North 40

by Aaron Williams, Fiona Staples (Illustrator)

The residents of an isolated rural area discover superhuman and supernatural power in their midst. But the power stops at the county line. Inside the afflicted area, something ancient and malevolent stirs and new monsters arise... The series concentrates on young Wyatt, an unlikely hero from the wrong side of the tracks as well as Sheriff Morgan (and his odd past) and town outcast Amanda. They'll have to combine their efforts to keep the county from imploding...or being eaten by mighty Cthulhu.

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2010

About the author

Aaron Williams is a cartoonist, illustrator, and author residing in Kansas City.

Reviews

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cthulhu comes to Texas.

Two kids acquire the Necronomicon via inter-library loan (awesome LOL), and Lovecraftian chaos bursts forth in their rural southwestern county. Most of the locals wake up dead. Or transformed into animated piles of Earth, telekinetics, seers, giants, mutants, disembodied spirits, zombies, or vampires. One guy starts building homicidal mechs out of junk and screaming human heads. An imperturbable sheriff fights to maintain some semblance of order while a rookie witch attempts to cram Dread Cthulhu back inside his inter-dimensional cage.

It was great fun watching Staples bring the unholy chaos to life but I get the impression that North 40 was cut short Firefly-style, and the story suffers for it. There's a five-star book begging to be let loose here. Sadly, the dangling plot threads and shortcut-to-the-climax finish leaves it limping to get to four.
---------------------------------
SECOND READ

Affirmed, it's simultaneously marvelous and weak-sauce. North 40 positively thrums with potential, but it needs room to spread out.
---------------------------------
THIRD READ

This is the exact right amount of insanity at the exact right breakneck-pace and Fiona Staples is the exact right illustrator to bring it to life. What the hell...the last issue still fails badly but I enjoy the first five so much I'm bumping my rating to 5stars.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Furt vami prechádza smútok zo stále pozastavenej Ságy a koniec pauzy je v nedohladne? Well, tak si skúste niečo, čo má aspoň rovnakého ilustrátora. North 40 je strašný mess - veľa postáv bez poriadneho backgroundu, veľa smerov, kam sa ten príbeh točí a na začiatku mi to robilo strašný problém. Potom som sa cez to dostala a proste si len užívala zbierku príšer. Proste máte mestečko, kde sa jeden deň ľudia začnú meniť, objaví sa mágia, príšery, zombie, celé to začne mať taký lovecraftovský nádych. Hlavné postavy máme tri. Šerifa, mladého týpka a neoblúbenú holku, ktorí musia spojiť svoje sily na boj s týmto všetkým. Fiona sa tuto podľa mňa ešte vykreslovala a je to značne vidieť. Niektoré strany neboli také pre oči lúbezné, niektoré tváre už vôbec. Čo jej ale fakt ide sú presne ti príšery, mutanti a podobne, kedy dokáže nádherne vykresliť anatómiu. Za mňa fajn priemerná jednohubka.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my favorites in the comic book world teamed up to write this. I'm used to reading humorous material from Aaron Williams, and he did a nice job mixing it into the horror story. I expect Fiona Staples to deliver the goods artistically, and she did not disappoint.
It was hard to keep track of all the characters initially-I recommend reading it all in one sitting. I wish there were sequels.

[Jason Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. I only stopped long enough to warm up my coffee. Fantastic book. Very well-written. The art was great; it reminded me a bit of umbrella academy or hellboy. I highly recommend this if you have any interest in a modern day Lovecraft story with superheroes.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, so much squandered potential here. This is actually pretty tough to review, because I really feel like Aaron Williams (with the help of Fiona Staples' superb-as-usual artwork) was really building something cool and unique here, that most likely got destroyed by editorial cutting it short. As such, this feels really smashed together, with none of the big, mysterious threads set up in the first two issues paying off in a satisfying way.

