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The Night Owls: v. 1
In 1920s New York City, Professor Ernest Baxter, an expert in all things arcane, Mindy Markus, a scrappy flapper and Roscoe, a gargoyle from the Bronx, are The Night Owls. Together they solve crimes no one else can, specializing in the supernatural, in this first volume collecting the short stories that make up their webcomic adventures.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 16, 2019
I liked the comic strip format and old fashioned feel of this graphic novel about a 1920s detective agency solving supernatural cases in New York. Ernie, Mindy, and Roscoe the gargoyle get up to all sorts of wild adventures in this lighthearted book. One of my favorite things about it was the panels with excited narration:
A nice way to while away an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon. Looks like it was a web comic, so I think I’ll head to zudacomics.com to see if there are any more stories featuring this gang.
Coney Island, 1925! Ernest Baxter meets Mindy Markus for the first time!
Filthy the rat has just informed the Night Owls of a series of kidnappings!
New York’s vampire criminals are conducting a secret meeting!
A nice way to while away an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon. Looks like it was a web comic, so I think I’ll head to zudacomics.com to see if there are any more stories featuring this gang.
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April 25, 2012Alyssa Morres
Graphic Novel
This graphic novel takes place in the 1920s and is a mystery that The Night Owls solve. The Night Owls consist of a gargoyal, flapper, and a professor. Together they solve all sorts of mysteries dealing mainly with the supernatural. This graphic novel takes many different sides being funny, serious, romantic, and mysterious.
Graphic Novel
This graphic novel takes place in the 1920s and is a mystery that The Night Owls solve. The Night Owls consist of a gargoyal, flapper, and a professor. Together they solve all sorts of mysteries dealing mainly with the supernatural. This graphic novel takes many different sides being funny, serious, romantic, and mysterious.
April 4, 2018
The Night Owls - a professor, a tough-as-nails liberated flapper, and a gargoyle - battle supernatural foes in 1920s New York. Strong art, great upbeat humor that's appropriate for kids but smart enough for most adults, and engaging characters, good plot twists. Very entertaining. Mixes one-page gags against longer (usually no more than ten pages) storylines, but even the longer stories have a good gag at each page's end.
February 23, 2020
In 1920s New York City, Professor Ernest Baxter, an expert in all things arcane, Mindy Markus, a scrappy flapper and Roscoe, a gargoyle, are The Night Owls. Together they solve crimes specializing in the supernatural, in this volume collecting the short stories that make up their webcomic adventures. Cute adventures, reasonably priced.
June 5, 2023
A cute comic strip that I’d never heard of until I picked the library. A guy and girl theatrical suite takes place in a wagon . It was a fun
January 1, 2011
Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.
The Night Owls is a humorous and unique take on the noir detective story of the late 1920's. Professor Ernest Baxter, who cannot go out in the daylight, and his assistant, flapper Mindy Markus run the detective agency, The Night Owls. Along with them is their sidekick the gargoyle, Roscoe. Working only during the night hours, except if Mindy must make a daytime outing, the agency deals with crooks of a supernatural nature such as Mr. You who has no face of his own and steals other people's faces to commit his crimes, werewolves who murder young women, vampires who kidnap Prof. Baxter thinking he is one of their own killing his own kind and an ancient American Indian monster, Big Owl who seeks revenge against Prof. Baxter. Of course, there is also the unrequited love story as Ernie Baxter loves Mindy from afar. Being the typical shy professor he is too afraid to ask her out or tell of his feelings. We can see Mindy is eager for him to ask her out but since he doesn't, she has plenty of others who do and she is a flapper who loves to have a good time.
I loved the book! A fun bunch of stories quickly rolling together with repeat appearances of characters throughout the book. I'm not sure whether I'd call it a graphic novel though as it's storyline is not that of an actual novel. In reality what we have hear are a collection of one page web comix that were published previously and have been combined together into this volume. Sometimes one page is a mini-scene in the life of the characters. Then a story arc with unfold over a series of pages and be resolved. With the next case starting up right after one finishes. In this regard the book lacks the cohesive elements of a novel and instead is a collection of fast paced mini stories about the same characters that are kept together by the reappearance of characters, both good and bad guys, in future cases. There is a recurring theme of Mindy's relationships and Ernest and Mindy's "love" story which progresses very slowly.
