Publisher: Oni Comics

Writer: Ted Naifeh

Artist: Ted Naifeh

Release Date: 03/2002-07/2002

Issues: 4

While the name doesn’t roll off the tongue, there’s something I particularly like about Courtney, she’s a typical child who has rich parents, but wants to be normal. They move in with her creepy great, great, great uncle or something like that. The first issue seems pretty average and you start thinking about putting it down until strange things start happening. She discovers a spellbook and things under her bed at night. A little gremlin creature steals the baby boy she is supposed to babysit. She gets sent off to another world and her uncle saves her. It’s what she sees and how she deals with it all that makes her such a unique character.

The art style is fantastic. I highly recommend the color versions because the black and white don’t do it justice. The creatures are drawn very strangely and they are like nothing else, not gory and horror-like, yet still childish in a way. The spidery art style is similar to maybe Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, but with its own twist. Towards the end, Courtney sees what kind of powers she has and also how dangerous they are. It’s nice to see her want to go back to being her normal self instead of being power-hungry, but you get to go deep into her head because the whole narrative is her thoughts. That’s something very different and unique about this comic compared to most.

The 4 part series feels like a mini-adventure and it will have you hooked and coming back for more. Courtney may be the only main character, but the writers made Uncle Aloysius so mysterious that you really want to know more about him. He seems like the cool and mysterious old uncle that everyone wants, but you’re not quite sure. The only issue with this series is that it seemed to hit a few dry spots here and there, but at least they didn’t last long. Night Things is an amazing comic for people who want something that’s not full of scantily clad women and superheroes.