30 Days of Night 15th Anniversary Edition
Written by Steve Niles
Art by Ben Templesmith
Letters by Robbie Robbins
Cover Art by Ben Templesmith
Trade Paperback
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 8, 2017

Fifteen years ago, a new comic book miniseries from IDW Publishing hit the shelves taking us to Barrow, Alaska, North America’s northernmost community, where the temperatures range from “cold as shit to fucking freezing,” and each year, the Sun does not rise for 30 straight days. The series begins on the last day of sunshine before the month of darkness begins, but this time around, vampires have arrived for unhampered access to sustenance of the human variety.

That 3-issue miniseries was 30 Days of Night and it put horror writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith on the map.

Penny Dreadful #1
Story by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Andrew Hinderaker, and Chris King
Written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Art by Louie De Martinis
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover A: Guillem March
Cover B: Ben Templesmith
Cover C: Louie De Martinis
Cover D: “‹Photo cover by “‹Martin Stiff
Cover E: “‹Photo cover “‹by Cat Connery
Titan Comics
Release Date: May 11, 2016
Cover Price: $3.99

I’ve never seen the Showtime series of the same name, but if it’s anything like Penny Dreadful #1 then I’m going to have to track the first episodes down and subscribe to it immediately. Truth be told, I never knew it had anything to do with the gothic novels of yesteryear; that alone is enough to get me interested. Additionally, after having read this wicked little piece of sequential art, I am fully prepared to indulge myself with this franchise. Why, you ask? Keep reading and I’ll tell you.

Back in December, I did a Patreon Spotlight for Ben Bishop‘s (The Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness, Nathan the Caveman) post apocalyptic graphic novel, The Aggregate. Bishop invites us to imagine “if all the Power Rangers were evil, and they wanted to use their Megazord to wipe out most of the people on Earth, and Mad Max was a girl, AND he fell in love with the Red Ranger”¦” Doesn’t this sound amazing?

Recently, the artist and author decided to utilize Kickstarter as the platform to make this book happen. One of the first “choose your own adventure” style graphic novels – or as Bishop calls it, “Split Decision Comics” – the Kickstarter opened up yesterday morning, and has already exceeded its $10,000 goal! But with 28 days left in the campaign, there are still plenty of opportunities to support this endeavor — including pushing the project up to its second goal of $20,000, allowing Bishop to offer the book in full color.

Okay folks, I’ve got two names for you: Lovecraft and Templesmith. ‘Nuff said, right? I’m all about H.P. Lovecraft‘s works; as a matter of fact, I’m wearing a Cthulhu/Peanuts mashup shirt right now! So seeing a Kickstarter for DAGON by H.P. Lovecraft & Ben Templesmith was a must for me to support and share with you fine folks!

This year marks the 125th anniversary of H.P. Lovecraft’s birth and Ben Templesmith is celebrating the occasion by adapting Dagon into comic book form. Since this Lovecraft story was the first one that Templesmith read, it holds a very special place in his heart. And knowing how Templesmith does a great job at literally everything I’ve ever seen him work on, this is going to be awesome! Based on a short story revolving around a shipwrecked mariner, this horror tale is one of the first stories Lovecraft published (in this case it was 1919). I won’t go into too much regarding the story, but suffice to say that as with most things Lovecraftian, it’s not likely to end well. Dark and deadly, his tales rely heavily on the reader’s imagination to fill in the more macabre sections.

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like the world is conspiring against you? Well, I’ve had one of those months. But right in the middle of what has been a pretty cruddy time, I got the chance to get a few answers from none other than Ben Templesmith himself! Talk about making my day/week/month! If you don’t recognize the name then you just aren’t paying attention. This man is a comic book demigod! He’s done a little bit of everything, most notably being the co-creator and artist for 30 Days of Night, Fell, and Shadowplay…not to mention working on a ton of other projects in one capacity or another.

I got the chance to ask him a few questions about his newest project, THE SQUIDDER (read more about it in my Kickstarter Spotlight). Read below what he had to say regarding the Kickstarter fundraising and success he’s had with it so far. And if you haven’t checked out this project yet, do so right here. It’s going to be tentacles above the rest!