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Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #1-6

Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog, Vol. 1: The Fire Next Time

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From the team of Image's Eisner-nominated series KILLADELPHIA comes a terrifying new horror series created by acclaimed Marvel writer Rodney Barnes and fan-favorite SPAWN artist Jason Shawn Alexander.

Untold evil lurks the streets of Baltimore, Maryland as the demon Corson surfaces from the underworld to possess a man-once-wronged... and his vengeance will come at humanity's despair! As Gods and Demons clash, humanity's fate hangs in the balance! But paranormal investigator Nita Hawes--a woman with demons of her own--has set out on a quest to root out the evil from her city. Guided by the ghost of her dead brother, she must come to terms with her own past, else she become a victim herself and join her brother in a state worse than death!

Collects NITA HAWES NIGHTMARE BLOG #1-6

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2022

9 people are currently reading
187 people want to read

About the author

Rodney Barnes

127 books77 followers
Comic book writer

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5 stars
54 (19%)
4 stars
125 (45%)
3 stars
67 (24%)
2 stars
24 (8%)
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3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Profile Image for Shannon.
3,111 reviews2,571 followers
October 19, 2022
I like this more than Killadelphia and I wish Jimmy Sangster wasn't even included, leave him in his own series because Nita can stand on her own.

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | 6

Total review score: 3.167
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books124 followers
April 18, 2022
The first (of many, I expect) spin-offs from Killadelphia focuses on Nita Hawes, ex-girlfriend of Killadelphia's main character, who is haunted in more ways than one. Having lost her parents and younger brother to gun violence, she teaches parasociology by day and investigates the supernatural by night, noting it all down on the titular Nightmare Blog.

At first glance, it seems like NHNB is ticking the boxes that Killadelphia hasn't gotten to yet - we've had vampires, werewolves, and witches, so Nita's haunted by a ghost and fights demons. But once you get into the meat of the story, its intersections with Killadelphia become more apparent and it begins to stand on its own two feet.

The central mystery of this first story arc is good, although it's pretty obvious what's going on to the reader much earlier than it is for the rest of the characters. When everything takes a swerve by the third issue or so though, you're already hooked on everything else that's going on that it's almost secondary and doesn't matter as much anyway.

Without giving anything away, I'm very invested in Nita's story already, far more than I was with Jimmy in Killadelphia. Her problems feel more palpable since they're literally haunting her most of the time, and she herself feels like a more active player in the plot than Jimmy ever did by this point. Things seemed to happen to him, whereas Nita makes them happen to herself, for better or worse.

The artwork begins with Killadelphia penciller Jason Shawn Alexander, before he segues duties to Szymon Kudranski for the latter half. It's not often you see an Image book swap pencillers midway through, but it's not a bad change (and Killadelphia was coming out simultaneously with this first arc, so expecting JSA to do both at once just isn't plausible). Kudranski has a very individual style, but he does fit nicely with the style that Killadelphia is famous for - NHNB feels like its own book, but it's definitely part of the same visual universe.

Nita Hawes' first outing takes a second to get going, but by the end of its first arc it'll be difficult to free yourself from its tentacles. This is a spin-off book, but it definitely stands on its own two feet.
Profile Image for Scott Rhee.
2,333 reviews169 followers
November 30, 2022
A new horror graphic novel series with a strong social commentary about issues of race and racism, “Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog” follows a paranormal expert and college professor that goes deep—-very very deep—-investigating paranormal rabbit holes in Baltimore, Maryland, where the gates of Hell have apparently, and quite literally, been opened.

Volume 1, “The Fire Next Time”, is a fast-paced mash-up of “Law & Order” police procedural, “Hellblazer”-type blue-collar exorcism, and “Ghostbusters”, except the ghosts are the good guys and any busting is of demons.

Hawes is a believable and likable protagonist, grieving the loss of her younger brother and not fearing all the slimy sharp-toothed monsters coming after her. In this volume, she’s on the hunt for a demon named Corson, who has taken possession of an old blues singer bent on revenge against the white record producers who screwed him out of royalties and his livelihood. She’s allied with the ghost of her brother and a demi-god named Anansi, a.k.a. “The Trickster”. Together, they must stop the demon as he leaves a wake of mutilation and death through the city streets of Baltimore.

