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By Night #1
By Night, Vol. 1
After discovering a mysterious device, Jane and Heather decide try their hand at documentary filmmaking... in another dimension!
There’s something strange going on in Spectrum, South Dakota.
Home to high school best friends Jane Langstaff and Heather Meadows, Spectrum is a boomtown that’s long since stopped booming, with nothing to show for its former glory but the abandoned Charleswood Estate, its dwindling sprocket millions, and the story of the disappeared industrialist who founded the place… But deep within Charleswood, unbeknownst to anyone, there is a device called the Eidolon, which can open up a doorway to an otherworldly dimension. And Heather and Jane are about to go knocking.
There’s something strange going on in Spectrum, South Dakota.
Home to high school best friends Jane Langstaff and Heather Meadows, Spectrum is a boomtown that’s long since stopped booming, with nothing to show for its former glory but the abandoned Charleswood Estate, its dwindling sprocket millions, and the story of the disappeared industrialist who founded the place… But deep within Charleswood, unbeknownst to anyone, there is a device called the Eidolon, which can open up a doorway to an otherworldly dimension. And Heather and Jane are about to go knocking.
112 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2019
10 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
John Allison
321 books829 followersJohn Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
December 29, 2018
I’m a huge fan of John Allison’s Giant Days - I read a lot of comics and this one is, in my mind, the best comic in the world - but strangely everything else of his I’ve read outside of that title, like Bad Machinery and his Shelley Winters one-shots, is mediocre at best. Unfortunately, Allison’s latest series, By Night, is firmly among his lesser efforts.
I don’t have any truck with the story: a couple of twentysomething friends find a portal to another dimension and venture through to make a documentary about it - very Stargate-derivative. It doesn’t help that the other world is unimaginative and generic - basically fantasy-lite with orcs, vampires, werewolves and talking animals - or that that’s all that happens in this book. They find the portal, they kinda putz about with cameras and lighting in this other world, then leave. There’s one other storyline that’s barely touched upon - the missing industrial magnate - but I couldn’t have cared less about that. I was so bored reading this.
A big part of Giant Days’ success is the wonderful core trio of characters. By Night hasn’t got anything like that. I didn’t find Jane and Heather’s friendship to be convincing - if anything, Jane seemed pissed off at Heather almost the entire time - while Barney, Jane’s co-worker, is a needless and contrived add-on and Heather’s dad, Chip, is a dull flatline. There’s no chemistry in the group. Chip also has a cliched backstory: high school football star, injured in his final year, married his highschool sweetheart, settled down, etc. Really, John Allison? I thought you were better than that, dude.
Allison’s sparkling dialogue was the only highlight though none of the jokes landed and the girls at times sounded distinctly British and not American at all (“You’ve really got my Irish up!”). Did not enjoy Christine Larsen’s blocky art one bit.
If you’ve never read John Allison before, I highly recommend starting with Giant Days instead of this or anything else he’s written, and I think any Allison fans thinking of checking this series out should lower them expectations drastically! By gum, By Night is disappointingly dull!
I don’t have any truck with the story: a couple of twentysomething friends find a portal to another dimension and venture through to make a documentary about it - very Stargate-derivative. It doesn’t help that the other world is unimaginative and generic - basically fantasy-lite with orcs, vampires, werewolves and talking animals - or that that’s all that happens in this book. They find the portal, they kinda putz about with cameras and lighting in this other world, then leave. There’s one other storyline that’s barely touched upon - the missing industrial magnate - but I couldn’t have cared less about that. I was so bored reading this.
A big part of Giant Days’ success is the wonderful core trio of characters. By Night hasn’t got anything like that. I didn’t find Jane and Heather’s friendship to be convincing - if anything, Jane seemed pissed off at Heather almost the entire time - while Barney, Jane’s co-worker, is a needless and contrived add-on and Heather’s dad, Chip, is a dull flatline. There’s no chemistry in the group. Chip also has a cliched backstory: high school football star, injured in his final year, married his highschool sweetheart, settled down, etc. Really, John Allison? I thought you were better than that, dude.
