Clive Barker's Nightbreed Comics - Issue 10

Nightbreed 10 - ‘A Sale on Salvation in Aisle 4’

Concluding ‘The Blasphemers’ storyline, somewhat to my relief! Lori’s guitar-wielding prowess has unleashed long-dead creatures from their graves, adding to the chaos of the ongoing melee between the Blasphemers and the Cabal party, allowing the party to escape in Nickneven’s old truck- Nickneven’s head that it (The Blasphemers burnt her body last issue!) 

This is where Guido’s talent comes in useful as Boone rips out Guido’s backbone to use as an emergency repair kit for the old truck! The Blasphemers pursue when Lori’s guitar string snaps (seriously?) and a chase back to the mall  to get an even more effective guitar!

This time she raises a skeletal dinosaur that wrecks the mall. 

Mulciber, the gargoyle , has been having doubts about whether to continue supporting Ritegrig in his quest to destroy Boone and therefore gain acceptance and become Nightbreed. 

Boone senses his self-doubt and opens one of the ‘eggs/seeds’, revealing Mulciber’s childhood; how he’d foregone a trip to the church in favour of painting his model witch. His backstory takes up a few pages, and is rather weak; he goes to the cinema and is seduced by a female ‘Breeder; he wakes up in the night and has become a gargoyle!

He laments that he should be able to ‘be any kind of monster I want!’- just like the witch, he could use the glow-in-the-dark accessories or not; so he can remake himself into the monster he wants to be. He breaks down in Boone’s arms, and Ritegrig really throws his toys out of the pram!

Aello and Oral, (big mouth) meanwhile have been falling for each other, but Ritegrig slashes Aello and in an act of Breed cannibalism, he becomes ‘Breed himself. He becomes a colossus rock-monster, but is quickly put in his place by the skeletal dragon-flying Mulciber, who’s seen the light/dark and finally turned good/bad!

Body count: Ritegrig and Mucliber both died in the battle of the skeleton/dinosaur and rock-monster. The witch’s body has been destroyed (although her head lives on), Aello is dead.  

So what happens next? Of course! 

They place the old witch’s head on the body of the bombshell Aello and let Oral make do with that!!

The series concludes with Kinski giving Cabal some inspirational words of encouragement (kind of) but they all decide to stay in the witch’s cottage, leaving Boone and Lori to set off on their own looking for the new Midian!

Relieved, I began reading the next of the Nightbreed comics, hoping that the storyline would become a bit deeper, or more mature, or lyrical and symbolic, or at least less puerile and less riddled with inconsistencies, irrelevancies and gaps of clarity that the ‘Blasphemers’ storyline offered. 

Below: The Blasphemers

 

Clive Barker's Nightbreed Comics - Issue 9

Nightbreed 9 - ‘The chicken coop of the soul’

I don’t know if they intentionally came up with corny titles for each issue, but this one beats the rest!

Led by Ritegrig (‘He’s a monster for sure!’) the blasphemers attack Boone’s party. While Narcisse expects Nana Nickneven to resort to traditional witchcraft, she makes a homemade Molotov cocktail and firebombs the attacking Blasphemers- buying themselves some time. Amid a very domestic scene where Kinski is becoming more endeared to young Tater (yes, Nana Nickneven’s Cthulhu-tainted grand-daughter!), the blasphemers arrive… 

They say that ‘pigs might fly…’, and Piglet (one of the Blasphemers) is doing exactly that- carried aloft by the winged beauty-but-dumb Aello, and promptly opens fire on Boones’s tribe.

Trapped in a chicken coop by the others, Boone is again forced to play the part of martyr and attempts to get the gargoyle Mulciber to repent, before being attacked by wannabe-breeder Ritegrig, and being rescued by the tentacles of the Cthulhu child!

We now learn of Ritegrig’s traumatised childhood where he is taught by his father that ‘only the biggest and the strongest survive’. He also learns (the hard way) how his Dad had buried his Mother in the garden, and takes revenge on his Dad- courtesy of his own gun! 

