The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom

Nocturnals #4

by Dan Brereton, Ted Naifeh

The Gunwitch, silent and deadly bodyguard to the misfit family of monstrous heroes known as the Nocturnals, breaks away in his first solo adventure! When the pistol-packing Gunwitch and his young charge, Evening Horror, find themselves in a small town ravaged by undead outlaws and true Hell's Angels –– motorcycle ridin' vampires –– The Gunwitch takes it upon himself to bring down both groups before any more innocents can be hurt. But as the undead protector embroils himself in the conflict, what once seemed to be an old fashioned turf war is revealed to be something much more sinister. Writer Dan Brereton (NOCTURNALS, GIANTKILLER) and artist Ted Naifeh (GLOOMCOOKIE) mix the American Spaghetti Western and drive-in horror with a hard-boiled sense of gallows humor. You'll never leave your night-light off again.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2002

About the author

Daniel Alan "Dan" Brereton is a Comic book storyteller, 5-time Eisner not-winner. Responsible for The Nocturnals and a lot of comics.

Reviews

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never read any Nocturnals, so maybe that would have helped with my enjoyment with this. As it is, it moves way too fast and you never really get to know or care about anyone or anything in here.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Dan Brereton and his Nocturnals, and I have rapidly fallen completely in love with Ted Naifeh, but The Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom is a letdown from both perspectives. As usual, Naifeh's art is good, but seems to lose something when he's working on other peoples' material (and in the less cartoon-y style that's demanded here).

Not necessarily a bad read for fans of either creator, but not particularly recommended either.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not aware this was part of a series called The Nocturnals, but that doesn't make much difference. Like Brian Michael Bendis says in the introduction the story is basically Red Harvest, Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, etc. but with a Halloween flair. Nothing special in the short three issues but nothing bad either. Everything moved along a bit too quickly buy at least it didn't drag along and stretch out any longer than it needed to tell the story. The art was so-so. Everything was clear and the environmental setting was well realized. I might check out the main Nocturnals series eventually.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read the Nocturnals, but I picked this up at the Con last year and finally got around to reading it. It was fun; reminded me of a mix of Hellboy and the Underworld movies.