Great series, one that will appeal to fans of old-school John Constantine. This is a spin-off from a series called “Killadelphia”, also written by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander. Will have to check that out, and I look forward to more of Ms. Hawes.
Profile Image for Eric Novello.
Author 67 books570 followers
Read
July 7, 2023
Uma investigadora do sobrenatural auxiliada pelo espírito do seu irmão mais novo descobrem que a cidade está sendo invadida por demônios. Esse volume é a apresentação dos personagens, investigação e resolução do primeiro caso, e um passeio por um lore que envolve os demônios, Anansi, e quem é quem na hierarquia.

Gostei bastante da parte na cidade, embora os demônios não matem de maneira muito discreta e os ataques recaiam no exagero pra garantir a atenção do leitor. A parte que se passa no inferno achei desnecessária. Tomou um tempo precioso que deixou o final corrido.

Mas num geral foi uma HQ bem boa de fantasia urbana alimentada por horror.
Profile Image for Alexa.
695 reviews
June 28, 2022
The art in this book was amazing 5/5 ⭐️ to the team on the linework, shading, design. Very modern but also classic comix sin city vibes

2.5-3 ⭐️ for the storyline and the overall progression,the first part in particular was strong, it waffled a bit in the middle, the plot seemed rather directionless, the character development stalled here and never really picked up again. Added in a bunch of random extras that were never really explained
then seemed to haphazardly wrap up the storyline/plot at the end.
Profile Image for Horror DNA.
1,275 reviews118 followers
June 9, 2022
Any kind of talk on the current place of vampires in comics has to include Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander’s Killadelphia. It’s become its own horror institution by now, a new standard for the genre. Its mix of classic vamp elements with current sensibilities regarding racism, policing, and violence (with a few Founding Father vampires thrown in as well) have all worked to elevate the story into something that quite simply needed to expand into other series to fully explore.

In comes Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog, a separate series set in the vampire world of Killadelphia but with different monsters making the rounds, this time in the city of Baltimore.

You can read Ricardo's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
Profile Image for Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈.
2,057 reviews6 followers
September 5, 2023
Another comic I think would make a great AMC or FX show.

This horror series is tied to Killadelphia with references to the characters, as Nita used to date Jimmy. Nita is a sympathetic character with her grief and interest in helping others. She’s also Brave. However, I wished we got a bit more of her on her own throughout this book. Mostly, we see her interacting with her brother Jason, Anansi, and the detective she ends up working with. I wanted just a bit more introspection. Even her big breakthrough in this book is fed to her from others.

The artwork is insane! It’s very expressive and interesting to look at. The action scenes were never boring.

As a character, Anansi was interesting. I felt a bit like I was losing the lore here, and I’m not sure if that’s because there were elements that will be explained later down the line, or if they were explained in Killadelphia.

Either way, I think it’s a good book for anyone that’s interested in a horror comic that discusses police brutality and historical exploitation of black artists.
Profile Image for Kaylan.
110 reviews
February 5, 2023
I could've did without some of the police presence in this book, that horror however was great. It reminded me of like the kind of cosmic horror you see in Junji Ito's art and I loved it. I honestly could've looked at this without words the art was good
Profile Image for Kirsten.
2,137 reviews117 followers
July 18, 2022
Oh man, I LOVED this. Quality horror comic storyline (like old school Hellblazer, kinda), amazing art, and super compelling characters. I haven’t read Killadelphia yet because the title kinda turned me off, but I think I need to now.
Profile Image for Rob.
883 reviews39 followers
September 19, 2022
A confusing to follow story. Plenty gory artwork. Not sure I’ll stick this out
Profile Image for April Taylor.
Author 10 books117 followers
September 23, 2022
The story kept me interested, but what really wins is the artwork.
Profile Image for Simon Sweetman.
Author 13 books72 followers
September 19, 2022
I got into this big time, and with no real knowledge of what I was getting into. Just loved the artwork, that really set up the story nicely.
Profile Image for Affan.
56 reviews1 follower
January 31, 2024
“My last moments felt like a lifetime. In some ways, I guess they were. I knew I was going to die. Whatever existed beyond life was warning me… Like a dying flame yielding one last burst of awareness.”

The art direction by Alexander, reynolds, bee, and kudranski is enough to give this 5 stars. The volume DRIPS with style which always empowers the storytelling, down to the paneling turning bloody to wisps of shadows and angled silhouettes telling a story for us. Stellar work.

The rest is good, but the caveat I’m adding now is not having read Killadelphia, the addition of a character from that series was confusing to me lol. I was misled by the comic store employee!! Need to read that anyway so no harm done but I do think this story is cool enough to stand on its own.

