Dark Horse Announces The Strain: The Night Eternal

MILWAUKIE, OR — As the world gears up for the premiere of the new FX television program adapting the original novel trilogy The Strain, Dark Horse announces The Night Eternal, the third comics chapter of this ongoing vampire epic, adapted by David Lapham and Mike Huddleston.

Following the first two comics series, The Strain and the recently wrapped The Fall, The Night Eternal will begin on August 20, just after The Strain’s television debut on FX!

It’s been two years since the Master’s plan succeeded and a near apocalypse coated the world in darkness. Now able to roam freely, the Master’s legion of vampires rule the world—a horrifying police state where humans are harvested for blood. As humanity despairs, Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and an unlikely team of heroes continue their fight against extinction, all the while hoping to unlock the secret to the Master’s demise. The final chapter in the Strain Trilogy, the series that put a terrifying twist on the vampire genre, begins here.

Dark Horse is giving readers a chance to catch up on what they’ve been missing with a one-dollar reprint of the first issue of The Strain. This horrifying first chapter of the original Strain saga takes readers back to the beginning of an outbreak of diabolical proportions. On shelves June 18.

It doesn’t stop there! July will see the reprint of the entire first series of The Strain in a deluxe hardcover. This all-new edition will collect the first eleven issues in 272 full-color pages for only $29.99! On sale July 9 in comic shops everywhere.

July will also see the release of The Strain Volume 4: The Fall, wrapping up the second series. This collection arrives at your local comic shop on July 2 for $19.99.

The Strain #5 Review

Dark Horse's The Strain returns from hiatus after issue #4. David Lapham, Mike Huddleston, and Dan Jackson continue with their adaptation of Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan's novels. Read on to find out if you should jump back on board.

Most of Lapham's tale centers on flashbacks of Abraham's time at a death camp in Treblinka in 1942. We do see Abe at his current state, but only in the opening and ending of the book. His time at this location is rather insignificant except for his interaction with a rather important figure of the series. If you're reading this book, I'm sure you can guess quite easily.

The art serves the horror book well. Huddleston and Jackson's work does well presenting the darker vibe. The use of shadows play a big part in that. Jackson uses very few colors in showing the moments from the war. It's mostly black and white with a small mix of pale blue. Outside of that, we see some royal blue during some of the night scenes as well as red for the blood and the nazi wristbands.

This series is losing favor with me. Nothing here serves to move this 11 issue series forward. There's been a lot of build-up to an end which may not deliver. I wouldn't recommend this issue to anyone just interested in the series. If you're even slightly interested, I would suggest waiting for the collected edition. But you won't be missing anything if you skip the story entirely. And I won't hesitate in saying you can make that a strong option.