The Night Belongs to Us Comic Review
“My name is Hank” -L.R Hale
Horror, drama, romance, comedy, and a few NSFW moments. The Night Belongs to Us by L.R Hale is a comic about Hank, a medical illustrator who gets mauled by a rogue werewolf when on an evening jog. After which, she finds herself dealing with the bureaucracy of the supernatural underworld, criminal vampire rings, the wanted werewolf who turned her, and Ada the grumpy drug dealing vampire helping her (Hank can’t help but find her a little cute).
The art.
This comic has been running for 6 years so far, so the art does change a little along the way. But one thing that doesn’t change in this comic is the style. And I’ll admit I’ve wanted to rant about this for some time, I Absolutely LOVE the art style for this comic. It’s clear, the characters a defined, the panelling works, but the style is the real standout for this comic. It’s one of those comics you find where the art just fits the themes so perfectly. The colours are dark and muted except for a few instances of green, yellow, and mostly red; the shadows, Ada’s hair and linework is straight black. It’s cartoony enough to keep it’s humour, it’s realistic enough to keep it’s horror. The character’s are all drawn to look gaunt and undead yet still remain expressive and fun. I absolutely adore the style L.R Hale has gone with here. It just fits the story so well. It really supports the dark humorous grounded tone of the comic.
But as beautifully drawn as the characters are if there’s one complaint I can bring up, there are times when the backgrounds are a little empty. Some locations look good, but some look a little empty. It’s not a big problem, it doesn’t detract from the comic too much, but it’s still a little noticeable at times.
But stylisation wise, the characters look amazing.
The characters.
The Night Belongs to Us has a fairly small cast of characters. You have Hank the newly turned out of her depths werewolf, Ada the stand offish jaded vampire; and a handful of secondary characters like Hank’s friends, the sheppards, and the villains. It’s a small cast and the main focus is on the two mains and their relationship. But, that works with the story it’s trying to tell.
The mains themselves are fun, and don’t fall completely into cliches (not that cliches are inherently bad, but it is nice to have variety and a little bit of depth). Hank isn’t always damsel in distress, she’s a slightly morbid awkward medical illustrator. Ada instead of the suave all powerful charismatic archetype, lives in a tailor park watching cartoons and selling drugs (Although she certainly has her cool moments). The biggest strength of the characters is they’re incredibly grounded. They have flaws, work jobs, have weird things they’re passionate about. For a vampire and a werewolf their realistically written and the writer takes the time to show them as people outside the supernatural DMVs and bounty hunting. It makes them extremely easy to root for them.
The story.
The stand out of “The Night Belongs to Us” is definitely the story and the use of tone. The entire ordeal of becoming a werewolf for Hank is hilariously mundane and grounded. Involving DMV services, support groups, and self help pamphlets. It’s a world where villains screw up, Hank has a bad I.D photo, and werewolves are secretive but have boring turning stories. It’s grungy and it’s down to earth, and it’s its dark sense of humour that really makes it stand out.
That being said, for all of the comics humour it also uses a good balance of tension and drama. It deals with Hank figuring out her new life as a werewolf and running into a lot of unsavoury figures along the way. It can pack in the action and drama and it let’s that be cool, while not taking itself too seriously. And that’s the biggest strength with this comic, it’s aware at how absurd it concept is and has fun with it. It let’s itself be cool, and let’s itself be hilarious.
The Night Belongs to Us takes the werewolf vampire story we all know and gives it a gayer, realistic twist. It has fun with its concept with a great balance of dark humour and action. Its characters are grounded and engaging, and it’s world is hilariously mundane and spectacular. And to top it all off the chemistry between the two main characters is a huge draw.
And have I mentioned I absolutely love the art style?
It’s a great read. And If you like down to earth dark humour, or werewolf love stories, this comic is a no brainer. And even if you don’t, maybe this comic might just surprise you.