Allison’s sparkling dialogue was the only highlight though none of the jokes landed and the girls at times sounded distinctly British and not American at all (“You’ve really got my Irish up!”). Did not enjoy Christine Larsen’s blocky art one bit.
If you’ve never read John Allison before, I highly recommend starting with Giant Days instead of this or anything else he’s written, and I think any Allison fans thinking of checking this series out should lower them expectations drastically! By gum, By Night is disappointingly dull!
January 8, 2024
UPDATE, January 7, 2023:
I recently learned this series had concluded, and though I wasn't too keen on it, I do like John Allison, so I thought I'd give it another go. After a re-read, I stand by my original review below, but I'm still going to read the next two volumes because I'm that kind of compulsive.
ORIGINAL REVIEW, April 27, 2019:
A little too silly for me, probably because its aimed at a younger audience. Confronted with a portal to a fantasy realm, no one in the book acts as a reasonable person would. I get that its for comedic effect, but the characters aren't interesting or funny enough for me to put up with their nonsense. That's not to say there aren't some chuckles, but they're mild and too few in number.
The British author decided to set this book in South Dakota without really having an ear for how Midwesterners talk, so everyone here sounds like the English kids in his much better Giant Days series.
I recently learned this series had concluded, and though I wasn't too keen on it, I do like John Allison, so I thought I'd give it another go. After a re-read, I stand by my original review below, but I'm still going to read the next two volumes because I'm that kind of compulsive.
ORIGINAL REVIEW, April 27, 2019:
A little too silly for me, probably because its aimed at a younger audience. Confronted with a portal to a fantasy realm, no one in the book acts as a reasonable person would. I get that its for comedic effect, but the characters aren't interesting or funny enough for me to put up with their nonsense. That's not to say there aren't some chuckles, but they're mild and too few in number.
The British author decided to set this book in South Dakota without really having an ear for how Midwesterners talk, so everyone here sounds like the English kids in his much better Giant Days series.
September 20, 2018
I'm really enjoying this; it's closer to 'Scary-Go-Round' than 'Giant Days' and you can tell the creative team are having tons of fun.
October 12, 2018
John Allison is already my comic book hero for creating and writing Giant Days, the best and most consistent comic of the last four years. So I had high hopes for his new series, By Night — a book about two girls discovering a mysterious supernatural realm. I'm glad to say that it's pretty good! Not Giant Days good (nothing is), but Allison brings here a lot of his signature sense of humour and excellent dialogue, and I really liked all the characters.
What I wasn't completely sold on is the supernatural element of the book — we didn't get to see a lot of it in these first four issues, and what was shown was very vague and at the same time pretty generic, and it's not yet clear why it's there and where the story is going. There is a bit of a mystery behind it involving a missing person who went into the realm and is nowhere to be found, but that plot line is left to explore in the following volumes, I assume.
However, I loved pretty much every other thing about the book. The highlight of the entire collection was issue #3, focused entirely on the two supporting characters, Chip (one of the girl's dad) and Barney (other girl's co-worker). I loved those two! Chip is a bit like McGraw, a no-nonsense, rugged and sensible man who still has a big heart, and Barn is a smart, slightly sarcastic but ultimately loveable dude. Together they make a great team as they look for clues and bond over their disdain for modern teenagers.
Christine Larsen and Sara Stern's artwork looks great and fits the tone of the series well. It looks a bit like Allison's own art style, but more detailed and polished. The character designs are fun and instantly recognisable, and all the environments also look really good.
Overall, By Night Volume 1 is an enjoyable (if a bit wonky) start to the series, and I'm looking forward to what John Allison has planned for it next.
What I wasn't completely sold on is the supernatural element of the book — we didn't get to see a lot of it in these first four issues, and what was shown was very vague and at the same time pretty generic, and it's not yet clear why it's there and where the story is going. There is a bit of a mystery behind it involving a missing person who went into the realm and is nowhere to be found, but that plot line is left to explore in the following volumes, I assume.
