Dark Horse Comics reviews 9/25/24 – Night Club 2 #2, Magic Order 5 #1

Night Club 2 #2

In the wake of falling out with Danny after learning he’s dating his longtime crush, Amy, Sam has been in a bad funk. He’s ditched The Night Club and taking advantage of his powers and abilities to be a big-time player at his high school. Dating the head cheerleader, Kendra, and having his former tormenting bullies at his beck and call. After last issue’s cliffhanger, Sam even gained the respect of the major crime lord Rufus Tee.

But the heart still wants what the heart wants. Sam realizes Kendra is only with him because of his abilities and is still pining for Amy. A conversation with his grandfather helps him realize the path he should take, but Sam can’t help but confess his feelings to Amy. The fallout leads to Sam making some disastrous decisions that quickly have dire and potentially fatal consequences.

Night Club has always felt like a very in the moment book that happens to be about teenagers. Writer Mark Millar is actually capable of writing teenagers that don’t sound like they’re from the prism of how an adult thinks teens sound. That applies to teen’s emotional, chaotic and impulsive state of mind. This helps make Sam, who’s been a jerk to the only people that have constantly been down for him, still a sympathetic character. And Millar is easily able to explain Sam’s actions, which in a very sensible manner sets up the threat for this arc.

Artist Juanan Ramirez has such a strong flow with his pencils crafting a book that wonderfully conveys a sense of teenage vampires in a viral world. The imagery, particularly as the Night Club transforms into vampires, is stunning. Action sequences have just the right mix of mystery and power and the emotional moments always land appropriately.

Colorist Fabiana Mascolo deftly utilizes a warm, but muted color palette that fits the tone of a book where the heroes have to operate in lower light. Letterer Clem Robins arranges the dialogue smoothly without the need of sound effect elements.

Night Club 2 #2 establishes the main plot of this arc with a tantalizing threat that could spell disaster for Danny, Amy and Sam provided they can work past their differences and unite once again.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Dark Horse

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