essay written by 7th graders, you've read far better material than this book. The story line is exactly the kind of dark stuff little, immature 7th graders would love. The character development is non-existent. The plot is imbecilic. The episodes jump from one thing to another without transition. New names and characters suddenly appear. One guy suddenly starts speaking German. At least the illustrations are just as bad as the writing so you can have every bd evperience you ever wanted at the same time.
I usually stop reading a book that I am not interested in or that I find second-rate so I can spend time on better things, but my reading group has a challenge to read several specific types of book and genre and Graphic Novels were one of the items in the challenge. I had never been tempted to read one before and can only hope that there are far better ones that might redeem the genre somewhere out there. I once tried a food and found it horrible, but tried it again years later and now love it. Sometimes, your first experience just happens to be an awful one.
The club's challenge was designed to encourage us to expand our reading tastes and experiences. This did expand my experience, but it only confirmed my tastes.
Avoid this book and the rest of the ones in its series or the vampires will get you and make you sorry you didn't listen to me.

[I DRM Free · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Return to Barrow, several things return to Barrow, the story, the vampires and the Sheriff. The town is ready though, after being attacked every year they have figured out their defenses and think they can protect themselves against the Vampires. But this year, the Vampires come in force. Can they survive another 30 days of night?

I just don’t understand why the Vampires keep attacking Barrow. Especially after being attacked continuously every year and being driven back every year by a better and better armed defensive town. The vampires have lost their leadership, but still what makes them think that attacking this town every year will do other than kill a few humans and kill a few vampires? Aren’t there other similar towns in the northern areas of Russia? Why have they not grouped there?

Again, I’m not a fan of this art style, it’s just too hard to follow the sloppy sketchy art at times during heavy action. The writing in this one was pretty good, nothing too spectacular about it, but nothing cringe worthy either.

Overall I like this series and am glad I got a bunch of them. I don’t think I have all of them though.

It is available DRM free via Comixology.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The character writing increased in quality from the other entries but it again feels rushed. Survival horror at its best require time to ruminate and consider the ramifications of surviving as well as dying, it also requires more feasible stakes than the one presented in this volume. The excuses for what occurs in Return to Barrow are difficult to accept and harder to move on from, making the entire story feel as if it is an exercise in excess from a narrative standpoint.

The letter shown talking about the main characters brother sounds a far more thrilling take on survival horror than anything presented in this series thus far.

The art is expectedly stellar and the composition has increased in quality. There needed to be some padding between major events and more distinctive personalities for much of the cast, they feel like ill performed puppets made to pantomime drama at several points.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel tapi lebih terasa kayak spin-off sih, terlebih menunutuku kurang banget ide baru buat sequelnya ini.

Meskipun begitu jujur interaksi antara para penduduk kota di Barrow lebih kerasa di komik yang ini dibandingkan dengan original seriesnya. Terlebih, MCnya adalah orang luar kota yang kurang tahu bagaimana kerasnya musim dingin di Barrow.

Selain itu motivasi tiap karakternya agak membingungkan sih, terlebih penduduk kota yang masih bertahan walaupun tahu mereka menjadi sasaran empuk bagi para Vampire. Sedangkan motivasi para Vampire untuk kembali menyerang Barrow adalah untuk membalaskan dendam pemimpin mereka yang tewas dalam peneyerangan sebelumnya.

Dari segi action jauh lebih kerasa wkwk, terlebih lo and behold! a fircking GUN!! Like tf?! Para vampire pakai senjata api, dan manusianya pun sama, malah jadi perang bjir wkwk. Gw baca ngakak pas bagian itu, ya kinda fun lah walaupun lack of any new ideas.

[Gerald Sessions · Rating 4 out of 5]

My volume has 3 on the spine.
The story takes place three years after the original attack on Barrow.
The new sheriff is the brother was one of the people whose family was killed in the original attack and he’s there mainly to find out what really happened .
As the approaching of the dark time of winter, the town goes on military style alert with UV lights and weapons wire fence around the town towers with lights on them .
The you sure really got an eye full.
The question left to the end of the previous book. She brought him back to life. He bit her, and the two of them are now guarding the town.
Also, Stella‘s vampire lover, who was helping against the other vampires got killed .
The town will always have to be on the lookout but now they have help from outside .
Graphics was still difficult to distinguish vampires from humans and it was almost impossible to follow what’s happening during fight scenes

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, I don't want to give away any of the original story line, but I love this vampire series. It is hardcore, raw, and violent but also romantic and poignant as well. The first volume is still the best because it was so surprising and perfect - though I am still enjoying the follow up volumes to Stella and Eben's original story. I've noticed that quite a few people haven't liked the additional volumes adding to Barrow's original story, but I like the new characters and twists and turns that are developed further in the story. I plan to keep reading - but much of my enjoyment comes from Ben Templesmith's artistic style which is chaotic and confusing and kind of horrifying. I particularly like his faces and the way he does snow/white landscapes - beautiful.

[Crystal Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume (as the title suggests) returns to the original town Barrow, Alaska. It introduces new characters, the new sheriff Brian and his son. Brian returns to Barrow, to search for the truth on what happened to his brother three years ago. He gets stuck there, too late to leave, when sh*t hits the fan.

This third volume is a quick awesome horror read like the other two. Again the illustrations are sharp with vibrant dark colors that make certain aspects of the page pop up. In my personal opinion, I enjoyed this trilogy and was satisfied with the ending. I can see how some may have not enjoyed it as much as I did. It is quick paced with not much room for character development or plot depth.

But if you'd like a swift read on creepy vampires, this is a great read.

[mad mags · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Dear God, why are all the humans walking around with big toes where their heads should be? I'm kind of rooting for the vampires, if only to prevent this genetic mutation from spreading beyond Barrow.

* More jokes, please. 30 DAYS works better when it's not taking itself so seriously.

* Kansas City!

* ... oh, Kansas City.

* I don't think this is a fair representation of Swope Park, okay.

* VAMPIRES WITH GUNS! Scarier than you'd think.

* Stelllllaaaaa!

* This art, though. Easily the most horrifying thing about the book, and not in a good way. Half the time I have no idea what's going on.