However, I loved pretty much every other thing about the book. The highlight of the entire collection was issue #3, focused entirely on the two supporting characters, Chip (one of the girl's dad) and Barney (other girl's co-worker). I loved those two! Chip is a bit like McGraw, a no-nonsense, rugged and sensible man who still has a big heart, and Barn is a smart, slightly sarcastic but ultimately loveable dude. Together they make a great team as they look for clues and bond over their disdain for modern teenagers.
Christine Larsen and Sara Stern's artwork looks great and fits the tone of the series well. It looks a bit like Allison's own art style, but more detailed and polished. The character designs are fun and instantly recognisable, and all the environments also look really good.
Overall, By Night Volume 1 is an enjoyable (if a bit wonky) start to the series, and I'm looking forward to what John Allison has planned for it next.
July 27, 2019
Much in the way that mediocre pizza is still pizza and therefore worth eating, a mediocre John Allison book is still a John Allison book and therefore worth reading.
October 4, 2020
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5
This was fun. It was quick. I was interested in the story. I also liked the art.
While this looks like a younger leaning comic series, it's actually got older characters and a little language. It threw me a little bit.
Oh there was also a good HP Reference about Winky the Elf. It hit me.
This didn't really have an ending at all, just a big To Be Continued...
I mean, I knew I wouldn't have an ending ending, but I thought a little more of the secrets would be revealed.
I thought the art style was very cute.
I liked this. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting and I think I'm glad about that.
October 24, 2019
Hello Again,
I’m so proud of myself right now! I have gotten back on track this week, overcome a pretty rough Tuesday (which was rough because of an expected pain/illness thing), and am killing it at the reading game lately! Today we are going to talk about By Night, the first volume, so everyone pretty much knows I love Giant Days, I definitely have not kept that secret but I honestly did not realize that John Allison the author of Giant Days had other graphic novel series until a few weeks ago I saw something on Twitter about a new graphic novel series of his called Steeple (which I still have not gotten my hands on but I will soon). So I then headed over to Hoopla (where I read most of my graphic novels and then if I fall in love with one I purchase it), once here I found his other graphic novel series By Night. Since I love Giant Days so much I was totally ready to try some more stuff by John Allison so I immediately borrowed volume one of By Night and jumped in!
SPOILERS AHEAD
Jane and Heather were once friends but now they are not not friends but things are definitely weird. Then one day the girls reunite and go into the now-abandoned Charleswood Estate. Charleswood Estate was recently abandoned, see the owner went missing years ago and since the disappearance, the security staff is still on duty but recently the funds have run out for the paychecks from the estate so now it is completely abandoned. Heather and Jane venture into the Charleswood Estate one night and find this weird area in the main office, it’s a hidden area and it contains a portal to another world. Of course, the girls venture through the portal and after the first time they decide they will come back with camera equipment. However, their secret starts to expand a little (for safety reasons) and the girls head back into the portal with a friend or two. However, trouble is ahead in this new world and it may just be the reason that the estate owner disappeared.
Alright, overall I enjoyed this and do plan to read the next volume at some point. I was a little letdown, I think I was expecting something more like Giant Days but sci-fi and that was not the vibe of this at all. I am so used to these Giant Days relationships were the characters are close and they have this cute banter and there is not really any mystery to things and then we have this where the main characters used to be friends but things are weird now and you can see the disconnect there. I still enjoyed it like I said but it was so different it took me a moment to adjust and it is hard to truly compare the two. I am going to give this volume four stars on Goodreads.
I’m so proud of myself right now! I have gotten back on track this week, overcome a pretty rough Tuesday (which was rough because of an expected pain/illness thing), and am killing it at the reading game lately! Today we are going to talk about By Night, the first volume, so everyone pretty much knows I love Giant Days, I definitely have not kept that secret but I honestly did not realize that John Allison the author of Giant Days had other graphic novel series until a few weeks ago I saw something on Twitter about a new graphic novel series of his called Steeple (which I still have not gotten my hands on but I will soon). So I then headed over to Hoopla (where I read most of my graphic novels and then if I fall in love with one I purchase it), once here I found his other graphic novel series By Night. Since I love Giant Days so much I was totally ready to try some more stuff by John Allison so I immediately borrowed volume one of By Night and jumped in!
