Creeping dread emerges with the start of the second title of Vault Comics’ “Nightfall” line.
Written by Lonnie NadlerCover by Jenna Cha
Illustrated by Jenna Cha
Colored by Brad Simpson
Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-ElhaouA young fur trapper flees her overbearing family only to get lost in a dreamlike winter wilderness that harbours a cosmic threat.
The year is 1887 and a storm brews. Eulalie Dubois has spent her entire life tending to her family’s trapline, isolated from the world. A chance at freedom comes in the form of a parcel that needs delivering to a nameless town north of the wilderness. Little does Eulalie know, something sinister hides in those woods and it yearns for what she carries. A chilling historical cosmic horror tale of survival from the deranged minds of Lonnie Nadler (The Dregs, Marvelous X-Men) and debut artist Jenna Cha.
As the second series in the “Nightfall” line of comics from Vault Comics, “Black Stars Above” #1 has a lot to live up to. With time continuing on past Halloween, some audience members’ attempts to outright look for scares may be diminishing. Is Lonnie Nadler’s work on this rural horror story enough to gather interest for his work in the genre? Signs definitely point to a resounding yes.
In the first half or so of “Black Stars Above” #1, Nadler takes his time to slowly show the family of our protagonist Eulalie, keeping things at an even pace to help readers to get accustomed to the normal workings of the group. Conflict does exist, but on a low, manageable, relatable level, helping with an understanding of various family members’ quirks in this Native culture on the cusp of societal change during the late 1800s. The personalities of Eulalie’s elders aren’t all that unique, from the “I know what’s best for this family” father to the similarly unyielding yet more taciturn grandfather to the relatively understanding mother, but this use of standard archetypes makes it easier to look at them from the perspective of Eulalie herself rather than needing to focus on any single one of them. Furthermore, the fact that the family speaks in two different languages on top of English provides additional fodder to examine the differences between them and from one generation to another.
The true horror of the tale only really starts once the story moves away from the family as a group, meaning that there needs to be a story element to enforce this kind of separation. The device used to push Eulalie toward running away from home and going on her adventure is far from unique, perhaps stretching into the level of cliché. However, while the method is well-trod ground in other stories to the point of an intimate familiarity with the concepts shown, it truly seems to be nothing more than a means to begin the supernatural terror itself. As such, while the method is far from unique, it is satisfactory to move forward into the meat of Nadler’s plot.
Speaking of the meat, the supernatural aspects of “Black Stars Above” #1 pop up intermittently throughout the story, from animals with eyes seemingly made from ink, to an unusual English-speaking gentleman of some sort, to the eponymous black star. Rather than explain these goings on, Nadler wisely opts to give only the minimum amount of information necessary to entice readers, luring them further into the depths of terror in the process despite the underlying feeling of dread.
The use of a journal as a framing device works wonders to situate Eulalie and examine her personality, especially in how it integrates errors or corrections. By adding in those little details, Nadler is able to show how her mind works and what kinds of thoughts she works to avoid or suppress, using words to paint a picture of someone who is not perfect by any means, with flaws readers can only guess at thus far.
As good as Nadler’s writing is, Jenna Cha’s artwork is definitely the star of the show. From the outset of her debut in comic books, Cha makes absolutely clear that she is an illustrator to watch for in horror books going forward. In short, her artistry is very similar to Piotr Kowalski’s artwork on “Bloodborne,” putting the eldritch nature of an otherworldly presence into a very disturbing, unnerving light sure to unnerve many a reader even before the supernatural elements become completely apparent.
Continued belowCha’s use of detail, which gives equal weight to backgrounds and characters, helps readers to see the story holistically, giving weight to the idea that these characters are just part of a much wider, weirder world. Normally, this kind of detail would not be too noticeable, but in a story such as this, Cha’s style helps to enhance the sense of people as small elements of a larger narrative.
On the other hand, some of the closer detail that does exist works very well at giving a variety of different emotions. Focusing in on bizarre events such as an animal with eyes filled with ink, the first encounter with what appears to be a supernatural agent, and the Black Star itself all are seen in such a way that they can leave readers thoroughly unsettled, wishing to anticipate what comes around the next corner. Heavy shadows in moments of terror help to increase this dread as if pouring into an endless abyss, shaking the audience to their core.
With his experience in the likes of “Wolfenstein: From the Deep,” various “Dark Souls” comics, and “Bloodborne,” Brad Simpson is an excellent choice for the supernatural horror of “Black Stars Above” #1. On the one hand, he provides a warm light in quieter scenes, such as tending to Eulalie’s grandfather, helping to lighten the mood and keep reader’s off balance from revelations in the writing, but not fully allowing for true happiness or calm either. On the other, a use of darker, cooler color palettes in the nighttime, especially away from civilization, help to exacerbate a sense of intense unease that is only barely held back by the yellow-orange glow of a lantern, as if a single, pale candle against a sea of endless shadow.
The best use of color has to be the rising dread felt by Eulalie as she is forced to realize her place in her family, where Simpson accentuates the apparent age lines drawn in by Cha to craft a gradient of color that grows darker and darker from panel to panel as our protagonist loses all hope of freedom, prompting a sensation of depression and fear in readers as they are just as sad for the young woman as she is for her own situation, along with frustrated at her father and grandfather.
Final Verdict: 8.5– Fear of the unknown continues unabated in yet another winner at Vault Comics.
