Review — ‘The Midnite Show’ #3 Elevates Monster Mythology

Welcome to the table,

When I was a kid I always imagined that there was a shared universe of monsters. The Wolfman and Dracula lived in the same reality along with The Mummy and Gill Man, Dr. Frankenstein and his creation, demons, devils, goblins, and ghouls.

To me, that was this beautiful webwork of stories that breathed magic into the world. I love monsters. These creatures that exist outside the rules of medical science, who can live forever, they were so powerful, able to explore all these fantastic places they would call their homes and havens. The folklore and mythos of monsters fueled me, because even as a child I knew there were far worse things than monsters in the world.

The Midnite Show feels like one of the most perfect comics I’ve ever read. Yes, Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt are friends, yes, I love Bill Crabtree‘s work, and yes, I love monsters. Nevertheless, everything that is majestic and magical about monsters has been captured by one of the most talented teams in the game.

The Midnite Show #3 evolves an already epic story to new heights of horror, as we see the monsters clashing to curry favor from the mysterious God of Monsters.

What I adore about this book is that, unlike some tellings of these stories, the monsters do not have tragic backstories that we have been tortured with up to this point. Humanity is doing its best in the face of these eldrich entities who walk among us, but the monsters have their own plans. Humanity is little more than collateral damage, like flies buzzing about the feet of giants. Even as the enigmatic Dr. Abraham Van Helsing arrives on the scene in this issue, the monsters seem so far beyond the scope of mortal understanding.

There are some truly spectacular monster fights in this issue laced with some really solid storytelling. The Midnight Show is the kind of horror story that will easily stand the test of time and is destined to become as classic as the creatures that haunt its pages.

Until next time, Spoilers below… you were warned.

Necrowolf VS Gill Man was a phenomenal fight. The fact that Gill Man can summon the waters to him flooding the streets, and Necrowolf is this bestial combatant is such a cool team-up. There is some brilliant lore being seeded with The Mummy Amon Razar and Frankenstein who has transplanted his brain into his flesh golem creation. The ideas present in this book feel like the beginnings of such a larger webwork of stories. I want to roam the world of The Midnite Show like we have been able to do with the Mignolaverse and hopefully Dark Horse continues to tap this well and these creators because this is truly something spectacular.