SPOILERS AHEAD
Jane and Heather were once friends but now they are not not friends but things are definitely weird. Then one day the girls reunite and go into the now-abandoned Charleswood Estate. Charleswood Estate was recently abandoned, see the owner went missing years ago and since the disappearance, the security staff is still on duty but recently the funds have run out for the paychecks from the estate so now it is completely abandoned. Heather and Jane venture into the Charleswood Estate one night and find this weird area in the main office, it’s a hidden area and it contains a portal to another world. Of course, the girls venture through the portal and after the first time they decide they will come back with camera equipment. However, their secret starts to expand a little (for safety reasons) and the girls head back into the portal with a friend or two. However, trouble is ahead in this new world and it may just be the reason that the estate owner disappeared.
Alright, overall I enjoyed this and do plan to read the next volume at some point. I was a little letdown, I think I was expecting something more like Giant Days but sci-fi and that was not the vibe of this at all. I am so used to these Giant Days relationships were the characters are close and they have this cute banter and there is not really any mystery to things and then we have this where the main characters used to be friends but things are weird now and you can see the disconnect there. I still enjoyed it like I said but it was so different it took me a moment to adjust and it is hard to truly compare the two. I am going to give this volume four stars on Goodreads.
May 11, 2020
The first half, before the stuff happens, is weird and oddly hard to read. It's disjointed somehow. Like you're thrown into the story as it's already in progress, which people say is good, but you just want people to FEEL like that's what's happening, but really what you do is cleverly hide the exposition in between the stuffs happening. This felt like I was in the middle of stuff for real, which means I didn't really know what was going on, but also I didn't care.
Then the stuff happens, but here's what's weird: The stuff happens, and we see almost none of it. Imagine the Twilight Zone is a doorway. And what you watch isn't a show about it was Earth all along or whatever, you watch a show about people watching a show about how it was Earth all along. You see them go into a theater, then come out, and they're like, Whoa, that was a weird one, eh?
What's even WEIRDER is that the stuff happening outside the Twilight Zone door is better once a couple characters step through the Twilight Zone door. So even though we're not seeing what happens behind the door, it's only after we watch the characters go through the door that the story gets any steam.
And this is the truly weird part: The story doesn't get good BECAUSE the characters went through the door. It just happens to be better and more interesting after it happens.
Maybe it's because the characters that go through the door (manic pixie dream girl and slightly less manic amateur filmmaker who is really boring and makes you wish she'd just been a maic pixie dream girl) are less fun than the characters on the other side (dopey guy and dopey dad). We temporarily lose the zeros and get with the heroes.
So, I don't know, I don't really give a shit about Fantasy Dimension Girls or whatever the original story was. I'm more into Dad and Teen Hang Out Comedy Story In A Warehouse. And I don't think that's the story that continues, so this is where I jump off the train.
Then the stuff happens, but here's what's weird: The stuff happens, and we see almost none of it. Imagine the Twilight Zone is a doorway. And what you watch isn't a show about it was Earth all along or whatever, you watch a show about people watching a show about how it was Earth all along. You see them go into a theater, then come out, and they're like, Whoa, that was a weird one, eh?
What's even WEIRDER is that the stuff happening outside the Twilight Zone door is better once a couple characters step through the Twilight Zone door. So even though we're not seeing what happens behind the door, it's only after we watch the characters go through the door that the story gets any steam.
And this is the truly weird part: The story doesn't get good BECAUSE the characters went through the door. It just happens to be better and more interesting after it happens.
Maybe it's because the characters that go through the door (manic pixie dream girl and slightly less manic amateur filmmaker who is really boring and makes you wish she'd just been a maic pixie dream girl) are less fun than the characters on the other side (dopey guy and dopey dad). We temporarily lose the zeros and get with the heroes.
