John of the Night Review: Darryl Cunningham's Cosmic Sci-Fi Epic
Reading time: 2 minutes
How about some sci-fi with spiritualism about a bullet to kill god with cosmic journeying, time travel, multiverses and celestial levels of death and other matters in disarmingly charming minimalism art? Observe John Of The Night by Darryl Cunningham.
Darryl Cunningham is a British author and cartoonist. Previous works include Psychiatric Tales, How To Fake A Moon Landing: Exposing The Myths Of Science Denial, Putin's Russia: The Rise Of A Dictator, Elon Musk: American Oligarch, Graphic Science- Seven Journeys of Discovery and Supercrash to name just a few. With that mentioned let's get to the review.
So, let's start with the art. Darryl Cunningham has created a very interesting collection of art on John Of The Night with an odd fusion of bare-bones cartooning and flourishes of extravagance. Many panels feature elements of abstract and minimalism lines that are interrupted by panels of brilliant detail, fantastic colour work or beautiful design. There is a charming and disarming simplicity to the style. It works as a beautiful counterpoint to the lofty heights of the ideas and storytelling it depicts, as well as all the exceptional sci-fi set pieces. The bigger the moment narratively, the greater the display of art in this one, with some truly marvellous moments.
Appreciation must also be noted for the fun visual Easter eggs on display. These include, but are not limited to, Doctor Who, The Time Machine (1960), Indiana Jones, Thunderbirds, Red Dwarf Scutter, Superman, Greek Mythology and Zardoz. The colour work is beautiful throughout, often supplanting the simplicity of the work to create much more interesting artwork. Artwork acknowledged, it's on to the story.
John Of The Night concerns the story of the titular John, a cosmic observer and witness to a great catastrophe. In an attempt to investigate this event, he uncovers a larger conspiracy. Thanks to a gift from his daughter Ayshea, or more accurately from himself, an even more pressing mystery with cosmic consequences unfolds. The ensuing tale and its scale, with time-hopping and spiritualism amongst action set pieces, explores a wonderful cross-section of tropes and mythological storytelling. It creates a compelling and entertaining experience.
With good humour, investable and intriguing characters alongside existential musings, this one satisfies with entertainment. It also encourages a thoughtful look at motives, morals and desires. It then sticks the landing with an excellent explosive climax. The ending in particular gives a superb sense of poetic justice. It leaves things suitably finished, but also with a nice amount of compelling wiggle room for further adventures with a new protagonist.
The final section's commentary on the will to do the right thing and handling mental suffering is presented beautifully and powerfully. It takes all the esoteric storytelling that has come before and delivers a very real, contemporary and valuable message. Magical stuff for the mind.
For fans of sci-fi, time travel, space, action, mystery, cosmic storytelling of the grandest scale that tackles tropes with reverence, a bullet for god, spiritualism, existentialism, morals and mental endurance in art that disarmingly charms, observe and enjoy John Of The Night.
To get your copy, the absolute best place is over on the publisher's official website. This one is coming from those amazing people at Avery Hill, so you know the quality you're getting. Use the following link to secure yours now. This link here :)
Review: 4.8/5
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