So while I would call this a collection of comics, rather than a graphic novel, I really enjoyed the 1920's noir style detective stories. The characters were all a lot of fun and the bad guys, though of a supernatural variety, reminded me of the old Dick Tracy movies; I've never read the comics. In fact the whole book has a Dick Tracy atmosphere and Ernie and Mindy reminded me of an American Tommy & Tuppence. Certainly a lot of fun for the noir detective reader, if you don't mind crossing paths with werewolves, gargoyles and the like. The book ends right in the middle of the action, just as an epic fight is about to start, so there obviously is meant to be a book 2 but seeing as Zuda publishers has gone under, it's future is uncertain. But since Zuda was an imprint of DC Comics they certainly have the ability to continue publishing the series if they see fit, through another imprint.
While the book is most likely written for adults. I'd say it is a crossover that will be enjoyed by all ages down to around ten years old. There is a small bit of suggestiveness of the slight cleavage and garters variety but otherwise nothing of concern for age appropriateness. A good, fun read for middle graders, teens and adults!
The Night Owls is a humorous and unique take on the noir detective story of the late 1920's. Professor Ernest Baxter, who cannot go out in the daylight, and his assistant, flapper Mindy Markus run the detective agency, The Night Owls. Along with them is their sidekick the gargoyle, Roscoe. Working only during the night hours, except if Mindy must make a daytime outing, the agency deals with crooks of a supernatural nature such as Mr. You who has no face of his own and steals other people's faces to commit his crimes, werewolves who murder young women, vampires who kidnap Prof. Baxter thinking he is one of their own killing his own kind and an ancient American Indian monster, Big Owl who seeks revenge against Prof. Baxter. Of course, there is also the unrequited love story as Ernie Baxter loves Mindy from afar. Being the typical shy professor he is too afraid to ask her out or tell of his feelings. We can see Mindy is eager for him to ask her out but since he doesn't, she has plenty of others who do and she is a flapper who loves to have a good time.
I loved the book! A fun bunch of stories quickly rolling together with repeat appearances of characters throughout the book. I'm not sure whether I'd call it a graphic novel though as it's storyline is not that of an actual novel. In reality what we have hear are a collection of one page web comix that were published previously and have been combined together into this volume. Sometimes one page is a mini-scene in the life of the characters. Then a story arc with unfold over a series of pages and be resolved. With the next case starting up right after one finishes. In this regard the book lacks the cohesive elements of a novel and instead is a collection of fast paced mini stories about the same characters that are kept together by the reappearance of characters, both good and bad guys, in future cases. There is a recurring theme of Mindy's relationships and Ernest and Mindy's "love" story which progresses very slowly.
So while I would call this a collection of comics, rather than a graphic novel, I really enjoyed the 1920's noir style detective stories. The characters were all a lot of fun and the bad guys, though of a supernatural variety, reminded me of the old Dick Tracy movies; I've never read the comics. In fact the whole book has a Dick Tracy atmosphere and Ernie and Mindy reminded me of an American Tommy & Tuppence. Certainly a lot of fun for the noir detective reader, if you don't mind crossing paths with werewolves, gargoyles and the like. The book ends right in the middle of the action, just as an epic fight is about to start, so there obviously is meant to be a book 2 but seeing as Zuda publishers has gone under, it's future is uncertain. But since Zuda was an imprint of DC Comics they certainly have the ability to continue publishing the series if they see fit, through another imprint.
While the book is most likely written for adults. I'd say it is a crossover that will be enjoyed by all ages down to around ten years old. There is a small bit of suggestiveness of the slight cleavage and garters variety but otherwise nothing of concern for age appropriateness. A good, fun read for middle graders, teens and adults!
January 19, 2011
The Night Owls by Peter Timony began as a web comic run through the now more or less defunct Zuda wing of D.C. It was short listed for the 2010 Cybils and I read it as a judge back in January.
The Night Owls follows Baxter, Mindy and Roscoe (a gargoyle). Baxter runs the Night Owls detective agency and Mindy suspects that her boss might be a vampire since he never goes out in the daylight.