So, I don't know, I don't really give a shit about Fantasy Dimension Girls or whatever the original story was. I'm more into Dad and Teen Hang Out Comedy Story In A Warehouse. And I don't think that's the story that continues, so this is where I jump off the train.
May 25, 2019
John Allison can write excellent dialogue, as demonstrated in the endlessly appealing Giant Days series. When it comes to writing an actual high-concept, plot-focused series like By Night, Allison retains the dialogue, but loses much of the fun. Here we have Heather and Jane, witty smart-alecks trapped in small town South Dakota. With extremely minimal backstory barely established, they trek into an abandoned corporate headquarters and find a portal to another world. Rather than react out of fear, confusion, or any sort of uncertainty, they cockily decide to film the whole place and get rich.
Other, more interesting friends are soon dragged into the affair, including Heather's father (an adult character in an Allison-penned story is often a nice surprise). The plot is aggressively light-hearted, with most issues being instantly resolved so that the characters can get back to snappy dialogue. That dialogue is mostly fun to read, but it's easy to imagine By Night being more compelling if Allison had bothered to develop the world and narrative a bit more.
Sidenote: I find it amusing that Allison, a resident of England, has characters refer to lunch as "dinner" and dinner as "supper." Not exactly typical American phrasing there.
Other, more interesting friends are soon dragged into the affair, including Heather's father (an adult character in an Allison-penned story is often a nice surprise). The plot is aggressively light-hearted, with most issues being instantly resolved so that the characters can get back to snappy dialogue. That dialogue is mostly fun to read, but it's easy to imagine By Night being more compelling if Allison had bothered to develop the world and narrative a bit more.
Sidenote: I find it amusing that Allison, a resident of England, has characters refer to lunch as "dinner" and dinner as "supper." Not exactly typical American phrasing there.
June 25, 2019
[edit 6/24/19: Ok I tried the next issue and I think I'm gonna have to drop this one. Nothing is really grabbing me.]
I love Giant Days, but for some reason this title just didn't grab me the same way. Although if I remember correctly it did take me a few volumes to warm up to Giant Days as well, so maybe Allison is just a slow series started. There are definitely some funny moments and the characters and setting have a lot of potential I think, but right now it's all much less exciting than it should be. I'll probably check out volume 2 just to see if the action picks up though.
I love Giant Days, but for some reason this title just didn't grab me the same way. Although if I remember correctly it did take me a few volumes to warm up to Giant Days as well, so maybe Allison is just a slow series started. There are definitely some funny moments and the characters and setting have a lot of potential I think, but right now it's all much less exciting than it should be. I'll probably check out volume 2 just to see if the action picks up though.
September 11, 2023
Content was all over the place held together by random character interaction.
August 1, 2019
[This review covers all three volumes of By Night]
By Night, from the mastermind behind Giant Days, John Allison, is a twelve issue maxi-series that features two friends who are trying to work out what to do with their lives when they uncover a conspiracy that spans dimensions and decades and could shake their tiny little town to its core.
I don't really know what to make of By Night, honestly. It meanders along for twelve issues after establishing its characters, finding a few tangents to go on instead (like the random issue about one of the characters getting their legs broken by a local mob boss, because sure), only really remembering the true plot of the book near the end and then reaching that ending on a bit of an anticlimax. It's strangely paced to say the least, and feels like both too much plot for just twelve issues and at times not enough plot to justify running that long.
I wanted to try not to compare this book to Giant Days, but it's difficult when that one's so good and this one's just kind of there. The characters aren't nearly as likeable as those in Giant Days, and it's hard to root for any of them when you can forget their names at times.
On art we have Christine Larsen, who does a fine job, but really doesn't get enough to work with. The sequences set in the Otherworld are fun and her designwork is great, but the human world stuff gets pretty bland when the town of Spectrum is basically various shades of grey.
By Night's not a bad book - it just can't seem to decide what it wants to be, and by the time it does, it's run out of pages to tell the story successfully.
