This was an interesting adaptation of novel into a graphic novel, and I think for some individuals this might work well, however, for me, it felt like I just wanted more from each story - more world-building, more getting to know the characters, and just to spend more time with each story, which is a limitation of the format. For me, it made me want to read the original novel. However, I enjoyed reading it overall and I enjoyed the art style.

A collection of unsettling short stories adapted as a comic. As I am not familiar with the original book this is based on some of the short stories left me a bit confused and wishing for more context. However, the art style is nice and I really liked the coloring. Since all the stories interlock you slowly get a bigger picture of this world and while I still wish for more context, I enjoyed this collection in the end. If you like stories exploring the American south and the darker aspects of the human psyche, check this comic collection out!
General trigger warnings for gore, violence, gun violence, torture and murder as that is something that happens in multiple stories.

Night People: This story follows two women, who found Jesus during their stay in prison. Except instead of prayer and church Miss Jesus has commanded them to rid the world of men. A fun, gorey romp, very Thelma and Luise. Unfortunately, since it is very short, I felt that the panels introducing side characters took too much space that I would have instead liked to learn more about Big Betty and Miss Cutie.

The Secret Life of Insects: In this story, we get to know Beatifica Brown, an abortionist, who is visited by the ghost of John Brown, the abolitionist. She spent some time in prison with Big Betty and Miss Cutie (just enough backstory to tie the stories together) and has now decided that if people won’t respect a pregnant person’s right to choose, she will force them to accept it. A bit tough to read due to very dark content, featuring one of the most unlikeable, abusive asshole characters, who as it turns out ties all the women in this story together. I enjoyed this one, but mind the trigger warnings for this one, it is not an easy story.
TW: sexual nudity, past incestuous abuse, sexual abuse, mass murder and some ableism in the implication that Down Syndrome is caused by being a child born from incest, transphobic language

The Ballad of Easy Earl: A man finds himself on the run after blacking out at a bar and coming to with a gun in his passenger seat and reports of a shot cop. Haunting and very enjoyable to read
TW: suicide, car crash

The Crime of Marble Lesson: Desperate to get back to her father, who she thinks cannot take care of himself, 14-year old Marble hitchhikes to see him. She gets lucky that time, but will she actually be any safer with her dad? Haunting, but also intriguing.
TW: domestic abuse, csa

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for this arc.

This was just too disjointed for me. I couldn’t get into it nor enjoy it at all unfortunately. The violence and explicit nudity seemed gratuitous.

this was just disconnected vulgarity and violence like I genuinely have no idea how any of it is supposed to tie together or have any sort of plot. Also, the art style is so boring compared to the cover and something I've seen so many times already

Ohhhhh how I so thoroughly enjoyed this one!! Story line compelling and characters likable!! Grab it now!

I could not care less about the first two out of the four stories - confusing, shock value, scattered - but the other two slapped. I loved the way they were connected and I absolutely adored the color palettes that were chosen, and technically, the stories themselves worked for me as well.

The first two truly were a bummer and some of the language used/the racial profiling that was used made me raise my brow.

If you’re looking for a bloody,gory set of stories with nudity and violence, this is it. The stories are presented in graphic novel form. I have found that this format robs the reader of using their imagination to flesh-in the characters, setting and action. I did not find these stories entertaining, nor did I find I had any empathy for the characters. Honestly, I found this work to be purposeless. I received a free advanced copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Summary:

Love, life, and crime. They don’t always go together, but for some people, they do. Big Betty loves her girlfriend, Cutie Early, and all the trouble they can get into. Together, they are fresh out of prison and looking to get back into killing.

There’s another character who does illegal operations, but she has a reason for it. Then there’s the detective out for revenge. Finally, a cult of quasi-feminism and abuse. How do these stories connect? Read and find out.

Review:

Night People is a compelling and sometimes disjointed story about a collection of people. Every person in this story has a reason for committing crimes, from simply liking it to trying to survive. It makes for an interesting view of the human soul.

It's safe to say that Night People is not for the squeamish. This graphic novel is visceral and detailed. If you're not certain if it's for you, take a good look at the cover. It's a solid gauge for what is to come.

I really enjoyed how each story was disconnected yet had a central theme. It brought them all together but gave the creative team room to play with different stories and characters. It was a great decision to bring this novel to life.

Admittedly, I didn't end up enjoying Night People as much as I hoped. I don't think that's the graphic novel's fault, though! I think this is a case of a bad fit for the reader. Or maybe it's that this reader is a bad fit for the story. Either way.

Highlights:
Noir Graphic Novel
Crime Novel

Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Violence/Gore
Sexual Assault

A dark and bracing barrage of images and narrative. The art is solid, easy to follow, and the story reads like a mature crime drama — all in comics form.

My thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novel adaptation of a few stories written by a writer who understands what life is really like in the lands of cotton, where religion, noir, violence, and weird all mix, creating a gumbo that is unique in itself.

I've not spent much time in the South. Not a fan of bugs, heat, Disney the Civil War, refighting it, or the history. I've been to Texas once, and once was enough. I guess I am a Northerner, which I can accept. However many of my favorite writers are from the South, and many of the writers that disturb me also share the geography. Again the heat, the bugs, the soil, the ghosts of the Confederate dead, I don't know what is in the water or the moonshine, but they do make for some exciting writing. Barry Gifford is an author I have long enjoyed, discovering him and Harry Crews made for an interesting month. Gifford writes of people who will never know better, or if they did, they had that beaten out of them, literally sometimes. Gifford gets under the fingernails, with characters who are wrong, and yet unforgettable. Night People is a graphic novel adaptation of a collection of short stories by Gifford, brought to comic life by the writer Chris Condon, illustrated by Brian Level, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Artyom Topilin and Marco Finnegan.

The book is broken into four chapters, featuring a different art team on each one. The stories are complete within themselves, though some of the characters might appear in other works, as we travel though time, and the space being the South. The first features a lovelorn couple, united in their love of making a better world, , traveling the south in big cars, and killing as many men as possible to create their perfect world. There is a brother and sister, both evangelicals, who differ on scripture and, differ on portraying their message, and differ on the meaning of brotherly love. And easy going drifter finds himself the target of police hunt after somehow being involved in the death of a police officer, something he can't remember. And finally a father brings his daughter to work, which leads to a tragedy that changes everything.

Barry Gifford is probably more known for his working with David Lynch on Wild At Heart, adapted from his work, and Lost Highway. Gifford's books are not for the faint of heart, one can't warn people enough. However they are quite good, and while leaving a strange taste on your soul, work really well in the visual medium. Chris Condon does a very good job adapting these tales, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of these kinds of stories, even from other authors. The art is good, very good on a few issues. I don't know how the art teams were chosen, but they work well with the material, and capture the ambiance and the aura of evil and dinginess that this stories exude.
These are disturbing stories and not for the faint of heart. However this might open readers up to a world of authors they might never have been aware of. I really enjoyed this collection, and would like to read more along these lines.

These are four interconnected stories with amazing artwork and interesting in-depth stories. It’s hard to summarize because of the varying storylines. It is a more adult-style graphic novel, but that should be expected after seeing past works of the author and artist. There are mystery, horror, and thrilling aspects to each story. I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys graphic novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Oni-Press for giving me an eARC for this graphic novel. The opinion in this review is my own.

A collection of dark and murderous stories about people on the fringes of society. I feel like comic issues are too short for an anthology series like this: we barely get to spend any time with any of the characters before jumping into the next story. So this volume feels like it reads at breakneck pace, which is unfortunate when so much nasty, horrible stuff is happening. The art here is okay but I felt it could have been a bit cleaner. Definitely something people of the original book would get a lot more out of than me.

I’m not usually one for novel-to-comic adaptations, but Night People completely changed my mind. Chris Condon’s adaptation of Barry Gifford’s work is dark, gripping, and honestly, a little unsettling in the best possible way. The collection brings together four stories: two murderous lovers in Florida, a twisted sibling rivalry for power, a drifter on the run after a deadly mistake, and a young girl navigating a tragic world. Each tale dives into desperation, survival, and chaos, creating this surreal, almost nightmarish take on the American experience.

What really grabbed me was that I had no idea Night People was based on an earlier novel by Gifford. Coming into it fresh, I had no expectations, and that made it feel even more immersive. The art is incredible—Brian Level, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Artyom Topilin, and Marco Finnegan each bring their own style to the four stories, giving each one its own vibe while still tying everything together. Even though I hadn’t read the novel, this graphic novel stood on its own as a gripping, beautifully illustrated experience. If you’re into dark, surreal stories with stunning visuals, this one’s a must-read.

Barry Gifford’s novel Night People was awarded the Premio Brancati, established by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Moravia, in Italy. He has won awards for fiction from the writers guilds in America and the United Kingdom, a BAFTA, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, among others. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. His film credits include Wild at Heart (winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival), Lost Highway, City of Ghosts, and The Phantom Father. He has written librettos for operas by Toru Takemitsu, Ichiro Nodaira, and Olga Neuwirth. His most recent books include Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels, Roy’s World: Stories 1973-2020, Southern Nights (which includes Night People), and Ghost Years. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. hris Condon is the low-down dirty scoundrel behind the ongoing Image Comic series That Texas Blood and its acclaimed Wild West spinoff, The Enfield Gang Massacre, both with artist Jacob Phillips. He waded deep into bayou waters to adapt Barry Gifford's Night People for Oni Press and has not been the same since.

