Mom used to tell me stories about Santo Pedro. Where she wanted to raise me. She grew up there, in a place nicknamed "The Devil's Chair," where she met my father. I used to think that name was scary. She couldn't wait to show me everything she knew made it special. The friends I'd make, who I'd fall in love with. I wonder if that's all she wanted.
But now its 1999 and she didn't live long enough to see that...
Welcome to the Turn of the Millennium. Florida is owned by Spain. America consists of 31 States. The internet is still infantile and irrelevant...
And ghosts, vampires, and all the other Things That Go "Bump" in the Night casually exists amongst humanity.
Orphaned by the unfortunate death of his parents, Vince Okonma has arrived in the anomalous city of Santo Pedro to live with his gun-for-hire cousin Ivory and his Indie Game developer turned skeletal specter roommate Matt. But while adjusting to the paranormal oddities of his new surroundings, Vince befriends and quickly develops a crush on Gray: a tall beautiful kleptomaniac German Vampire who also has been crashing at Ivory's place. After spending five years living together under the same roof, Vince must navigate his way through the trials and tribulations of adolescence as he struggles to muster up the confidence to finally confess his feelings for Gray...all while gradually stumbling into a Cosmic Horror Story of apocalyptic proportions in the process.
Published by Image Comics, Nights is an ongoing Gothic Horror Urban Fantasy comic series written by Wyatt Kennedy, drawn by Luigi Formisano, with color art by Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli. Its first issue debuted on October 11, 2023.
Nights (2023) provides examples of:
- Action Mom: Director Tsukumary is revealed to be a mother in Issue #6 and gets a call from their kid while she's in the middle of commanding Chimera's troops as they all mobilize against Gray.
- Affectionate Nickname: Gray has affectionately been calling Vince her "Rechte Hand" ever since he helped her steal an old lady's hat during the night they first met.
- Alternate History: The story takes place in a world where America is only comprised of 31 States and Spain apparently owns the entirety of Florida as a territory. Also, the supernatural exists and is treated as a mundane aspect of life that the people of Santo Pedro have long since gotten used to.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: After devouring the Red Girl in Issue #6, Gray ended up inheriting the God's crimson skin alongside her Eldritch Abilities and Horror Hunger.
- Ambiguously Evil: Issue #1 concludes with a Flash Forward to the far future where Santo Pedro is completely destroyed, a giant glowing Eldritch Abomination towers over the city’s ruins, and Vince’s narration pegs Gray as the one responsible for killing the world, much to his own initial ignorance to who she truly was. Multiple characters throughout the story, including one of Ivory’s targets and both Directors Tsukumari and Tsukumary, also allude to the idea that Gray isn’t as harmless as the main cast would like to believe. Issue #5 shows that while Gray herself is farthest thing from being evil, the Red Girl definitely is.
- Ax-Crazy: On top of secretly moonlighting as a cold-blooded assassin, Ivory seems to secretly harbor a Split Personality or some Dark Entity that constantly belittles him and compels him to commit acts of ultra-violence while he’s on the clock. Ivory absolutely loathes this part of himself and tries to keep it hidden from his loved ones as best as he can.
- Barrier Maiden: For one reason or another, Gabriel was the only one keeping the Red Girl contained inside Gray but has grown weak over the countless years of upholding his vigil and is desperately trying to warn Gray of the crisis brewing via prophetic dreams of what will happen if she doesn't take action. But since Gabriel can only speak Spanish, his warnings fall of deaf ears as Gray becomes increasingly convinced that he himself is the threat trying to take over her body.
- Big Brother Mentor: Both Ivory and Matt try their upmost best to be this for Vince since the former became his legal guardian, pushing him to commit to his studies and to never resort to violence, all while introducing the kid to stuff like Ichi the Killer and NSFW mods for Tomb Raider. Ivory even gushes over the prospect of finally being able to be the kid’s Romantic Wingman when Vince admits he’s interested in a girl he knows, but that moment gets hilariously soured the second Matt spells out to him who Vince is crushing on.
- Bilingual Bonus:
- Gray originally hails from Germany and regularly speaks in her mother tongue while bantering with the rest of the cast. This also enables her to playfully flirt with Vince without him fully realizing it since he can’t understand what she’s actually saying.
Gray: [After falling into a cavern] You okay?Vince: Yeah. I was trying to catch you.Gray: Du hast mich erwischt, liebling.noteVince: W-What does that mean?- Gabriel speaks exclusively in Spanish and drops major hints that he's not the villain Gray believes he is if you can understand his dialogue. Unfortunately for him, Gray doesn't understand what he's actually saying before she plunges a knife into his neck.