Using magical eggs again, Nana Nickneven begins to reveal to us (and the other Breeders) the Nightbreeders' past lives- Starting with Kinski, she shows us how he got to become ‘Breed, thanks to a love-inspiring potion gone wrong, accidentally transforming him from a regular (if unattractive) man into the moon-faced ’Breeder we know and love. 

Next we learn how Narcisse, a former actor, was betrayed by his agent and friend., but not much more is revealed 

Then it’s Guido’s turn (Guido, incidentally, has the ability to rip out his spinal column and use it as a weapon or lasso!) to wander memory lanes, and we learn how his mentor-mechanic (male) friend made a pass at him. Spurned by the young Guido, his mentor killed himself with exhaust fumes and left Guido with all the guilt. 

Lori’s past merely (and disappointingly) reveals how she disappointed her professor by turning down an archaeological research post in favour of her performance opportunities with a rock band… which to be honest just left me wondering why they bothered including that scene…

When Cabal tries the ‘magic egg’ trick, his past reveals nothing- because Cabal has no past! 

Boone is gone for good is what this suggests… ‘For you there is only a future’ Nana Nickneven prophesies.

Tired of waiting for sunlight to come so they can ‘fry’ the trapped party, the Blasphemers take ‘necessary force’ and spring into action at Ritegrig’s prompting.

We finally learn Lori’s ‘Breed powers’- after realising that their individual characteristics have been somehow determined by their past, and because of Lori’s musicianship, they get her to play guitar… 

Wondering what that achieves? Well, it raises the bones of the dead, that’s what! Only in this case, the closest dead things happen to be dinosaurs!! Let the carnage commence…

Clive Barker's Nightbreed Comics - Issue 8

Nightbreed 8 - “Light me a candle” said Flesh to the Flame

This continues the story of The Blasphemers. Opening with the near-zombified, insane Ashberry and an inexplicably more youthful and athletic looking Eigerman establishing a blasphemous altar in Ashberry’s old church where he has been reclaiming some of his old ‘things’. This could have been a great storyline but is over too soon as the Priest-in-residence attacks them with a burning candelabra, driving them out of his church. Shame- it was a nice altar, complete with goat’s head and candles! As Ashberry shouts at the Priest to join in their hunt for the Nightbreed, we’re left to wonder whether Ashberry is insane or has himself become Nightbreed- he appears to be sprouting Shuna-Sassi style spines from his head where his burnt-off hair once was.

Meanwhile, Ritegrig is stacking up an armoury to go on his own Nightbreed hunt. The arms supplier, bored with his lot, wants to join Ritegrig as a mercenary, not caring for who, where or what might be Ritegrig’s target. Preparing the Blasphemers for combat with Boone’s party, Ritegrig’s ‘battle tactics 101’ is interrupted by the arrival of the arms dealer. He unwittingly supplies the Blasphemers with a feast while they’re discussing whether to stick with Ritegrig’s plans to help them destroy Boone in exchange for becoming ‘Breed himself, or to just ‘ice’ him… Baphomet’s law of meat is at the ‘heart’ of the discussion, and whether they can overthrow Boone and prevent Baphomet from re-gaining power- and therefore retribution against them for breaking his law.

Back at Old Woman Nickneven’s pad, Boone’s party are holed up to discuss what to do about the Blasphemers. While Boone wonders whether to continue with the mantle of ‘saviour’, Lori decides to have her own crisis of confidence because she doesn’t know what ‘she will become’ or if she’ll sprout tentacles from her eyeballs. And if she does- whether Boone will keep his promise to never leave her…

Old Nickneven knows how to answer the question- by using a magical egg to see where Lori’s past lay, she can see where her future lies- we will discover exactly what that is in the next issue. For some lame reason, Guido and Narcisse take a trip to the food store in what seems like an inane opportunity for more puerile jokes (tampons and acne this time…)

This issue concludes with a bang, quite literally, as the Blasphemers arrive, armed to their massive teeth with Ritegrig up front; “Lock and load troops- It’s Nightbreed time!”

