Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Jay Faerber
Artist: Fran Bueno
Release Date: 24th December, 2014

Full disclosure, when I pick up comics I will tend to avoid anything in the general Vampire or Zombie sub-genres of horror. It isn’t that I don’t give the associated creators their dues, it’s just that, in my opinion, it’s hard to pick up a new title and find that the content is original or contains any great shift of paradigm.

However, I found myself putting that aside to read Graveyard Shift so as to challenge those pre-held ideas and, well, it definitely succeeded to an extent. This book;s take on the Vampire mythos reads much more like a gritty cop tale in which the protagonist (a homicide detective) finds that prior to a bust his team are in the crosshairs of dark forces, ultimately leading to a great loss for him.

As far as opening issues go this was quite a strong first entry, with the ending making me ponder whether the main character will just be grave fodder or whether his detective skills will slowly unravel the mysteries behind why his team in particular have made the supernatural’s hit list. It almost feels like a procedural TV show waiting to happen.

The art is superior on this title, every panel comes alive with minor background details like decor that have an extra little sharpness to them and there is a nice balance of gore that, whilst somewhat visceral, shouldn’t detract at all from the content.

Rating: 4/5.

The writer of this piece was:
Gary Kane aka (GK)
GK tweets from @Kanoclassic