- Cannibalism Superpower: By consuming both Gabriel and the Red Girl, Gray emerges from the obelisk of flesh permanently possessing both of their respective abilities, enabling her to effortlessly intercept the ballistic missile launched at her by Chimera before it could kill everybody at the water park. But this also had the side-effect of reigniting her Horror Hunger, indicating to Vince that she'll need to start feeding regularly again.
- The Cavalry: After Vince and his friends get arrested by Chimera and are thrown into the back of a transport vehicle, Matt arrives at the nick of time to ram the transport with his van while its passing an intersection, flipping the Chimera vehicle onto its side while enabling Vince and the others to escape while the drivers are knocked unconscious. Matt also swoops in to save Vince from being shot by Tsukumary almost immediately afterwards.
- Cleavage Window: Director Tsukumary, the leader of Chimera after Tsukumari’s death, has a massive bust emphasized by her cleavage exposing blouse. Even Gray refers to her as the "Mean Boob Lady."
- Cool Big Sis: In contrast to Ivory and Matt, who are generally try to be the more "responsible" parental figures in Vince’s life, Gray is initially more of a manic older sister figure whose blithe and mischievous nature Vince is immediately enthralled by.
- Cool Mask: Director Tsukumari wears a black and gold Oni mask that conceals the lower half of his face. It isn’t just for show though, as he needs it in order to communicate due to being heavily disfigured under it. Tsukumari also can only use it for a limited amount of time but can "buy more minutes" via smoking blunts wrapped in his written sins while wearing the mask.
- Crazy-Prepared: When Matt swoops in to save Vince from being shot by Director Tsukumary, he boasts how futile it is to fight him since everybody knows that you can't physically harm a Ghost. Cue Tsukumary whipping out knuckle dusters inscribed with magic runes before cracking Matt's skull open with a single punch. Thankfully Matt isn't killed by this and returns the favor to Tsukumary while armed with a hunk of rubble near the end of the issue.
- Creepy Child:
- Molly's little brother constantly appears before Ivory Covered with Scars as if he was mauled by a feral beast while refusing to say a single word. He's also apparently strong enough to throw a grown man around like a rag doll if significantly provoked.
- The Red Girl's physical appearance has an eerie resemblance to Gray (or more specifically, Gray's younger sister) but she has crimson-colored skin and wields a knife seemingly constructed out of her own blood. And that's not even getting into her Lamprey Mouth Nightmare Face once she starts seizing control of Gray's body...
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Ivory’s dad was murdered in a robbery when he was 10 years old and was groomed by his Crime Lord Uncle Goldie to be a Professional Killer who could "clean up the streets" of Santo Pedro as his personal enforcer. While Ivory actually abhors violence and wants to get out of the game, its his only reliable source of income as the gang’s primary breadwinner. Ivory also might be involved in the disappearance of Molly’s kid brother, who haunts him alongside the same black wolf-like monstrosity Gray defeated in Issue #3.
- Before Gray became the Friendly Neighborhood Vampire of Santo Pedro, she was Grayson Brown, a young bride who was about to get hitched to a childhood sweetheart until she unwittingly became the host body for both Gabriel and the Red Girl on the night of her wedding. This transformed her into a bloodthirsty Humanoid Abomination who committed an act so horrific that the Red Girl erased her memory of the event as an warped act of mercy. Grayson then fled her home in Manhattan, became a wanted criminal, had an affair with a Magician in Edinburgh that ended in her breaking his heart, and was inevitably recruited into Chimera as a sanctioned "Oddity Hunter" under Director Tsukumari.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: With a little assistance from a dying Gabriel, Gray not only defeats the self-proclaimed God trying to steal her body, but devours the entire Eldritch Abomination alive in retaliation and gains its power in the process.
- Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: A major focal point of the narrative revolves around the budding Paranormal Romance between Vince and Gray. The former is a relatively normal teenage boy while the latter is a 185 year old German Vampire who will apparently be responsible for killing the entire world in the far future.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Red Girl claims to be an Ancient Deity that reigned over Santo Pedro alongside her siblings until Gabriel and his companions "ate [their] flesh" as a part of some kind of war effort. Through The Power of Hate, the Red Girl survived by clinging to Gabriel's psyche and seemingly becoming one with his very being. But Gabriel was betrayed and their shared body was cast into the sea where the two aimlessly drifted together until the night Gray discovered whatever was left of their remains, which led to Gray involuntarily becoming their new host body. Now with Gabriel out of the picture, this Deity is determined to take Gray's body for herself so she can reunite with her siblings and finish the work their "mother" started, which could result in countless causalities if she is left unchallenged.
- Eldritch Transformation: After the Red Girl seizes control of Gray's body, her face cracks open like a porcelain doll and gradually mutates into a literal category 5 tornado of flayed skin with giant pulsing red eyes.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Gray is the sole Vampire living in Santo Pedro. While she is an unapologetic thief who can’t keep a job to save her own skin, she’s incredibly upbeat and loves her roommates as if they were her own family.