To summarise so far: We have three groups, all hunting each other. All are either A) Nightbreed (Boone’s party and the Blasphemers), or B) Tainted with it (Ashberry) or C) They want to be Breed (Ritegrig) or D) They want to destroy them (Eigerman). The humans are just here to supply the meat and the gross-out effects and ‘comedy’ value…

Clive Barker's Nightbreed Comics - Issue 7

Volume 1. No 7 - “The sacrament of Meat”

In Part two of ‘The Blasphemers’, our assorted rabble of Blaspheming, flesh-eating Breeders are tooling down the highway in a truck, heading for a confrontation with Boone and Co.

Meanwhile Boone almost comes to blows with Kinski over something he said (!) -but the situation is quickly diffused and the attention of Boone and friends is drawn to TV coverage of the Blasphemers’ actions…

Bursting in on the party, a battle ensues as the Blasphemers try to ‘convert’ Boone away from the Baphomet-adoring messiah that he has become (and is struggling with). By using the almost-naked (again) Lori as bait and ransom, they nearly manage to get Boone to eat the flesh of the natural they’ve tied to a stake and are happily barbecuing. Urged by Kinski and Lori, Boone refuses the meat, which the gargoyle Mulciber compares to 'the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge' and 'Ambrosia, the food of the Gods'. 

A huge battle between Boone’s mob and the Blasphemers takes place, but most significantly it is witnessed by a man called Allen Ritegrig, who becomes critical to the storyline later on… “What do you know? There IS a God! It’s got fangs and claws and kicks some serious Ass…”

In the aftermath of the battle (the Blasphemers beat a retreat in the truck), Eigerman shows up to lead the investigation (so Ashberry didn’t kill him!) and is using the half-mad priest to sniff out the breed. Surprisingly, Eigerman shoots the duty cop and takes his badge to add to the growing collection inside his jacket– his ‘kill trophies!’ and sets off with Ashberry to hunt the Breed. 

After a farcical scene in a cinema where the Blasphemers are letting off steam, this issue concludes with Ritegrig doing a ‘deal’ with the Blasphemers, after trapping them in a cinema and setting it alight… “I want you to give me what you’ve got– I want you to give me the Night.”

Clive Barker's Nightbreed Comics - Issue 6

Volume 1 no. 6 - “The Body and Blood”

Opening the series of ‘The Blasphemers’, a killer-rapist steers a car into a bush to hide it- its sole occupant the dead female driver. 

Here we are introduced to a different kind of beast. One that we read about in the press all too often, and a great story ‘hook’ that didn’t last long enough for me. I’m not even sure why they bothered naming him...

After ditching the car, the murderer stumbles across a small girl playing near a pond, and he has the worst possible designs on her. A truly revolting character, a shame he took an early bow! 

The little girl wants to play with him– He has a different kind of sick game in mind, until she turns into a tentacle-headed Lovecraft-styled ’Breed and instantly slaughters him! She is Tater, Nana Nickneven’s grand-daughter, and has been waiting for Cabal. 

Boone appears- this time with Lori, which isn’t explained, as she hasn’t appeared to date and last time we saw him he was with Kinski. Of course, they’re out to find Nana Nickneven. 

All the above happens in the first few pages, and is followed by various gratuitous and puerile scenes of semi-nudity extreme gore, violent deaths, and awful puns.

There is a shower scene with Boone and Lori, who makes a great reference to Psycho, “I was waiting for some guy named Norman, but you’ll have to do…” - at least the joke offers partial redemption to an otherwise unnecessary scene– we’ve already seen them make love in the prison after all. 

By this issue, all of the subtlety and prose of the book had been lost , and I had to force myself to continue reading the series to the end, but I couldn’t help wonder who the intended audience was. I know comics have moved on a lot in recent years, but these seem so outdated in their style and format. 

The ‘Breed are truly Monsters now; even Boone becomes Cabal in what is described as a pissing contest with Kinski!