"Night Club #1 - #2" Comic Review

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Bored with his everyday life, an average American teenager trades in the daily grind to spend his evenings pounding the pavement as a masked crusader, while all around him swear profusely, drop pop culture references and engage in shockingly bloody violence. Sounds, ahem, kick-ass, right?

Writer and one-man brand Mark Millar returns to familiar territory with this fusion of superhero and horror comic. After being grievously injured in a YouTube parkour stunt gone wrong, young Danny Garcia finds himself on the wrong side of a hospital bed, his neck and back broken in three places. But when he is kidnapped by Philadelphia Police Detective – and vampire – Nick Laskaras, Danny's life is forever changed. Recruited into Laskaras's army, Danny becomes the vampire's apprentice (think the Darren Shan chronicles, but with more swearing) and quickly sets about putting his newfound powers to good use... namely, more parkour!

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Those familiar with previous work will find much in common with his Kick-Ass, Superior and Wanted, the formula updated somewhat with a more inclusive cast of characters and marginally less dated pop culture references. That said, Night Club is still very Mark Millar, especially in its juvenile dialogue and even-more-juvenile power fantasies. Even the art feels familiar, with Ramírez's sketchy style giving similar vibes to Lenil Yu's work on Superior.

Familiar territory, maybe, but there's no denying that the template works. Without wasting time, Millar gets Danny all vamped up within the first twelve pages, putting him through the paces in his vampire training with Laskaras. The action is slickly done by Ramírez, particularly in the second issue, which lets Danny get creative with his powers. Unusually for a vampire comic, the bulk of the second issue takes place in the daylight, explained away with a Spider-Man-esque costume, luchador masks, and billowing smoke effects. While his world feels sparsely populated, Ramírez's art is enjoyable enough, and backed up well with atmospheric colours by Fabiana Mascolo. 

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Like much Millarworld of late, Night Club feels like it was written with one eye on the TV/movie adaptation (Millarworld owners Netflix even get a name-drop in the credits), which does make it feel like a cynical exercise in Content Creation. It's a slick, quick and fun read, but a surprisingly toothless one. 

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