The cases are episodic, some only taking a page and other times, a dozen or so. The cases do eventually build to tell a semi-coherent story but it read too much like an omnibus of comic strips than a fully realized graphic novel.
The artwork fits its 1920s setting, and brings to mind Dick Tracy. It's mostly done in black and white. Again the artwork is more comic strip than graphic novel.
The Night Owls follows Baxter, Mindy and Roscoe (a gargoyle). Baxter runs the Night Owls detective agency and Mindy suspects that her boss might be a vampire since he never goes out in the daylight.
The cases are episodic, some only taking a page and other times, a dozen or so. The cases do eventually build to tell a semi-coherent story but it read too much like an omnibus of comic strips than a fully realized graphic novel.
The artwork fits its 1920s setting, and brings to mind Dick Tracy. It's mostly done in black and white. Again the artwork is more comic strip than graphic novel.
December 6, 2010
Very enjoyable! Three unlikely heroes (a smart aleck cigar-chomping gargoyle, a flapper with a mean right hook, and a smart guy who can't be in the sun but claims he's not a vampire) team up to solve supernatural mysteries by night. The book is told in comic strips, much as you'd find in a newspaper, which beautifully suits its 1920s era. Timony does a beautiful job with both the storytelling and even a groanable gags that riddle this title. A very fun little number that anyone can enjoy. - B
November 27, 2016
Randomly picked this up off my bookshelf tonight and revisited it. It's a really delightful strip collection from DC's Zuda experiment from around 2010. Created by twin brothers Peter and Bobby Timony, it tells the tale of Earnest Baxter, a PI who is "allergic" to sunlight and gets involved in cases with a supernatural bent. It is all presented in a Sunday newspaper strip style, with plenty of gags and plot twists within its pages. If you are lucky enough to find a copy of this lying around somewhere, do yourself and favor and pick it up.
October 22, 2010
Detective agency that specializes in the supernatural, set in 1920's America. Very light romance between the nerdy detective and the tough-as-nails assistant as they fight vampires, banshees, and even Rumpelstiltskin, w/ the gargoyle Ronnie to provide comic relief. Each page is set up like the Sunday comics, w/ most storylines going over 2-3 "weeks".
January 24, 2011
There is just not a single thing about this book that clanks. It is jaunty and light, and yet executed with class and authority. It's a darn good comic. And it's a Cybils Awards finalist in the graphic novel category.
Full review on Pink Me: http://pinkme.typepad.com/pink-me/201...
Full review on Pink Me: http://pinkme.typepad.com/pink-me/201...
March 1, 2011
The content of this book was very interesting, however I found the comic strip format of the content a little frustrating. I prefer to read graphic novels where the whole book is a continuing story. The premise of a 1920's detective agency run by a feisty flapper, a cantankerous gargoyle, and a seemingly normal nerd who simply cannot go out during the day because he is allergic to sunlight.
April 7, 2015
One of the first graphic novels I read in preparation for my new middle school reading elective classes. It is weird and wonderful and atmospheric. It combines film noir detective stories interwoven into a wonderful comic stew. Think Dashiell Hammett meets Neil Gaiman.
Just re-read it recently and it still tickles my brain!
Just re-read it recently and it still tickles my brain!
November 7, 2011
I'm glad it was collected so I could read it (didn't catch it online) but it doesn't make a great book to just move through. Perhaps taking it by story arcs with a break between would have made it more enjoyable. As it was, it started out well but the conceit got old.
June 16, 2010
Really surprised by this. I figured it'd be my least favorite Zuda book and it ended up being my most favorite.
March 1, 2011
The night owls are a supernatural detective agency in the 1920s, and what starts off as one page stories and gags develops into a richer overarching plot. Fun stuff and all ages.
November 29, 2011
really fun comic strip. glad it was put in book form or i'd never have found it.
January 14, 2017
A great throwback to comics of old! Goofy plots and serious villains, with plenty of comic relief. The good guys have their work cut out for them!
August 8, 2013
love characters and the snappy/corny 1920s dialogue - right up my alley!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews