Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips, Ed Brubaker: Night Fever (Hardcover, 2023, Image Comics)
Hardcover, 120 pages
Published June 20, 2023 by Image Comics.
Who are you, really? Are you the things you do, or are you the person inside your mind? In Europe on a business trip, Jonathan Webb can't sleep. Instead, he finds himself wandering the night in a strange foreign city, with his new friend, the mysterious and violent Rainer as his guide. Rainer shows Jonathan the hidden world of the night, a world without rules or limits. But when the fun turns dangerous, Jonathan may find himself trapped in the dark... And the question is, what will he do to get home? Night Fever is a pulse-pounding noir thriller from grand masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. A Jekyll-and-Hyde story of a man facing the darkness inside himself, this riveting tour of the night is a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips readers!
First book of the new year, and what a read it was! Dark and feverish, with some amazing art to boot. Like others, I felt like I blasted through it a bit too quickly, but/and that's a great excuse to read it again soon, if only to look more closely at the artwork.
It certainly looks good - it may well be Sean and Jake Phillips' finest artistic hours respectively. I mean I've never seen comic or graphic novel artwork look this beautiful. Brubaker's story though I'm not fully on board with - I'm comfortable with much of the story being conceptual, almost happening in a daze which may or may not be shared by the author. The non-ending thought leaves me a little disappointed - it's a fast read, which is almost a welcome change of pace from Brubaker, and it's stunningly cinematic. The lack of consequences for Webb though leaves me a little cold, whether Rainer is real or not (I'm not convinced he is) - the hint that power and privilege sidestep all consequences is definitely made, but maybe the balance Brubaker tries for between that and his far more interesting noir take on the 'roads not taken' theme felt …
It certainly looks good - it may well be Sean and Jake Phillips' finest artistic hours respectively. I mean I've never seen comic or graphic novel artwork look this beautiful. Brubaker's story though I'm not fully on board with - I'm comfortable with much of the story being conceptual, almost happening in a daze which may or may not be shared by the author. The non-ending thought leaves me a little disappointed - it's a fast read, which is almost a welcome change of pace from Brubaker, and it's stunningly cinematic. The lack of consequences for Webb though leaves me a little cold, whether Rainer is real or not (I'm not convinced he is) - the hint that power and privilege sidestep all consequences is definitely made, but maybe the balance Brubaker tries for between that and his far more interesting noir take on the 'roads not taken' theme felt a bit wonky. Either way it's a stunning read, and not at all to be missed.