By Night, from the mastermind behind Giant Days, John Allison, is a twelve issue maxi-series that features two friends who are trying to work out what to do with their lives when they uncover a conspiracy that spans dimensions and decades and could shake their tiny little town to its core.
I don't really know what to make of By Night, honestly. It meanders along for twelve issues after establishing its characters, finding a few tangents to go on instead (like the random issue about one of the characters getting their legs broken by a local mob boss, because sure), only really remembering the true plot of the book near the end and then reaching that ending on a bit of an anticlimax. It's strangely paced to say the least, and feels like both too much plot for just twelve issues and at times not enough plot to justify running that long.
I wanted to try not to compare this book to Giant Days, but it's difficult when that one's so good and this one's just kind of there. The characters aren't nearly as likeable as those in Giant Days, and it's hard to root for any of them when you can forget their names at times.
On art we have Christine Larsen, who does a fine job, but really doesn't get enough to work with. The sequences set in the Otherworld are fun and her designwork is great, but the human world stuff gets pretty bland when the town of Spectrum is basically various shades of grey.
By Night's not a bad book - it just can't seem to decide what it wants to be, and by the time it does, it's run out of pages to tell the story successfully.
December 1, 2020
I liked this enough, everything was satisfactory to me: the art, the characters, the story. It was nothing overly gripping, I'm interested to get some more backstory on Jane and Heather and see what the other dimension is all about - like the goblin and the werewolf and what's the deal with the guy who owned the place? So yeah, this was okay.
April 23, 2019
Actual rating: 2.5 stars
November 15, 2020
6/10
Lo leí en español
Lo leí en español
January 28, 2022
A small town. A vanished scion of American industrialism. An interdimensional portal. Two former friends, tenuously reunited.
I will read anything by John Allison. By Night didn't grab me as quickly or intensely as Giant Days—the past relationship between the two leads is complicated and mostly hinted at throughout the first couple of chapters in a way that makes it a little difficult to get a foothold right away. But the story has all of the hallmark Allison wit and deadpan humor that really starts to work when more characters are introduced. Honestly, I think small ensemble casts that can bounce off one another are one of Allison's greatest strengths as a storyteller and I'm interested to see where this series goes. Christine Larsen's art is loose but also clean (she's especially good at the facial expressions and visual jokes) and Sarah Stern's colors give it a vibrancy that pulls your eye from panel to panel.
The slow start is tricky in comics—had I read these as individual issues and not in a 4-part trade, I don't know if I would have stuck with it, but I'm glad I did.
I will read anything by John Allison. By Night didn't grab me as quickly or intensely as Giant Days—the past relationship between the two leads is complicated and mostly hinted at throughout the first couple of chapters in a way that makes it a little difficult to get a foothold right away. But the story has all of the hallmark Allison wit and deadpan humor that really starts to work when more characters are introduced. Honestly, I think small ensemble casts that can bounce off one another are one of Allison's greatest strengths as a storyteller and I'm interested to see where this series goes. Christine Larsen's art is loose but also clean (she's especially good at the facial expressions and visual jokes) and Sarah Stern's colors give it a vibrancy that pulls your eye from panel to panel.
The slow start is tricky in comics—had I read these as individual issues and not in a 4-part trade, I don't know if I would have stuck with it, but I'm glad I did.
May 20, 2021
2,75 / 5
El espíritu ligero de Giant Days (por algo es el mismo creador) unido a las aventuras de Scooby-Doo o Veronica Mars y el imaginario de (Des)encanto. Este es el resumen de mi paso por el primer volumen de 'By Night'. La nueva propuesta de John Allison, junto con la artista Christine Larsen, es una aventura sobrenatural genérica, pero con el diálogo chispeante entre personajes habitual del autor.
En Spectrum, Dakota del Suer, Jane Langstaff y Heather Meadows se reencuentran tras varios años. Spectrum es una ciudad vieja, una antigua gloria, como la fabrica de engranajes del Charlesco, que ya cierra definitivamente sus puertas. Sin embargo, la fábrica, ya envuelta en el misterio de la desaparición de su fundador hace años, oculta algo imposible. Jane y Heather, en una intrépida incursión, descubren Eidolón, una maquina capaz de abrir una puerta a otra dimensión.
