Written by: Jay Faerber
Art by: Fran Bueno
Publisher: Image
Graveyard Shift is a comic about vampires, love, and revenge. It doesn’t really challenge you or make you think, but it doesn’t need to. Sometimes, comics can just be fun. The main premise isn’t that distant from any other vampire tale, but it allows you to be swept away in its quick-fire reveals and its blistering speed, escalating quickly and refusing to slow down. Sadly, you don’t have long to soak in the story before the final pages appear. This isn’t a huge problem, but it certainly affects the overall appeal. Graveyard Shift didn’t blow me away, nor did it wear thin. It just helped pass the time with a nice premise and interesting characters, even if parts were significantly flawed.
After an early-morning police raid ends in the death of a vampire, Liam—one of the offending officers—has his entire world shattered. When all the other officers from that night are murdered by a brood of vampires hell bent on revenge, it is Liam that suffers the greatest loss: Instead of being killed, he has to watch his wife get bitten and transform into a vampire herself. From the get go, the story blazes by, and you are thrown into this world where vampires are once again living among us.
In recent years, I have grown incredibly tired of the vampire genre, and I found Graveyard Shift fitted generically amongst the already-large catalog of stories featuring these blood-sucking beasts. That being said, I wasn’t disinterested—I like the idea behind it. It gives the typical vampire clichés more of a backbone, and having the focus on a couple’s relationship as they struggle to cope with the transformation is refreshing to say the least. I’ve never seen this dynamic explored before, so it instantly gave me a hook. It’s a shame that the fast pace of the story is equal parts frustrating and tiresome. Before you can adjust to one element of the narrative, it is quickly resolved and the next part is thrust upon you without any room to breathe.
Graveyard Shift’s artwork is superb, with lots of dreary panels that help give the story authenticity. When there is daylight, Fran uses big, bold colours to help the transition from light to dark. The brief scenes of the city at night are stunning, and so is the nightclub—it helps to give the comic life, especially when there are so many darker moments. The characters, however, are a little typical, and the vampires lack individuality, but all in all, the drawings are well realized, and the core designs work well. The absolute best artwork in the entire comic doesn’t actually feature in its story though; I really loved the beginning of every chapter as there is a drawing, coloured somewhat differently to the panels. These opening images to the chapters are shaded excellently, and they are striking—it’s a surprise that this style isn’t featured more.
Overall, Graveyard Shift is a good read that doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but there is enough here to entertain and engage the reader. The story is a little contrived and overtly rushed, but it can still be enjoyed if you don’t have anything else on your reading list.
