ICYMI: Nights #20: Smell You Later

Vince is awake and finally reunited with Gray, but everything is not all sunshine and rainbows for the new vampire couple. An ancient vampire named Eda has arrived with a deadly mission for the both of them, and the enigmatic Moriel seeks to get his hands on Vince’s newfound power. As the truth of the world continues to expand before them, Vince and Gray make a fateful decision that will once again change their lives forever.

Nights was a very unique series that seemed to fly under the radar during its twenty-issue run. It’s more slow-burn approach to storytelling definitely went a long way to expanding its mystical yet violent world and its many characters, but that at times didn’t make it the most exhilarating of reads month in and month out. With that being said, that passion and heart that was clear throughout the series made this a solid stopping point for now.

Wyatt Kennedy’s gory love story comes to a satisfying conclusion for this story arc, but there is still plenty of juice to move forward when the time is right. Things are quiet in the second half of the issue as a way to balance the explosive action of the first and it all meshes together pretty well in the end. There is a warmth to Vince and Gray’s relationship to each other, and their friends. So much so that the couple leaving Santo Pedro with Eda feels like a bittersweet end of one chapter and moving into another.

Luigi Formisano’s pencils have one final hurrah and leave nothing on the table from beginning to end. There are a few very good pages here that are backed by Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli’s wonderfully soft colors.