Redecorating with werewolves, psychic badassery, and a geometry lesson to boot.
What They Say
Betrayed by one of their own, the Hunters have become the hunted as their hideaway is invaded by a pack of ravenous werewolves! But it’ll take more than a few mongrels to get the better of these kids. Meanwhile, Alex begins advanced training with Mr. Roi. Will he be able to help her find a clue to her sister’s disappearance? Or is the home-schooled Alex in way over her head?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Reading the third volume of Nightschool reminded me of geometry, particularly the asymptote. An asymptote is a curve that approaches a line, closer and closer, but never touching, as they head towards infinity. Chmakova works very hard to crank the tension to a maximum by keeping Alex and Roi apart for as long as humanly (or inhumanly) possible. When Roi decided to skip his midnight class, where Alex is in attendance, in order to do more research on the identity of the silver-haired girl, I couldn’t help but laugh. As much of a fan of dramatic irony as I am, I’m much more a fan of bad puns, and a particular gem involving werewolves was much appreciated.
I mention these highlights first, as I found the third volume to be noticeably weaker than the second. The second played to Chmakova’s strengths in whimsical situations and dialogue, whereas the third tends to focus on action, drama, and night-world politics. With the explosion in vampire fandom since Buffy, it’s extremely hard to avoid cliche, and Chmakova’s signature strengths aren’t as present in the drier drama. If it’s your first exposure to ideas such as alliances and conflicts between werewolves and vampires, or treaties to offer non-human entities some rights, while protecting the safety of normal human, it’s exciting stuff. But for those familiar with that song-and-dance, it’s not particularly captivating, as it’s building a world we’re long familiar with.
Things pick up midway through the volume, however, with some nicely done psychedelic vision sequences, where characters flow into each other and off the page. The volume closes on a high note as well, as the long-awaited second meeting between Alex and the hunters appears to be coming at last. Though the third volume is step down from the quality of the second, the fourth volume promises to be exciting.
In Summary:
A larger focus on cliched hunter drama rather than Nightschool antics makes this volume weaker than the first two. However, it does progress the plot in necessary ways and sets up what looks to be an exciting fourth volume. Chmakova still has great talent in layouts and dialogue, but there’s just less of it on display here than I’d like. With the inevitable joining of the two stories almost upon us, hopefully Nightschool can finally get the perfect blend of humor and drama that’s been eluding it thus far.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen /press
Release Date: April 20th, 2010
MSRP: $10.99
