Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: James Venhaus
Artwork: Pius Bak
Release Date: 26th April 2017

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Upon opening this first issue, I couldn’t help but sigh to myself.   I haven’t really enjoyed other books with this faux rough sketch look in the past. It’s entirely a personal preference, and I don’t know what it is but it has never really clicked with me. Well, I can happily report that this is the first comic I have read that actually makes that style work.

The story for this first issue is pretty standard set-up fare. The primary protagonist, David, is gathering together a group from the school student body to avenge a crime. He gathers a jock, computer expert and an escape artist to complete the team. The execution of this is pretty much the only part of the story that was a letdown to me. David is a nobody, none of the other characters know who he is, but they follow him with very little persuasion.  The crime they are trying to avenge is a murder, yet they barely bat an eyelid. Hell, the jock even has his girlfriend come along, even if she was the one who forced him.  It all just felt a little convenient and unconvincing, which took me out of the story right away.

The group then begin their avenging,  messing up a shipment that is going to be used for money laundering, and allowing several of the members to showcase some surprising knowledge about how organised crime works.   Interspersed with the origin story we also get to see how the local crime boss works operates. Again this is typical crime boss action and nothing special to write about in and of itself, although the creators do throw in an interesting wrinkle to the story at the end of the issue.

I’ve learned over the years not to judge a series by its first issue, and while it is a little bit clichéd at times, Night Owl Society definitely has the potential to become a great series. Yes, the characters all seem to fill generic archetypes, but that’s true of most great characters – in the beginning, at least. I can definitely see this becoming an enjoyable mashup of The Castaways and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there’s no denying that this is a solid start for a series with a ton of potential.

Rating: 3/5.

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PREVIEW ARTWORK
[Click to Enlarge]

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The writer of this piece was: David Gladman
David Tweets from @the_gladrags

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