My Rating
“The Dying”
Professor Donovan Caine lies dying in a hospital bed.
Something isn’t right.
Through a chemotherapy-induced haze, Donovan remembers being admitted to Washington, D.C. General Hospital, but his surroundings have suddenly changed. The sterile walls, medical equipment, and hospital staff are gone. His eyes slowly adjust to the dimly lit room.
Then he recognizes where he is.
Wintersgate Manor.
Baron Winters!
A sudden burst of adrenaline cuts through the fog clouding Donovan’s mind. The dying professor forces himself upright and immediately begins berating his former Night Force controller over events that happened decades ago. Time may have passed, but apparently old wounds don’t heal quite so easily when Baron Winters is involved.
The Baron remains unusually sympathetic. He hasn’t brought Donovan here to reopen old wounds.
He needs information.
The Gatherers.
For all of Winters’ knowledge, research, and experience with the supernatural, he has uncovered only a single reference to the mysterious name. Professor Caine, however, knows the creatures through his own family’s history.
For the next hour, the dying professor takes Baron Winters through nearly two hundred years of hidden history. The Gatherers have been operating in the shadows far longer than Winters initially suspected, manipulating generations of human beings for purposes that remain frustratingly unclear.
Demons? Aliens? Something in between?
There is still one question that even Donovan’s knowledge cannot answer.
How in the hell are these creatures getting inside Wintersgate Manor?
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Sergeant Jim Duffy and Zoe Davis have returned to the Duffy family home in search of additional clues. Somewhere among Jim Duffy Sr.’s mountain of files must be another connection between the missing children, the crescent-shaped birthmarks, Simon Talman, and the mysterious Gatherers.
They don’t get much time to investigate.
Without warning, the room begins to change around them.
Furniture shifts. Objects disappear. The surroundings seem to roll backward through history until Jim and Zoe realize they are no longer standing inside the modern version of the Duffy home.
They are looking at the same room as it existed in 1956.
Jim Duffy Jr.’s mouth drops open.
He recognizes it immediately.
This was his father’s room.
More importantly, it was the same room where Jim Duffy Sr. encountered the disembodied shadow creatures decades earlier.
Apparently, Baron Winters isn’t the only person having problems with time.
As the mystery begins reaching further into the past, another name becomes increasingly important to the investigation.
Kassandra Fey.
If the Night Force wants answers, they may have to travel all the way back to London in 1648 and confront a woman history remembers as a witch.
Something tells me she isn’t going to be happy to see them.
Is Baron Winters truly just an observer in the Gatherers’ conspiracy, or is his involvement much deeper than he admits? What exactly are the Gatherers? Why are Jim and Zoe being pulled backward through time? Will the Night Force really travel to 1648 London to interrogate Kassandra Fey?
And can Professor Donovan Caine survive one more encounter with the supernatural?
Collect the series to find out!
Review
Look out, Baron Winters.
Kassandra Fey is coming for you!
We finally get a substantial chunk of the Gatherers’ backstory in this issue, and naturally Marv Wolfman still refuses to give us everything. Are the Gatherers demons? Aliens? Some ancient race operating somewhere between science fiction and the supernatural? The details remain just fuzzy enough to keep me guessing.
Come on, Marv!
Wolfman really is the king of stringing out a storyline. Every time I think I’m about to get a straight answer, he gives me half an explanation followed by three more questions. Normally that can become frustrating, but “The Dying” moves quickly enough that I’m still enjoying the ride. More importantly, the various pieces introduced during the first three issues are beginning to come together.
I also enjoyed seeing Professor Donovan Caine again. Bringing a member of an earlier Night Force back into the story gives Volume 3 a stronger connection to the history of the series. His reaction to Baron Winters is also completely understandable. After everything Winters has put his various recruits through over the years, I’m surprised more former members don’t immediately try to punch him in the face.
The artwork by Tom Mandrake, with Wes Hartman’s colors, may be my favorite part of this volume. Visually, I think this third series outshines the previous volumes of Night Force. Mandrake’s heavy shadows are perfect for Wintersgate Manor, while Hartman’s colors give the supernatural sequences an eerie atmosphere without overwhelming the artwork.
And those greens!
I love the greens.
Kassandra Fey also continues to climb the ladder as my favorite villain in the entire Night Force series. There is something about her history with Baron Winters that immediately makes their encounters more interesting. These two clearly have baggage—and I want Wolfman to unpack every damn suitcase.
Overall
Overall, “The Dying” keeps the story tight while expanding the mystery considerably. I’m giving Night Force Vol. 3 #4 four out of five stars.
If you’re a horror-comics fan—or simply a DC Comics reader looking for something buried a little deeper in the supernatural catalog—I recommend giving Volume 3 of Night Force a shot. Four issues in, this run has been remarkably consistent.
Only three books to go.
Don’t screw this up, Marv.