This collaboration is a really interesting collection of four stories. The graphic novel begins with a pair of murderous lesbian lovers in Florida carrying out a religious agenda of revenge. In the next story, we experience a perverse relationship between an incestuous brother and a sister that has culminated into a power struggle of epic proportions. Later, an easygoing drifter who suddenly finds himself guilty of murder and a fugitive on the run. Finally, a bright-eyed young girl survives a tragic accident and discovers her place in the world. These are four interwoven tales of nightmare and ennui, a world of myth and magic as much as it is a world of murder and manipulation.

This collection is graphic and pulpy in all the right ways. The characters all represent the seedy underbelly of society, the drifters, the lost, the wayward, and the criminal. Gifford’s tale is tightly woven and expertly brought to a graphic format by Chris Condon. The art by Brian Level, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Artyom Topilin, and Marco Finnegan really brings the narrative to life. It’s a thriller, but darkly surreal and mythic. The lines between the real and the surreal are blurred, and the narrative’s circular elements create a bizarre commentary of lives on the edge of dystopian chaos. For readers interested in graphic novels, especially the bloody and the violent, this is the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Oni Press for the press service.

Night People is a comic book based on Barry Gifford's “Night People” novel. It's an anthology of interwoven stories and characters.

Although the comic focuses on characters who are torn appart, I wasn't conviced by the story. However, I'm still thinking of taking a look at the novel.

I really wanted to like this book, but it really wasn't for me. At first, we're launched into the first story that has multiple main characters and a bit of a difficult grip to understanding the plot. By the time I understood what was going on, the story was over and I felt... nothing.
This was a mentality I kept throughout the entire book. I didn't really feel anything for the characters or any of the plots happening. The dialogue felt like it was lacking somewhat, and the constant writing in an accent made it difficult to read some pages. I felt myself slowing down to go over and over a line to figure out what the character is saying. Sometimes, a bit of accent can help an audience understand an accent (or some key words like g'day), but this was brutal and difficult to read sometimes.
The art was where it gained a couple of stars. It was interesting in its structure and unique to the story. I also felt like it matched the horror feel of the stories it was sharing with us.
Overall, the story was fine but the plot went no where and I didn't feel anything towards any of the characters or their stories. I would have liked to have seen a bit more from the author in regards to dialogue and plot, but it left me high and dry.

Dark and twisted.

With stories like this, stray bullets, criminal, you get a lot of terrible characters doing terrible things. I will say the first issue and third are the strongest, especially the third. But the second issue has a lot of uncomfortable moments that did make it a bit hard to read. But if like crime stories, twisted characters, and none too "good" this would be a solid book to pickup.

I read this one because I'd read Gifford's "Wild at Heart”, which I loved. These 4 stories were wild, and so dark and disturbing! This was right up my alley and I can’t wait for more!

I mean, it's difficult to go wrong with the talent behind this graphic novel. I mean, Barry Gilford? Author of Wild At Heart AND Lost Highway? Lynch fans will immediately snap this up.

While we mostly see comics or novels adapted into film or tv, but every once in a while we get a novel get a comic adaptation and when done correctly they can be fantastic. Night People from Barry Gifford and Chris Condon is exactly that, a well-crafted adaptation.

A pair of murderous lovers in Florida carrying out a bloody agenda. A perverse political and religious power struggle between a brother and a sister. An easygoing drifter who suddenly finds himself a fugitive on the run. And a bright-eyed young girl discovering her place in the cold dark world. At the end of the twentieth century, chaos and horror were the American dream.

While Barry Gifford is no stranger to crafting narratives that explore the depths of human nature, often blurring the lines between reality and nightmare, I was actually unaware the Night People miniseries was an adaptation of previous work. This was not extremely evident when reading the first chapter and that made for a great reading experience.

The four distinct stories within this collected edition offer us a mosaic of lives caught in tumultuous times—a pair of murderous lovers on a rampage across Florida; siblings entangled in a twisted struggle for power; an unassuming drifter turned fugitive; and a young girl navigating her own coming-of-age against a backdrop of darkness. Each tale threads together themes of desperation, ambition, and survival in an evocative portrayal of America teetering on chaos.

Gifford's collaboration with Condon on this comic book adaptation is something those not familiar with Gifford's work can enjoy while I would feel those who have read his work can also appreciate. The series is wonderfully brought to life in vivid panels that juxtapose beauty with brutality being illustrated by Brian Level, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Artyom Topilin, and Marco Finnegan. Each of the four tales has its own artistic team that brings the stories to life in a unique way to allow us to experience them all separately.

Having not read the original source material, I cannot compare the two. However, as someone new to the tales that lie within Night People I can honestly say you don't need to read anything else. These tales crafted by Chris Condon and artists Brian Level, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Artyom Topilin, and Marco Finnegan based on Barry Gifford's stories are a perfect addition to the world of comics.