30 DAYS OF NIGHT: EBEN & STELLA #4 by Steve Niles, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Justin Randall.
© IDW
Mania Grade: B+
Issue: 4
Authors: Steve Niles, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Justin Randall
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
Issue: 4
Authors: Steve Niles, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Justin Randall
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
30 DAYS OF NIGHT: EBEN & STELLA #4
By: Kurt AmackerReview Date: Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Steve Niles and co-writer Kelly Sue DeConnick fill in a chapter of the 30 Days of Night saga that lands squarely between the second miniseries, Dark Days, and a later sequel, Return to Barrow. At the end of Dark Days, Stella Olemaun attempted to resurrect her vampire husband, Eben. She succeeded, but he returned as a vampire and promptly fed on her. We only saw the two – both vampires – at the end of Return to Barrow, when they arrived to assist the town from another vampire attack. Here, Niles and DeConnick present Eben and Stella at their darkest moment – both undead, unsure of their future together, and caught in the middle of a plot to secure the oldest vampire of all. The oldest vampire just happens to be an infant. But, whoever possesses the child rules the legions of the undead. In the first issue, Stella inadvertently kidnapped the vampire baby in a stolen car. Now, Xen and her crew of cyberpunk vampires want the kid back, and they’ve got Eben Olemaun as collateral. To complicate matters, a vampire hunter and her husband have entered the fray, along with an injured former police officer looking for revenge on Xen’s crew. It comes down to a Mexican standoff of sorts in a Cracker Barrel knockoff, as Stella must find a way to keep Xen from ruling the vampire nation and decide if she can remain at her husband’s side.
The last couple of 30 Days of Night miniseries have focused on vampire conspiracies and intrigue more akin to the X-Files. Here Niles and DeConnick return the story to a more personal perspective, as Stella tries to balance her humanity with her desire to feed on the living. And rather than taking an easy out – such as Stella “only feeding on evildoers” – Niles and DeConnick allow her to succumb in a brutal, unromantic fashion. Ultimately, circumstances force her to choose not good deeds, but ones of lesser evil. Unfortunately, this issue suffers a bit for some confusing action in the climactic restaurant scene. Justin Randall’s art invokes that of series co-creator Ben Templesmith, though often more defined and less abstract. But, many of his characters look similar to the point of confusing the reader. Thus, the climax becomes a bit hard to follow at times. But ultimately, the fate of the infant vampire and Eben and Stella shows clearly enough, as the story leads into Return to Barrow.
30 Days of Night fans will enjoy Eben and Stella, as it fleshes out a once painfully missing chapter in the saga. New readers will likely have a bit of trouble jumping on board, but there are always trade paperbacks. Pick this one up.
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