El primer volumen de By Night se siente, en cierta manera, desarticulado. Las cosas ocurren, pero apenas lo vemos. Y lo que vemos, es el lado de fuera de esa otra dimensión. El otro mundo apenas se muestra, más allá de fantasía genérica, y todo queda más en una promesa para el futuro que otra cosa. Una promesa de misterio, criaturas extrañas y una dimensión por explorar que oculta algún secreto del pasado.
El espíritu ligero de Giant Days (por algo es el mismo creador) unido a las aventuras de Scooby-Doo o Veronica Mars y el imaginario de (Des)encanto. Este es el resumen de mi paso por el primer volumen de 'By Night'. La nueva propuesta de John Allison, junto con la artista Christine Larsen, es una aventura sobrenatural genérica, pero con el diálogo chispeante entre personajes habitual del autor.
En Spectrum, Dakota del Suer, Jane Langstaff y Heather Meadows se reencuentran tras varios años. Spectrum es una ciudad vieja, una antigua gloria, como la fabrica de engranajes del Charlesco, que ya cierra definitivamente sus puertas. Sin embargo, la fábrica, ya envuelta en el misterio de la desaparición de su fundador hace años, oculta algo imposible. Jane y Heather, en una intrépida incursión, descubren Eidolón, una maquina capaz de abrir una puerta a otra dimensión.
El primer volumen de By Night se siente, en cierta manera, desarticulado. Las cosas ocurren, pero apenas lo vemos. Y lo que vemos, es el lado de fuera de esa otra dimensión. El otro mundo apenas se muestra, más allá de fantasía genérica, y todo queda más en una promesa para el futuro que otra cosa. Una promesa de misterio, criaturas extrañas y una dimensión por explorar que oculta algún secreto del pasado.
April 24, 2019
A pretty fun read that's kind of a combination of Scooby-Doo, Supernatural, and a whole lotta science-y stuff. The main characters are sweet, and I'm interested to see how they develop. I think the overall concept is cool, but it's lacking a that OOMPH that really would have made it stand out. I'll keep reading because I have faith in John Allison, but I'm hoping for a little more next time. The whole time I was reading this volume I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, which can be a good thing sometimes, but in the end I just felt a bit meh about it all.
June 14, 2020
Two friends with conflicted background (one somewhat oblivious to it :P) discover a portal to a magical world and go scooby style sleuthing into it. Along the way they pick up allies in the form of a work mate and a helpful dad, who is still very dad.
Not loving this quite as much as Giant Days, by the same author, which had an extra spark of adorable warmth to it but am liking the black girl magic element and her naive, work colleague who just seems like the sweetest guy.
Not loving this quite as much as Giant Days, by the same author, which had an extra spark of adorable warmth to it but am liking the black girl magic element and her naive, work colleague who just seems like the sweetest guy.
June 4, 2022
My Rating: 3/5
This was a fun first volume, I've read the majority of Giant Days which was also written by John Allison and that's what drew me to this graphic novel. This one was fun and cute, but it didn't grab my attention in the same way. I'm interested in what the different settings can do for the story and will be reading the next one, just not as committed to this series as much as I have been to other graphic novel series.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
September 19, 2023
Overall I think this was forgettable for me. Art was fitting and interesting, but I had a little bit of a hard time getting a handle on the characters. I enjoyed the stronger storyline/plot then "Giant Days", but...eh. I wish it were a little more serious. There might be good payout in the long-run but I don't think it grabbed me enough to see.
April 16, 2019
A new YA graphic novel series by John Allison, who created the "Giant Days" series, and "Adventure Time" illustrator Christine Larsen. Set in Spectrum, South Dakota separated high school chums Jane and Heather reunite when Heather returns home after graduating college. Heather talks Jane into breaking into Charleswood Estate, that once belonged to sprocket magnet Chet Charles, who mysteriously disappeared. They discover what they think is a movie projector but it is a gateway to another dimension. A humorous fantasy that's part mystery. Recommended for teens and adults who like their graphic novels on the lighter side.