That said, the first couple of issues are GREAT. Funny, weird, completely over the top. Williams takes Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos and jams it all into a small (Texas? I don't think it's ever said) town, driving people mad and giving them insane powers from beyond understanding. Much like Twin Peaks, everyone in town seems to have something unique and strange going on, with their own side story developing slowly. The dialogue is tight and creative, and the characters all set themselves apart in their own ways. I was really into this at first.

Then, clearly the DC/Wildstorm hammer came down and everything broke. Starting around issue 3, you just start to realize there's absolutely no way all these threads can be tied together by the end of a 6-issue series. Clearly Williams realized this, too, because HUGE leaps in logic and storytelling start to happen. Crazy, clearly important characters get introduced and then just disappear from the story. Central characters that were given arcs that seemed destined to be slow-builds just suddenly solve all their problems. Everything accelerates at an untenable speed, and then disintegrates. It's really disappointing.

I don't know why Wildstorm greenlit this series if they only wanted to give it 6 issues. Maybe the intention was to let it run longer and then poor sales killed it or something, who knows. It's just really unfortunate that something that I could've seen lasting years got compacted into this ball of scrap metal.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I got as far as "Fiona Staples" before I requested this from my library. Because Saga is amazing, and that's roughly 50%, give or take, because Staples is amazing. I absolutely love her art, and this is immediately recognizable as hers. I have absolutely no fault with anything she's done here, so let's just recognize that she's fantastic and move along.

The story can be summed up as Lovecraft hits the sticks, and it starts as such things do: somebody accidentally on purpose reads the actual Necronomicon. Naturally, all R'lyeh breaks loose. The book is full of people turning into fun and imaginative eldritch abominations, which range from creepy to imaginative and creepy. Staples's art really helps sell the concepts here.

But the actual plot gets pushed to the wayside in favor of the catalog of creepy a little too often for my taste. There were several scenes that I just wanted to see the end of so I could get back to the plot. Which is a shame, because there could have been plenty of interesting things done with the main plot and the main characters. It just needed a little more focus to take it from good to great.

But I wouldn't say no to a sequel, should one come along. The ending is open enough to make me curious about what comes next, but has enough resolved to be satisfied if nothing does. Which is a pretty good way to wrap up an original miniseries like this.

[sj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guys?

I have fallen head over heels for Ms Fiona Staples. North 40's story is not anything super special - a coupla backwoods kids get a grimoire with what appears to be a certain GOO on the cover through an ILL and read a spell that sends their entire county to sleep. When they wake up (those that do wake up), the majority of the population has been turned into the stuff of nightmares. The sky is red and no one can pass the county line.

There are a few people working for the forces of good, but they're heavily outnumbered by the psys and the zombie princess (who just wants to dance with her lover forever and ever); by the flesh-eaters and the psyonic MECHA.

To say anymore would spoil the fun, and this IS fun - but primarily because of Staples' goddamn delightful illustrations. There's something to marvel over in each panel, even if that marvelous something has an Ick Factor of 11.

I'm super sad it appears this was only a mini-series, as it could have gone any number of places I'd have followed. Ah well, such is life.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Potential was there, but it was never fulfilled. Then it was cancelled, or the follow-up series was never approved. Doesn't matter which, the teasers left hanging sour the whole experience.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 2 out of 5]

What should have been an amazing combination of Lovercraftian horror, The Crazies and Heroes (!) never really took off for me. Too disjointed, too many bits of random information stuffed into odd spots of the story, too many bit part characters that you never get to know before they die. A real pity.

[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

H.P. Lovecraft was a hack. I don't care who agrees or disagrees. The fact remains that his work is the most overrated "literary" horror I've ever read. I'd say he is the William Faulkner of horror- all mood and no execution. So I become very leary of authors who base their books on his Cthulu premise, all those old world monsters scratching at the thin barrier of our world (which is an idea I actually like but one I thought he never used in a way I cared about). Because more often than not these authors don't do anything new with that old story and it just comes off stillborn.