The narrative is intriguing if a little straightforward for me— good for a foundation to a series. Dawnita Hawes is a stalwart character wrestling with her trauma over that tragic murder of her brother, really exciting character that honestly i just want more of. The cop character wasn’t interesting to me at all, she was an aloof black hole of a personality straight from classic monster of the week serials, that was the intention im sure but honestly any time spent w these clichés felt like a waste for me, even with the a history with Nita’s past. I’m sure they’ll have a greater role later on? It just felt like the “boring suits talking” parts of a bad Godzilla movie yanno.

Thankfully we get back to the good stuff with plenty of focus on our villain, a prolific demon extracting the worst of humanity from a musician and our protagonist. I hope there’s plenty more demonology like Corson, makes me want to finish Dante’s inferno! I will say, I don’t know how bad I feel for these horrific music barons meeting grisly ends LOL. Vengeance does eat you up inside however.. and how many innocent bystanders were eaten up by Henry’s crusade? In a book about letting go of trauma and allowing yourself to move on, I think it was an intriguing choice to make a villain like this contrasting with Nita’s journey. Though I’m not sure if it’s exactly comparable, guess it depends on how you feel about eating the rich lol. There’s a lot of potential here though and I’m excited for more. Rodney Barnes has a fanatic pen and gruesome imagination, someone I absolutely hope to read more from now.

“The highest form of human expression is one that utilizes the heart and mind simultaneously. Causing dreams to manifest before the dreamers eyes. It’s a high from which, seemingly, there is no limit. But for every up, there’s always a down.”
Profile Image for Alex Sarll.
7,095 reviews365 followers
Read
August 25, 2023
Killadelphia spin-off following Jimmy Sangster's ex as she fights demons in Baltimore. The gallows humour of the local detectives inevitably recalls The Wire, but that strength is also the series' big handicap; of all the cities in America, this must be one of the hardest to now say new things about/with, especially when it comes to race, inequality, and a long, seemingly inescapable history of blood and despair. That history embodied in Nita herself, her blog a Ghostbusters update minus the firehouse and proton packs, and motivated by the ghost of the brother she was left to raise but couldn't save (that their parents were killed at a vigil against gun violence in the city is one of the moments when the series skirts parodic grimness, even as one knows the idea is all too real). The old bluesman ripped off by the industry, and now a vessel for infernal forces, is a nicely pitched antagonist, but if I thought the parent series went a little fast by having characters visit the afterlife in the second volume, well, this one doesn't even take that long. Which not only leaves the question of where you go from there without it feeling anticlimactic, but also renders unavoidable the sort of metaphysical quandaries that would have been more easily handwaved had the story stayed in the shadowed streets; Anansi brushing up against Goetic demons on Earth is one thing, but once we're at the source I start needing to know how it all fits together. The biggest problem, though, is that it doesn't have the strong visual identity that's so key to Killadelphia's impact. Despite Jason Shawn Alexander's cover credit, he's just the co-creator; all the artists on the interiors are good, but with three of them taking turns, this Baltimore can never feel as wholly itself in the same way. I realise that's a lot of complaints, perhaps obscuring the fact that I do think this is a smart, spooky, serious horror comic - it just struggles a little for being so closely connected to another book that's even more so.
Profile Image for Rumi Bossche.
1,107 reviews17 followers
October 19, 2022
Nita Hawes Nightmare Blog  👻

When your having problems with ghosts or anything forget about The Ghostbusters,  call Nita Hawes, in this sub series from Killadelphia and with the same team. Nita is the ex girlfriend of Jimmy Sangster, the main character of Killadelphia, and a kickass female lead. She is a paranormal investigator with a blog, the so called Nita hawes Nightmare Blog,  hence the name. She is guided by her dead brother who got killed because of gun violence. Killadelphia deals with Vampires and Werewolfs, and this title more with demons and ghosts. They also both deal with racism and the treatment of Black people in America. The story in this first arc is about Corson, a Demon who possesses a  former jazz musician who gots fucked over by his management, she gets help from Anansi the spider god a character from Killadelphia, its really action packed! The artwork by Jason Shawn Alexander is phenomenal,  but sadly half way changes with art by SZYMON KUDRANSKI, but i have to say there style is very similair so not to big of a change artwise, Rodney barnes gives us another great horror story in this expanding universe, and i will be here when another one arives.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars
Read in single issues
The first trade contains 6 issues.
Profile Image for Therese Thompson.
1,742 reviews20 followers
December 9, 2022
……

Nita Hawes is my new hero.

