Third Time's The Charm

Night Force vol. 3
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
Tom Mandrake, artist

To date, Marv Wolfman has returned to his Night Force property three times, the most recent this past year for a seven-issue limited series, and this third Night Force is the best, IMHO, due in no small part to the fact that it WAS a limited series this time out.

The cover of the first issue boldly proclaims this latest Night Force to be "The Classic Series, Reimagined For A New Era!" I think this is mere hyperbole, playing into the newness of the rest of the DCnU relaunch. To be sure, Tom Mandrake's Baron Winters looks quite a bit younger and more athletic in build than in previous incarnations. But the characterization Marv Wolfman supplies is the same old uncaring maestro readers have come to expect. And once again, events from the previous incarnations of this series are referenced as actual past events these characters played a role in and some brief cameos are included by some of those past players. It isn't a stretch to believe that Winters' new, younger appearance is merely due to his ageless quality and/or an after-effect of the last story arc from the previous volume of Night Force.

In this single, seven-chapter story arc, a completely new threat is conceived for Winters and his agents to face. Forces unknown are selectively breeding human beings to achieve their own goals. The threat dates back hundreds of years and is quite epic in scope, very nearly succeeding in bringing about Winters' own demise. And perhaps that is another reason this latest volume seems better than its predecessors: the threat seems dire enough to truly challenge Winters, even frighten him. Winters typically has tended to come across as somewhat bored by his past missions.

Especially if you are a fan of Vertigo comics, these three volumes of Night Force would definitely be worth a look.

Another Trip To The Well

Night Force vol. 2
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
Brent Anderson, Eduardo Barreto, Sharon Martinbrough, Matt Smith and Sergio Cariello, artists

When Marv Wolfman brought his Night Force concept back to comic book shelves in 1996-97, he did a lot of things right. For instance, this was not a reboot, but truly a continuation. The unique nature of the series -- a central figure directing the actions of various agents in the pursuit of various goals -- means that the series could come back after almost 15 years and just pick up where it left off. Maybe there were other "missions" in the intervening time and maybe there weren't, but this is clearly the same Baron Winters. Even a few of the other characters from the first series make a return here. Their history with Winters remains intact and is sometimes referenced, but in such a way as not to limit the understanding of new readers unfamiliar with the first volume of the series.

This new Night Force also had some strikes against it. Gene Colan was unable to return due to health problems. While several other artists took over the art chores an arc at a time, none of these other artists could capture the same dark moody atmosphere a Colon illustration provides. And once again, the title struggled to find an audience, this time being cancelled after just 12 issues.

The first story arc of the late '90s Night Force is the best of the bunch, IMHO. Reflecting the times, this series is somewhat darker in tone than the previous incarnation. There are still demons and supernatural forces to contend with here, but there are also many much-more "human" monsters in these issues. The balance between and nature of God and the devil are also frequent themes from this volume. Despite some bright moments here and there, however, this Night Force left me a little underwhelmed just like the first volume.

It Was Worth A Look

Night Force vol. 1
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
Gene Colan, artist

I've always enjoyed Marv Wolfman's writing to varying degrees. He is a large part of the reason I got back into comics as a teenager through his work on New Teen Titans. A few years later, he was incredible with his epic Crisis On Infinite Earths maxi-series. Even when I didn't just love something he wrote, I still enjoyed aspects of his work. But I never warmed up to this series when it first debuted in 1982. I tried the first issue or two, and at the time, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Fast forward several years and I have read and enjoyed a much larger array of comics and genres. I read and enjoyed Wolfman's and Colan's collaborations on Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, read for the first time in the recent Marvel Essentials collections. Night Force was billed as being by the same creative team and very much in the same creative vein as that series. So I decided to give it another try.

The premise centers around the enigmatic Baron Winters, a character whose exact age and origins are shrouded in mystery. What is known and/or surmised about Winters is that he has been around a long, long time, he rarely ever leaves the mansion in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) wherein he resides, he assembles various agents to combat various supernatural, occult forces, and he really isn't a very nice man. Winters is always accompanied by and often speaks to a leopard named Merlin. Of his agents, little is known about how Winters knows these people or why. Sometimes they aren't even aware that they are working on his behalf as they go about what they believe are their normal lives. This means that, unlike most serialized fiction, you never know when a character might be killed or disappear never to be seen again, thus upping the suspense of the series.

To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the 14 issues that make up the mid-1980s first volume of this title. To be fair, these tales may have been more original when first published, but now there is little here that hasn't been seen before in other venues. The writing is still well done, and Colan's shadowy art style is best suited to horror. And I did become a little more engaged in the stories as the series progressed, but even at the time, the title found a very small, dedicated audience that wasn't large enough to keep Night Force afloat. So after 14 issues and four story arcs of varying lengths, Night Force was canceled. A text piece at the end of the final issue promised the title would return with a series of connected limited series in the next year or so, and while that prediction ultimately proved to be false, the title would return.