Although I would hesitate to say that North 40 has done anythign particularly new, it doesn't bore the reader to tears like typical Lovecraft worshippers. North 40 doesn't give us anything we haven't seen in horror before- the messiah hero, the old crone, zombies, telepathy, severed heads, Cthulu tentacle monsters, magic- but it does give us all of those things and terrifically written to keep the perfect pacing and grab the reader by the throat, making it hard to breathe.

I know I've said it before and I'm saying it again. When you use a drawing pad, make it look like you know how to use it. Fiona Staples is a masterful artist, understanding line perfectly, making it look languid and easy as pie. But the finished product feels mostly flat and unfinished with its washed out colors. I'm not saying Staples doesn't know how to use the drawing pad for the pencils, but something is wrong with the color. And I understand that may be your style, may be what you're going for, but when there is very little contrast in your pencils, the color cannot be this muddy.

Overall, the comic book delivers on all levels for horror fans. My petty criticisms shouldn't detract from anything this book does because in the scheme of it, they pale in compariosn to the great things this book does.

Grade: B

[Daniel Kovacs Rezsuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comic book that, unfortunately, is smaller than the sum of its parts. Under the Dome, but with paranormal mystery, horror elements, and superhero action. Too much going on all at once and it's all over the place and it goes nowhere since the series ended with six issues, while it was obviously set up as an ongoing series.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

North 40 written by Aaron Williams (Nodwick) with art by Fiona Staples (Saga) is a reprint of the 2010 graphic novel, then published by WildStorm, collecting the six-issue comic book series. When a geek interlibrary loans the Necronomicon to impress his goth classmate, they unwittingly unleash Lovecraftian horror on rural Conover County. Townspeople sprout tentacles, junkyard-crafted cyborgs go on killing sprees, and zombies rise from their graves to attend a school dance. Standing against them are the town’s sole lawman and a few magically-imbued teens who are attempting to protect those unchanged and prevent Cthulhu from rising in the middle of nowhere America.

Verdict: While not overly compelling, North 40 is a fun read which throws a variety of horror imagery at the reader. Readers interested in Lovecraft’s cosmic horror will appreciate this slightly different take and Staples’s art is always impressive.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

North 40 is what happens when two small-town knuckleheads summon Cthulu, and everybody in the county develops bizarre powers while they all go mad and start killing each other. It starts off quite strong - Aaron Williams' writing is off the wall and fun to follow, and every single panel of Fiona Staples' artwork is just incredible. However, by the end, the story seems to lose its center, and it all kind of just succumbs to the madness it's trying to describe. Perhaps this is meant to be a big set-up for subsequent volumes. But North 40 doesn't exactly stick the landing, which is a shame, because otherwise, there is an awful lot to love here.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lot of fun. I don't know that all the explanations tied together that well for me, but Fiona Staples' art is what really sells it. The decaying, deforming human characters and the odd monster here and there are grotesque, gorgeous, and sometimes even a little funny. Not sure I'd heard of Aaron Williams before this, but I'd read something else of his based solely on this book.

[Tone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world building shows promise but eh panel to panel storytelling is rough and quite confusing at times.

[Cláudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny as hell! [and yes, Hades can be that funny]

[Lucas Robledo · Rating 3 out of 5]

En la reseña anterior, cuando hablé sobre Harrow County, el contexto con el que el autor describía ese pueblo sureño de los Estados Unidos estaba alejado de mensajes sociales y políticos. Si bien podíamos hacer una breve lectura sobre el miedo, la ignorancia y algunas cuestiones que suelen abrazar a estas historias, la crítica social no era tan fuerte como en North 40, esta edición de Norma Editorial, que contiene los tomos originales que van del 1 al 6. Ese golpe social, moral y tan personal contra aquellos que viven en el sur del país se siente muy presente.