A college professor whose specialty is the paranormal, puts out a blog where she can be contacted to help those with otherworldly problems when she’s not coping with smart ass students and the loss of her entire family. However, her little brother Jasper remains behind as her ghostly sidekick, tethered by her guilt and love.

In Vol 1, The Fire Next Time, a demon-dispatched monster is sent to Baltimore (also referred to by the appellation Bodymore, Murderland for it has become the home of demons, earthly and otherwise) and it begins a grotesquely murderous rampage centered on the music industry. The demon enters the body of a seemingly comatose old time blues man and there’s still some hell left to pay and oh boy!! The hell raising is featured in the imaginative and scarey-ass artwork of several talented illustrators, Patric Reynolds, Well-BEE, and Szymon Kudranski. The stuff of my nightmares tonight!

The story by Rodney Barnes tells a tale as old as time and very hell spawn about racial injustice and inequity. But, he balances the horror with the strength of family ties and love. It engaged me so much, I almost devoured it in one sitting.

I’m off to hunt down Vol 2.

….

….
1,897 reviews8 followers
May 28, 2022
Horror comic series which is quite good

Nita writes a blog about demons and the supernatural and she becomes embroiled in a story of demon possession and a whole lot of bloodshed and death. Not for the faint-hearted, this series is illustrated reasonably well with a lot of red used for obvious reasons. It’s OK but not particularly special, although the characters, particularly the main female ones, are well-developed. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Profile Image for Luke John.
529 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2022
Having never read Killadelphia, I was coming into this new series somewhat blind. As it turns out though, that really didn't matter too much. Sure there were a couple of characters that turned up and 'seemed' to be from the parent series, but the main plot was self contained and satisfying. This is a dark series, cthuluesque images of hyper violence punctuating a tale steeped in the exploitation of black Americans, with a focus on the music industry. I have no idea if this will get a volume 2, but if it does then I will be there day 1. Recommended.
Profile Image for Damián Apollo .
24 reviews1 follower
March 17, 2025
The art is great, but similarly to killadelphia, I can’t get into the writing. It’s a bit trying too hard to be cool. Besides being too on the nose, it doesn’t do enough showing and not telling. Deaths and kills aren’t scary if there’s absolutely no tension. Most of the victims aren’t even introduced besides their death scenes. The plot is confusing and very heavy on exposition (but not in a good way). I do like the themes about race, police brutality, and politics - both nightmare blog and Killadelphia have a lot of potential, if only they would let the story and characters breathe.
Profile Image for Krishana.
114 reviews
Read
May 13, 2024
Set in Baltimore with my alma mater, Morgan State University, making a quick debut, I really wanted to finish this horror graphic novel - but it was just too graphic for me. There’s a lot of police and gun violence that was just a bit too much for me.

I want to keep supporting the writer and artist. Will check out their other projects.
Profile Image for Lisa.
1,449 reviews119 followers
January 17, 2025
A fantastic spin-off from the top-notch Killadelphia series. As a Maryland girl, this supernatural tale set in Baltimore with flashes of Annapolis, hit me right in the feels. I loved the supernatural elements but the lead characters were just as strong and fleshed out. Definitely hoping for more in this series.
Profile Image for Poison Ivy 🌵.
186 reviews2 followers
December 22, 2023
This comic took me by surprise, completely! I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this story exceeded whatever it was.

Anansi was a really cool character, I love Nita, Jason is adorable. The art is creepy, yet good… I really don’t have many negative things to say about this story, 4.6!
Profile Image for Carlos Solis.
34 reviews
January 27, 2024
This was a blind buy, which surprisingly I enjoyed.
If you're into ghosts, paranormal, and demon themes mixed with a detective blend. This is for you.
I enjoyed the villain "Howling Henry ".
Good read and good art.
Profile Image for Samsalaqueen.
215 reviews2 followers
May 7, 2024
What a great spin-off!
Well, I didn't know it's a spin-off so I took it as a stand alone and thought it's a great X-Files-like book. Now that I've learned it's a spin-off I need Killadelphia and more of the Nightmare Blog!
Profile Image for Ray.
19 reviews
August 4, 2025
solid art, but sadly didn’t realise this was a tie-in to a pre-existing series so i felt a little out of the loop and underwhelmed by the lack of demons in this :( is this character in the other series? should i read Killadelphia first? i guess i’ll never know
Profile Image for Stephanie.
982 reviews4 followers
December 17, 2022
Visceral art, really awesome style. I haven't read Killadelphia, so I don't have that to compare with, but the story was interesting enough as a standalone.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews

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