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Night Trippers
Once upon a time in swinging London, around 1966, there was a serial killer who loved Elvis, a fab foursome that worshipped Satan, trendy vampires looking for kicks, an ancient and hungry evil, young and hungry love... and there was revolution in the air. Get your trip together, baby. Tune in, turn on and fang out!
184 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2006
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18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 7, 2013
I can think of too many times when I love a concept so much more than it's completion: it happens because of movie trailers, science fiction plot blurbs, and the covers of VHS tapes.
Even so, I was especially disappointed with this comic. The art certainly didn't help: it's sketchy and spindly and hard to differentiate some characters from others. It didn't look particularly 60's, whereas the dialogue was over-the-top 60's, hitting every stupid British slang with a Maxwell's Silver Hammer that would make Austin Powers blush.
The idea is great: swinging, mod vampires. I'm sure it was done before: Jean Rollins movies come pretty close, as do a lot of Hammer horror films made in that era (Dracula A.D. 1972 comes to mind).
I even like the idea of vampires controlling the counterculture, and though that idea begins, it goes nowhere.
I especially like the idea of vampires doing acid and trying to expand the minds of people. It would've been more interesting if the plot went that way, but it does not.
I liked how when any character died it showed their name and time alive, with in parenthesis their time undead if they were vampires. I even liked how some of the dead's names referenced the Gormenghast novels.
I didn't like how on almost every page there is a panel displaying a character's inner thoughts, as if they are being interviewed for a reality show. It was unnecessary and cumbersome and simple thought balloons would've accomplished the same thing.
What Night Trippers basically comes down to is a pretty ho-hum story with a lot of 60's British slang, but no bones in its story to thin out the blood.
I picked it up because it sounded a bit like the movie I made at almost the same time it was published, The Grateful Undead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqn8Ky...). The Grateful Undead has a pretty loose story but loosely it's about two American hippies from the 60's reappearing in the 90's.
The story in Night Trippers is way tighter, but it's also a lot more pointless. The Grateful Undead might not go anywhere, but at least it's experimenting with content and form and ideas, and not merely presenting a poorly produced simulacrum of a nostalgified era.
The two are pretty different, other than in the trailer for the Grateful Undead there is the line "All they need is blood" and in Night Trippers there's a scene where faux-Beatles are sacrificing a goat for satanic purposes and say "All you need is blood."
Satanic Beatles, now that's a comic.
Even so, I was especially disappointed with this comic. The art certainly didn't help: it's sketchy and spindly and hard to differentiate some characters from others. It didn't look particularly 60's, whereas the dialogue was over-the-top 60's, hitting every stupid British slang with a Maxwell's Silver Hammer that would make Austin Powers blush.
The idea is great: swinging, mod vampires. I'm sure it was done before: Jean Rollins movies come pretty close, as do a lot of Hammer horror films made in that era (Dracula A.D. 1972 comes to mind).
I even like the idea of vampires controlling the counterculture, and though that idea begins, it goes nowhere.
I especially like the idea of vampires doing acid and trying to expand the minds of people. It would've been more interesting if the plot went that way, but it does not.
I liked how when any character died it showed their name and time alive, with in parenthesis their time undead if they were vampires. I even liked how some of the dead's names referenced the Gormenghast novels.
I didn't like how on almost every page there is a panel displaying a character's inner thoughts, as if they are being interviewed for a reality show. It was unnecessary and cumbersome and simple thought balloons would've accomplished the same thing.
What Night Trippers basically comes down to is a pretty ho-hum story with a lot of 60's British slang, but no bones in its story to thin out the blood.
I picked it up because it sounded a bit like the movie I made at almost the same time it was published, The Grateful Undead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqn8Ky...). The Grateful Undead has a pretty loose story but loosely it's about two American hippies from the 60's reappearing in the 90's.
The story in Night Trippers is way tighter, but it's also a lot more pointless. The Grateful Undead might not go anywhere, but at least it's experimenting with content and form and ideas, and not merely presenting a poorly produced simulacrum of a nostalgified era.
The two are pretty different, other than in the trailer for the Grateful Undead there is the line "All they need is blood" and in Night Trippers there's a scene where faux-Beatles are sacrificing a goat for satanic purposes and say "All you need is blood."