El guion de Aaron Williams ha sido crudamente vapuleado en el momento en que North 40 vio la luz, y a decir verdad, hay cierta razón en esto. La historia está llena de creatividad y eso no se puede negar: un incidente “tonto” aparentemente, que despierta a un ser de la oscuridad bastante lovecraftiano (en el imaginario más cliché que podamos entender, lejos de lo onírico e incluso de lo cósmico) que invade el pueblo de Lufton, parte del condado de Connover County, llenándolo de monstruos, mutaciones y otros seres aberrantes llenos de extraños poderes.

El problema es que la narrativa tan lineal y caótica por momentos, genera muchos puntos que parecen inconexos. Saltamos de una situación a otra sin mucho sentido, y si bien la historia general se puede seguir sin problema, por momentos se siente como si faltaran partes en el medio, pequeñas viñetas o incluso algunas páginas que sean el puente entre esos saltos al vacío. El final, por su parte, y si bien deja la puerta abierta, tiene una forma de concluir bastante tosca. Se nos prepara para el mismo durante todo el proceso de lectura del comic, y se termina resolviendo en apenas dos viñetas, rompiendo con toda esa expectativa y porte magnánimo que se venía generando.
Amo el arte de la canadiense Fiona Staples, y por ella fue que llegué unos años tarde a esta serie. Tiene algo en sus trazos que me recuerda mucho a Ben Templesmith, pero con una estructura mucho más ordenada. Cada viñeta que Staples regala en North 40 es un mundo nuevo y uno termina invirtiendo más tiempo en admirar su arte que en leer la historia. Como me pasó con el también reseñado La Muerte Viva, siento que la propuesta del guionista Aaron Williams no está a la altura del arte de Fiona Staples.

North 40 me atrapó pero no logró convencerme en sus textos. Tiene muchos personajes dando vueltas, poca construcción de los mismos, y un remolino de ideas que, por plasmarlas de forma apresurada, no define bien a los protagonistas, a los hechos, o a la importancia de cada cosa que se nos muestra. No se siente el peso de una búsqueda concreta dentro de la historia, y todo termina pareciendo encajado con calzador en una impronta cinematográfica muy de clase B.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

An' that's when it all done went t' hell'n'gone. Ain't a soul what remembers what gone on that night. Conover County never had much in the way o' notable hist'ry past when the North an' the South came lookin' for conscripts. Well, outside o' the odd police report. But anyhow... Ain't a soul what remembers what gone on that night. Ain't a soul alive what don't remember the NEXT day... an' all the ones what came after, each night fallin' like the lid on a casket.

I grabbed this during an Amazon flash sale purely due to the fact the artwork is done by Fiona Staples, albeit prior to her Saga, Compendium One fame.

The story has strong Lovecraft vibes as it sees curious students uncover a mysterious ancient text in their library. Upon reading the incantations they unleash hell upon their small town. Causing the locals to develop strange new powers, there are those who want to embrace the darkness and those who will band together to stand in its way.

Obviously it is incredibly well drawn but the story itself felt poorly paced, with gaps in the narrative which caused some confusion in places. Overall 3 1/2 stars.

[Javier Iglesias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chtulhu es un invocado mediante un chernóbil verde en mitad de la nada de un condado de paletos de la América profunda. Los de ordinario inadaptados y vituperados son investidos con poderes mientras el resto de la humana mugre diviene monstruosidades de lo más variopinto. Al final, el bien es bueno y el mal es malo y Chtulhu es más chato de cerebro que una alpargata. Qué de guionismo ingenioso, Sr. Williams... Supongo que es por esto que los Profundos de Lovecraft siempre "revenían" a tocas las narices en la Costa Este...

Me lo quedo porque viene de Lovecraft, ir de Lovecraft ya le gustaría, y por el arte de Fiona Staples, que salva lo que puede del desaguisado, no mucho, pero algo salva...

[Chris Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, let me say that even though this title was cancelled before its time, thereby forcing a sudden resolution (sort of), it is still very much worth reading.
I eventually got round to reading this, more than ten years after someone recommended it to me. I wasn't aware of its cancellation. A shame it ended prematurely, because it could have gone on to be something major, I think.
These days, comics tend to be very slight in their content, but North 40 isn't like that. I didn't feel cheated by a quick and shallow read. There's a lot here, and because of that early death, many loose ends are left hanging.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples team up to deliver a Cthulhu horror series in a little country county that has been through this before. The book started really strong but the back half drug on extremely slowly. There were far too many plot holes and weirdness that didn't add up. There were some really cool horror elements but the story never clicked. The art by Fiona Staples was on point though. She delivered some seriously creepy panels. Overall, a really good beginning that fell of a cliff quickly.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nobody in the town seems to notice or care that evil, horror and monsters have arrived.

What?

I thought it might be a comment about people being so antisocial, they don't care enough to help. Nope, because normies don't mind that their own friends and family are monsterfied. They don't seem to mind them dying in gruesome ways either.

Something about outsiders not caring about tiny hick towns? Nope. No outsiders.

There is an omnipresent narrator, who witters on about evil or something. Nothing here makes any sense, amounts to much, or even ends in an interesting way.

[Sebastien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fiona's art is as always beautiful the way the gory parts are drawn is even beautiful . She's becoming one of my favorite artists. but unfortunately the story is not bad ,but for me the story goes in too many directions at the same time, too many characters and not really caring for what will happen to them.

the fact that the story doesn't really center on one character but more on what is happening to a town.

for me it was a miss.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up a while ago because it's Fiona Staples (Saga). Plot-wise, this is standard fare, and I am a bit tired of rednecks being edgy, but the monster concepts and snarky banter are both A+, and it's one of the best examples of what it would really be like if Cthulhu was stirring that I've seen (factually, you know). I don't think there's any more of it though, which is a shame.

Also wins Best Close Up of a Zombie Tongue award. Not going to forget that for a while.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was maybe the most jam-packed graphic novel I’ve ever read. Multiple story lines happening simultaneously about a trapped town being attacked supernaturally by everything from zombies to Cthulhu.

Bought it because I am an enormous fan of Fiona Staples and she does not disappoint. This gets five stars for the artwork alone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the insane storyline, and the outside the box horror elements implemented here. Highly recommend.

[Jason Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is rushed into and wrapped up. The main characters are paper thin, with secondary characters being far more intriguing. The plot is simple with a lot of handwaving "don't worry about it" to make the setting happen. To be fair, the setting is what shines in this story and it's very clear that's what interested the writer the most. If this was allowed to breathe, or continue after the semi-open ended finale, it might have become great. As it stands, it feels rushed and ill developed.

[Bonnie Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot going on here and I didn't totally get all of it. Monsters, witches, ancient evil, and a cameo by Jordy Verrill (who honestly doesn't get enough work these days), all more or less watched over by an even older and more rugged Tommy Lee Jones. But as always with the art of the fabulous Fiona Staples, you don't have to understand it to have a good time.

[Jennifer Juffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not a boring read. Although it skips around quite a bit and character development tends to be a bit lacking, the plot carries it through...that and an active imagination.
I suppose if it was 50 pages more it would either be phenomenal or a laborious act of reading.
Cthulhu readers, in my opinion, may enjoy this work more than me.

[Jindroush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Příšery byly fajn, ale sraly mě dvě věci: zaprvý jsem vůbec nevěděl, proč se věci dějou, jak se dějou, proč je někdo vyvolený a kým. A zadruhý, moje angličtina na tu vidláčtinu nestačila, takže vlastně nevylučuju, že moje nepochopení může být tím, že jsem prostě nerozuměl řeči jejich kmene. Ale bylo tam nějaký to Kotululu, takže cajk.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a big Lovecraft fan in the sense that I go out of my way to expose myself to the kinds of otherworldly horrors he helped create, but I do like small town westerns and I love Fiona Staples' artwork, so this was a no brainer for me.

A quick read with amazing artwork.