The Strain: The Night Eternal #2 Review

Haven’t We Read (and Seen) this Before?

Official Description from Dark Horse:

Hoping to reunite with his friends and hear positive news of their seemingly futile insurgent efforts against the vampires, a drug-addled Ephraim Goodweather heads for a Manhattan hospital. But when he arrives, he discovers a secret that may send his fragile psyche right over the edge! Meanwhile, the Master has taken interest in a new pet—a pet he’s teaching all sorts of wicked things! * Continues the story of the critically acclaimed comic The Strain! * From horror mastermind Guillermo del Toro.

Spinning out of the final third of Guillermo del Torro’s vampire novel trilogy, The Strain: The Night Eternal #2 manages to squeeze a little more life out of an overworked genre. David Lapham’s efficient scripting and Mike Huddleston’s aggressive pencils just save the book from what cynics might call a comic converted from a novel just to sell more paper.

Lapham’s characterization of protagonist Dr. Ephraim Goodweather is especially strong. A man driven by the need to protect his family, yet racked by jealousy and addiction, Goodweather’s turmoil is satisfyingly human and relatable. After finding critical messages on a computer between Nora and her new lover—exterminator Vasily Fet—Ephraim pops a handful pills. The messages he’s read loom larger and larger in his head, and on the page, cleverly underlining his preoccupation with Nora. When a pair of vampires attacks Ephraim, he is able to vent his anger, demanding that his son be returned to him. Lapham’s script only stumbles when Zack Goodweather—Ephraim’s son—is reunited with his vampire-turned mother.

Mike Huddleston’s facial work is especially nice. With the exception of Zack and his mother’s reunion, every character is terrifically emotive. Huddleston’s rendering of Ephraim is in perfect since with Lapham’s script. Ephraim’s anguish and fury is palpable. The vampires, of course, are suitably monstrous. There’s nothing sexy about them, but their power and grace remain apparent.

The Strain: The Night Eternal’s greatest fault isn’t Lapham’s or Huddleston’s. The problem is that this story has been adequately told in novel form. An adaptation should enhance our appreciation of the work in question by focusing on different parts—not just dress it up in a new medium and wait for us to buy it. And with a television adaptation it’s hard to justify this comic’s existence.