- Hermaphrodite: While combating Gray within her own Eldritch Location of a Mental World, the Red Girl gradually goes from a crimson-skinned replica of Gray's younger sister to a hermaphroditic humanoid with patchwork flesh and ornate golden armor that forms an eyeless cowl over her face.
- Godzilla Threshold: After multiple elite task force units lost their lives trying to terminate Gray after her Eldritch Transformation in Issue #5, Tsukumary orders a missile strike to bomb the "obelisk" and level the entire water park with it. When Tsukumary catches Vince sneaking his way back into the park to try and help Gray, she pulls a gun on the kid and is perfectly willing to shoot him if it means she can drag him back to the safe zone alive.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Issue #3 reveals that Gray used to work for some kind of covert government organization called Chimera as an "Oddity Hunter" who answered directly to Director Tsukumari as part of some arrangement that resulted in her being dumped in Santa Pedro. While Gray tells Vince that she wasn’t a part of them for long, her personal file they have in their archives is comprehensive and heavily redacted.
- In-Universe Soundtrack: The comic has its own official Spotify playlist for each issue, which features an eclectic mix of tracks from artists such as The Stampeders, Nas, Com Truise, and Thundercat. A lot of these tracks are even played in-universe via Vince’s MP3 player and Ivory’s car radio.
- Knight of Cerebus: While the comic does intentionally dip into Surreal Horror at abrupt moments where it can be at its most dissonant, the overall narrative was still at its core a relatively upbeat Coming of Age Story meets Roommate Com. That all changes with the Red Girl in Issue #5, whose debut heralds the story's hard dive into Cosmic Horror.
- Love at First Sight: Vince becomes immediately enamored with Gray when he meets her face-to-face for the first time in 1999, regardless of the fact that he had just witnessed Gray casually penetrate her own skull to check her brain for a concussion after he had smacked her with his skateboard in a knee-jerk reaction.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Gabriel, the mysterious crimson armored Spaniard who has been haunting Gray's dreams, turns out to have been the only thing keeping the Red Girl contained within Gray. And Gray plays right into the Red Girl's plan by killing Gabriel on her behalf.
- Older Than They Look: Gray is over 185 years old, but is still physically 19 due to her vampirism.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: One of the most common sights to see In Santo Pedro are the Ghosts of people who died but couldn’t move on to the next life due to unfinished business they still have in the land of the living. They always manifest with the appearance of a skeleton with luminescent eyes, and if the Ghost doesn’t succeed in getting their affairs in order in less than 25 years, they will simply cease to exist in the blink of an eye.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Gray possesses many of the typical Vampire characteristics such as Flight, enhanced strength and speed, retractable razor-sharp claws, immortality, a rapid healing factor, and a natural aversion to the sun. But she also notably lacks a need to consume blood and claims to be a special case who hasn’t needed to feed in over 50 years. Subverted in Issue #5, where its revealed that Gray is FAR WORSE than a vampire.
- Precocious Crush: Played for Drama. Vince first met Gray in 1999 when he was still a preteen and has been attracted to her ever since. One of the big things keeping him from being open about his true feelings for her is the fear that Gray might still see him like a younger sibling even after the Time Skip puts them in the same physical age range. The Significant Name Shift Gray uses in Issue #4 heavily implies that she's grown attracted to Vince in the same way.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The main cast of characters is comprised of a Hormone-Addled Teenager with an avid interest in songwriting, his older cousin who secretly works as a hitman for a living, the Deadpan Snarker Ghost of a Indie Game dev who translates Hentai as a side gig, and a German Vampire with a kleptomaniac streak, who all live together under the same roof.
- Relationship Upgrade: After several issues of constant Unresolved Sexual Tension building between the two, Vince and Gray finally seal the deal in the aftermath of Issue #6 where they have both The Big Damn Kiss and Their First Time.
- The Unmasqued World: The world of Nights is one where the supernatural is real and universally known and accepted as another mundane aspect of life. That said, this doesn’t mean there aren’t any supernatural creatures lurking around who endanger the lives around them, necessitating the existence of Oddity Hunters who directly deal with these threats as they emerge.
- Weirdness Magnet: The entire city of Santo Pedro is a hotbed of paranormal activity ranging from benign things like jogging ghosts and talking star-nosed moles to horrific man-eating cryptids and full-blown Eldritch Abominations.
- Your Days Are Numbered: By virtue of being a Ghost, Matt only has 25 years to settle his unfinished business on Earth or else he’ll cease to exist. While Matt doesn’t make a big deal about this while around the rest of the gang for the most part, Issue #4 sees him becoming more openly concerned about his fate while feeling increasingly alienated by Ivory and the others, who he wishes he can lean on more for morale support.