Satanic Beatles, now that's a comic.
March 7, 2013
Vampire mal anders
Ah, die Zeichnungen... die Zeichnungen sind das, was einem lange im Gedächtnis bleibt. Ein interessanter Zeichenstil, der stark auf die schmutzige Palette baut, mit der coloriert wurde.
Die Story ist abgedreht und verströmt wirklich einen verdrehten pseudo-60er-Jahre-Charme, mit diesen ganzen Beatles-Referenzen.
Image Comics hat lange darunter gelitten, dass die Produkte dieser Firma von Zeichnern allein hergestellt wurden, die meinen, dass sie auch schreiben können (das Gegenteil hat sich dann schmerzvoll herausgestellt). Aber in diesem Fall hat sich mit Ricketts ein kompetenter Schreiberling gefunden, der eine zu den Zeichnungen passende Story flippig, kurzweilig und trotzdem nicht oberflächlich gebastelt hat.
Für Fans von Alternativweltgeschichten, die nicht so weit von der Realität entfernt sind, und auch für Liebhaber extravaganter Zeichenstile sehr zu empfehlen.
Ah, die Zeichnungen... die Zeichnungen sind das, was einem lange im Gedächtnis bleibt. Ein interessanter Zeichenstil, der stark auf die schmutzige Palette baut, mit der coloriert wurde.
Die Story ist abgedreht und verströmt wirklich einen verdrehten pseudo-60er-Jahre-Charme, mit diesen ganzen Beatles-Referenzen.
Image Comics hat lange darunter gelitten, dass die Produkte dieser Firma von Zeichnern allein hergestellt wurden, die meinen, dass sie auch schreiben können (das Gegenteil hat sich dann schmerzvoll herausgestellt). Aber in diesem Fall hat sich mit Ricketts ein kompetenter Schreiberling gefunden, der eine zu den Zeichnungen passende Story flippig, kurzweilig und trotzdem nicht oberflächlich gebastelt hat.
Für Fans von Alternativweltgeschichten, die nicht so weit von der Realität entfernt sind, und auch für Liebhaber extravaganter Zeichenstile sehr zu empfehlen.
March 29, 2013
I recommend this graphic novel to fans of (late)Madmen style and/or sexy vampires. There's only one volume, but it's self-contained, which is great if you're in the mood for something different with no real commitment. Making appearances are a waifish nurse/IT girl, an Elvis impersonator vampire slayer, busty mod vampires on LSD, British fogies with swords and dozens of blood-spraying decapitations. Andy Warhol even shows up for a satanic resurrection ceremony. The Beatles sacrifice a goat. Vampires.
November 17, 2008
VOYA codes:
2Q, 3P, J-S
How would I promote this to teens?Night Trippers would be an easy sell... it's psychedelic vampires. If you put it out on a display with all of the other vampire texts, it would certainly be picked up quickly. It's visually beautiful, although there is little to no plot in the story.
2Q, 3P, J-S
How would I promote this to teens?Night Trippers would be an easy sell... it's psychedelic vampires. If you put it out on a display with all of the other vampire texts, it would certainly be picked up quickly. It's visually beautiful, although there is little to no plot in the story.
January 12, 2014
I thought the art work was wonderful, but I had a hard time getting into the story. Full review can be found here: http://www.michaelpatrickmcmullen.com...
February 10, 2009
Vampires! Mod culture! Dandies! Hallucinogenics! Definitely more adult than YA.
March 29, 2010
If this is the type of thing you're into, then this is for you.
November 28, 2010
Lovely to look at.
February 10, 2014
Decidedly MEH...but in an enjoyable way. I mean, it takes maybe 30 minutes to read from cover to cover so there's no need to be TOO picky. And the art is nice.
February 28, 2014
Interesting take on vampires in the mid-60s. Unconventional art fit the story well.
April 21, 2014
disappointed. it had all the elements I loved and the art was great but the story was severely lacking.
Read
May 17, 2016Night Trippers is easy to get into, great fun to read, and beautiful to behold. This vampire tale is set in London just before the Summer of Love.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews