Steve Niles’ story of Gotham City’s other defender continues in SIMON DARK: ASHES, the second trade paperback in the crime/horror hybrid series. Simon is a young man who’s been pieced together from other people’s parts in an experiment of Frankensteinian black magic.
With no memory of his origins, he finally learns the truth of his “birth” by the end of this six-issue arc. But there’s much more going on before that. Like, for instance, a plot to zombify the Gotham citizenry via a chemical implanted in a brand of soap. Like, for instance, Simon and the PD taking down a Satanic cult. Like, for instance, a lair befitted with booby traps that sends spikes through people’s bodies.
Simon’s one intriguing cat. There’s more to him than his jigsaw-sewn mask. Like, for instance, the magic stone he throws that goes through his enemies rather bloodily. Yeah, there’s more than a tinge of antiheroics to his doings, which casts the series in an appropriate shade of gray.
Niles’ dark streak is complemented by Scott Hampton’s art, which is purposely perennially overcast. The next trade, unfortunately, will be the last, as SIMON DARK’s 18th issue is his last — a shame, given this not-your-run-of-the-mill subject. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• ALEISTER ARCANE by Steve Niles and Breehn Burns
• BATMAN: GOTHAM COUNTY LINE by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton
• BIG BOOK OF HORROR by Steve Niles, Scott Morse, Ted McKeever and Richard Sala
• BIGFOOT by Steve Niles, Rob Zombie and Richard Corben
• THE CREEPER: WELCOME TO CREEPSVILLE by Steve Niles, Justiniano and Steve Scott
• THE CRYPTICS by Steve Niles and Benjamin Roman
• DAWN OF THE DEAD by Steve Niles and Chee
• FUSED by Steve Niles
• THE NAIL by Steve Niles and Rob Zombie
• REMAINS by Steve Niles and Kieron Dwyer
• SECRET SKULL by Steve Niles and Chuck BB
• SIMON DARK: WHAT SIMON DOES by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton
• STEVE NILES’ CELLAR OF NASTINESS by Steve Niles
• 28 DAYS LATER: THE AFTERMATH by Steve Niles
• 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: IMMORTAL REMAINS by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte
• 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: RUMORS OF THE UNDEAD by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte
• WAKE THE DEAD by Steve Niles and Chee
Related posts:
- The Creeper: Welcome to Creepsville
- Remains
- 28 Days Later: The Aftermath
- 30 Days of Night: Immortal Remains
- The Cryptics
