We’ve been here before, haven’t we?
You remember.
The night. An evil force needing banishment. A summoning of heroes. And, in the spirit of my favourite television show these days (Game of Thrones, ‘natch), winter is coming.
Uh, Baron Winters, that is.
Last October, in this very column, I recommended the hardcover compilation of the early 1980’s mystery/suspense/horror series Night Force. Created, written and illustrated by industry legends Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Night Force revolved around supernatural agent Baron Winters and his team of mystics fighting all manner of otherworldly unpleasantness. Thank your lucky hoodoo because today – they’re back!
Night Force #1
Written by: Marv Wolfman
Illustrated by: Tom Mandrake
Published by: DC Comics
Night Force hasn’t had its on comic book series in publication since 1996-1997. That’s fifteen years of supernatural wickedness running rampant in our world with no one to stop it! Its first monthly series lasted only fourteen issues and its second volume, only twelve. DC Comics, dipping their mainstream feet into the dark realms once more (after the publishers success of last autumn’s re-launch), have given this iteration of Night Force seven issues. And you know what? That’s all writer/creator Marv Wolfman (he’s back!) and veteran artist Tom Mandrake (a man who can draw creepy!) will need to whet your dark-and-supernatural-comic-book whistle.
In this story, readers will learn that Baron Winters is a man mysteriously tied (or imprisoned) in his own Wintersgate Manor residence, unable to leave the premises for reasons unknown. Instead, he pulls together a new team of disparate individuals including a retiring cop still bent on a cold case, a young woman who has undergone secret manipulations, and an old, well-known, paranormal acquaintance in order to investigate a conspiracy centuries in the making. Fans of comics like Hellblazer, Planetary, and Alan Moore’s 1980’s run on Swamp Thing should be in dark bliss reading this twenty-first century version of Night Force. If you’ve never heard of the series before, or have only had passing interest, believe me when I tell you that you that after reading the first issue, you’ll be drawn into the mystical world of Baron Winters like a moth to a flame!
So, make the run to your local comic book shop today and pick up the first issue – before the force of collectors everywhere make it unavailable this very night!
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
Really looking forward to this! Unfortunately, DC missed a big opportunity to reprint the original series (their paperback/hardcover side of things is a mess these days). It was scheduled to come out as a hardcover last year and apparently a trade paperback early this summer, but I doubt we’ll see it. Hopefully, this series pick up some steam and maybe that will increase our chances of seeing the original content reprinted.
Yep. Fingers crossed. That entire series needs to be collected…and collected well! A softcover compilation of the first couple of issues (out last year as a teaser more than anything else) is not enough – a full-on hardcover would be perfect!