Nightfall
Nightfall
Another one of my kickstarter comics cleared their hurtle and hit the presses. Today’s comic is Nightfall #3, a continuation of the Nightfall series. I don’t think I’ve talked about Nightfall or Constant Hustle before. Anyway, they’re a frequent flier on the Kickstarter funding site and some of that is because they deliver an above average product.
TL:DR- there appears to be an apocalypse event between the Wingless Comics line and Constant Hustle comics. Justice, an angel who fell to earth and now fights demons running around the planet, faces off against an old friend who’s very, very VERY mad with him over being stuck on Earth. He’s also working for Evil Merlin because he wants to destroy the world. But Mr. evil angel, sir, if you blow up the Earth, where are you gonna go? Meanwhile Avery (She’s the one with the A on her chest) catches up with the mysterious Lux but before they can make a plan, Blaqfire shows up. The race is on for the heroes to stop the Senator and Merlin from unlocking the portal to hell or something.
Let’s take a look at this scene. We get to see Her, the big shot of the Wingless Comics line, in action. The art here looks quite good. It’s got the character in the center but not dominating the frame and you get a good idea of her power in this scene. You feel the hero literally holding back the ocean as people flee from the attacking creature and the rising waters. The next frame is also really good, even though it’s brief. Justice is foreshadowing things to Kaliburn, and the way their faces are drawn shows the tension and confusion matched by their voices really well. Justice spends a bit of the next page fighting with Baleor and can’t explain things to Kaliburn, which leaves us out of the loop and wanting to see what he meant. Props to the writing team for adding foreshadowing. Problem is they added a bit too much foreshadowing and not enough story. I think the issue would be better if they went with the full 48 and showed a bit more how Her, Avery, and that book tie into the story. We got a lot of plot pieces but we don’t know the full frame of the puzzle yet. Some people might enjoy this style of storytelling but I’m not the biggest fan. Nonetheless it’s still an engrossing series.
If you turn to the back, there’s a side story called Immortals that may or may not have anything to do with the rest of the crossover event. No spoilers but some of the characters in Nightfall kinda look like the characters in Immortals. If you’re a Christian looking for interesting comics that reflect some of your beliefs, then you’re in luck. It’s certainly better than Left Behind but that’s not saying much. Even if you’re not a Christian and have high standards, I think you’ll like this series. Heck even Kickstarter itself thought it was pretty boss.
Kickstarter Comic Reviews #nighthasfallen: Nightfall #4-5
And so, we come to a well-deserved conclusion to the Nightfall Saga. The forces of…Chaos, I think, unleash an eldritch abomination (kinda evil godlike being) in issue 4 after Justice and Lux get captured. In issue 5 they fight off the god of Chaos or whatever. It’s kinda hard to understand.
What I really liked were the cameos. Because the god of Chaos or whatever broke the multiverse, other characters appeared. Aceblade and LumberJax made an appearance along with a few others I haven’t seen in a few years. But sadly, they didn’t get to move the plot. Now I don’t expect that since they’re not A-tier heroes like Thor or Her, but they could've made a B plot or something more substantive.
And now we should talk about the art. Let’s take apart this page here as it’s a great example of what to expect. Now you might find it a bit unpolished and blurry in some respects. And you might be a bit correct, however pay some attention to the faces in the scene. In a complete reading of the series, you’ll know the characters will make these expressions at this particular time in the story. Crossbow guy (forgot his name) is stoic and focused, which shows up in the way he speaks the final line in the page. Everybody else is a bit panic and roughed up because of all the fighting and the desperate situation they’re in. You can tell its serious because even Her looks shook. I think the way they drew the emotions on the faces should be commended. I wasn’t a big fan of their framing, though they had the right idea throughout the comic especially on this page.
Are there comics with better art out there? Certainly, yes. But I believe the Nightfall series makes its unique mix of storyline and character cameos to overcome any art deficiencies.
One thing I liked about issue 5 was the setup for other events in the comic company. Sometimes books or comics end too abruptly without important closure but Nightfall did it well. That’s as much as I can say without giving away the ending. 4 out of 5 stars.
You can find Nightfall at: Wingless Comics Constant Hustle