GRAPHIC TRAFFIC

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

By Neil Gaiman (Author) and Michael Zulli (Illustrator)

Dark Horse Comics (Publisher)

Review by Maia Bankhead.

Do you enjoy Grimm’s Fairy Tales? Do you love the mystical, intriguing yet terrifying tales of the world? Then Creatures of the Night is perfect for you. Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Coraline) has written two tales that have a similar writing style to the Brothers Grimm, focusing on supernatural evils and heroes lurking in our unsuspecting world. The first story, The Price, is about a modern family that takes in stray cats to feed, vaccinate, and release, and how the father notices that, after taking in an injured black cat, strange things are happening around them. The Daughter of Owls recounts the tale of a mysterious orphan girl that is isolated from the village she was abandoned in, yet seems to have a malicious and unseen guardian. The beautiful watercolor paintings by Michael Zulli (The Sandman, Legends of the DC Universe) just add to the feeling that you’re reading a fairy tale told hundreds of years ago instead of a modern one. I strongly, strongly, STRONGLY recommend reading this one. The stories in Creatures of the Night are an unnerving yet amazing read. After this, I plan on reading more of Gaiman’s work.

SAGA VOL. 2

By Brian K. Vaughn (Author) and Fiona Staples (Illustrator) Image Comics (Publisher)

Review by Jack Dumpert.

This is the third time that Graphic Traffic has reviewed Saga, the multiple award-winning series from the multiple award-winning author Brian K. Vaughn and the multiple award-winning artist Fiona Staples. We still love it! From its first appearance in 2012, it’s been clear that Saga  is something special. Yes, its sci-fi fantasy.  But it’s also something more. In the tradition of John Galsworthy’s “The Forsyte Saga” or Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time,” Saga is an epic of family, of enemies and allies, of the common and the exalted, all caught up in the ebb and flow of history. Saga is immensely enhanced by the revelatory innovative artwork of artist Fiona Staples, who draws, colors and hand letters every page in her truly unique style.  Best get on this series now. The trade paperback edition is up to volume 6, with volume 7 scheduled to appear in March 2017. The series to date has also been collected into two hardcover editions. All are graced with painted covers by Staples. The story, a first-person memoir, is up to the narrator’s time in pre-school. Clearly, there’s a long way to go.