Review - Day Men #1


"Impressive. That penchant for adroitness bodes well for a Day Man. We'll be needing that in the coming days."

Vampires are sort of the inverse of humans. They live in the night and sleep during the day. They're fond of gourmet food, but not big on garlic. They do share one thing with humans in that they both thrive on blood and they rely on humans to get them through some tougher times. That's a scenario in Day Men #1 BOOM! Studios.

The issue is written by Matt Gagnon and Michael Alan Nelson and illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze.

For thousands of years, the world has been controlled by the “50 Families” -- a secret network of vampire covens engaged in a timeless struggle for power. But when the sun rises, the vampires are forced to employ the services of a human who acts as their daytime fixer and protector: a Day Man. Trained for centuries to be the mortal soldiers of their vampire employers, the Day Men go forth at sunrise, alone into the world, to do the bidding of their sleeping benefactors.

David Reid acts as the main protagonist and Gagnon and Nelson run the story through him. The opening that pits him against a more seasoned vampire shows that he's not a rookie when it comes to this type of work. In fact, David deals with rival vampire houses, daylight slayers and vampire politics mixed in for good measure. The story itself is a slight twist on the vampire in modern day tale, except that it relies a little too much on narration. Narration boxes flood the panels, giving the reader probably a little more inner monologue than is actually needed for the book to succeed.

Stelfreeze's art is pretty freaking awesome. It's been close to a decade since he's put his talents on display and his sharp art in Day Men #1 is accented well by some harsh shading. David is illustrated with authority and visually proves to the reader that he's more than capable of handling his own when dealing with the vampires. He really pays attention to all aspects of the art, breathing life into the settings and helping the characters to stand out even better.

Day Men #1 is another vampire tale, but it's one that offers a new look at the vampire/human dynamic. It shows that vampires need humans more than they'd like to admit and it's a relationship that could work out. The world being built up is so in-depth and is unfolding in a manner that the reader can really enjoy. There's a lot of inner monologue boxes, which does slow things down a bit, but there's room for improvement in the second issue.

Day Men #1 is in stores now with interiors below.






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