May 8, 2019
That was about as weird as expected.
November 3, 2023
This was a solid start to a series. I’m curious to see where it goes from here in the next volume!
March 1, 2025
2 1/2 stars
Meh story was okay. I liked the art and the vampires were my favorite.
For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:
https://youtube.com/shorts/6028QmtXmJ...
Enjoy!
Meh story was okay. I liked the art and the vampires were my favorite.
For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:
https://youtube.com/shorts/6028QmtXmJ...
Enjoy!
July 7, 2019
Adorable! Another winner from BOOM!Box!
December 31, 2022
*3.25*
August 28, 2019
Sometimes a team is a black woman, her slightly useless coworker, her estranged best friend from high school, and that woman's newly unemployed dad, and I think that's beautiful; I love unexpected team ups.
It's weird for me to read John Allison's words in this kind of setting and not see his art—though I can see his influence—but I apparently got attached to Larsen's art very quickly because after reading the book and seeing some of Allison's alternate covers at the end, I found I actually preferred Larsen's characters. The art is expressive and humorous, and the colors are somewhat muted and flat for such a fantastic subject, but it works.
Much like my beloved Bad Machinery, also by Allison, this book features the goofy hijinks of people who should probably not be doing what they're doing, only instead of dealing with Teens this time, they are New Adults who scorn Teens and their destructive anti-social ways, they say, as they break into an abandoned facility and discover a portal to another world and nearly get stuck there.
I'll be reading volume two as soon as the library gets a copy.
It's weird for me to read John Allison's words in this kind of setting and not see his art—though I can see his influence—but I apparently got attached to Larsen's art very quickly because after reading the book and seeing some of Allison's alternate covers at the end, I found I actually preferred Larsen's characters. The art is expressive and humorous, and the colors are somewhat muted and flat for such a fantastic subject, but it works.
Much like my beloved Bad Machinery, also by Allison, this book features the goofy hijinks of people who should probably not be doing what they're doing, only instead of dealing with Teens this time, they are New Adults who scorn Teens and their destructive anti-social ways, they say, as they break into an abandoned facility and discover a portal to another world and nearly get stuck there.
I'll be reading volume two as soon as the library gets a copy.
February 22, 2023
Its a John Allison comic so its funny and witty and you know what you're going to get. Nice departure from the Scary Go Round universe
September 29, 2023
John Allison is one quirky author. It usually takes me a while to warm to his stories...to figure out where exactly he's going and get used to the voices of his characters. This was no exception. The beginning is a little strange as I attempted to find my footing in his story, but by the end, I was excited to read the next volume. And while I usually love his illustrations, the artists he used on this one just kind of left me ....meh. They're ok, but the people aren't drawn as delightfully perfect as those in his other books.
Two girls reunite after college and explore the abandoned campus of a local businessman/millionaire who disappeared a couple of decades back. There, they discover a machine that opens a portal into another dimension.
I'm going to hold off on completely recommending it. If you've already read Allison's work, pick this up. If you haven't, then start either with Giant Days, Vol. 1 (the adventures of 3 girls who become friends at college) or his very strange but wonderful The Case of the Team Spirit.
You can view some of his comics online for free
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2023: I'm re-reading vol 1 & 2 since the final vol 3 has come out. I feel like the story is making more sense this time around, but I find the characters to not be as engaging as his other books.
Two girls reunite after college and explore the abandoned campus of a local businessman/millionaire who disappeared a couple of decades back. There, they discover a machine that opens a portal into another dimension.
I'm going to hold off on completely recommending it. If you've already read Allison's work, pick this up. If you haven't, then start either with Giant Days, Vol. 1 (the adventures of 3 girls who become friends at college) or his very strange but wonderful The Case of the Team Spirit.
You can view some of his comics online for free
======================
2023: I'm re-reading vol 1 & 2 since the final vol 3 has come out. I feel like the story is making more sense this time around, but I find the characters to not be as engaging as his other books.
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