My Rating
“A Tale of Temporary Farewells”
Baron Winters sits peacefully in a majestic field somewhere within a prehistoric landscape. He has some idea how he arrived at this strange location, but the reason for his journey remains a mystery. Extinct animals wander freely across the countryside as creatures from different periods of history coexist beneath a perfect sky.
Then a pair of unicorns gallop past.
The Baron smiles.
Now he knows exactly where he is.
Welcome back to the Garden of Eden.
Apparently, the time has come for Baron Winters to answer for his sins. Or perhaps his good deeds? With Winters, the difference between the two has never been particularly easy to determine. Being the balancing point between good and evil is a job unlike any other, and the Baron has spent countless years manipulating people and events in the name of maintaining that balance.
Good? Evil?
Those labels have never meant much to Baron Winters.
Adam and Eve are the first to recognize their unusual visitor. They have encountered the Baron before—or will encounter him sometime in the future. When you’re dealing with Baron Winters, such distinctions can become rather confusing.
Winters greets the famous couple cordially. A few quips concerning apple trees and ribs are exchanged before another familiar figure approaches.
And here comes trouble.
Lilith!
Lilith knows Baron Winters considerably better than Adam and Eve. The two are former lovers, bitter adversaries, and something in between depending upon which century you happen to catch them. Their relationship has survived countless years of supernatural conflict, and today’s reunion doesn’t appear destined to end with a warm embrace.
“Come, Baron,” Lilith demands. “The serpent requires your presence.”
Winters says his farewells to Adam and Eve before following Lilith toward the Tree of Temptation. Waiting beneath its branches is the creature responsible for one of humanity’s oldest stories.
The serpent.
Apparently, it has business with Baron Winters.
Is this truly the end of Baron Winters and the Night Force? Why has the serpent summoned him back to Eden? Does the Prince of Darkness really make calls from a Motorola flip-top cellular phone?
And with the Baron gone, will Merlin the leopard finally become man of the house?
Collect the series to find out!
Review
And so we have reached the end.
“A Tale of Temporary Farewells” marks the twelfth and final issue of Marv Wolfman’s second run of Night Force. I was disappointed to see the series cancelled, but after reading the entire volume, I can also understand why it struggled. There are some good ideas scattered throughout these twelve issues, but the series never completely finds the identity that made the original Night Force so interesting.
The artwork changes again for this final issue. The darker, blockier, Hellboy-influenced look of the previous books disappears in favor of something closer to the style we saw during the opening issues of the run. I actually like both approaches. The darker artwork worked wonderfully for the nightmare sequences and supernatural horror, while the more traditional style feels appropriate for this final journey involving Eden, Adam and Eve, Lilith, and the serpent. It also gives the finale a strange sense of returning to where we started.
As much as I enjoyed seeing Baron Winters again, I think DC dropped the ball with this second volume. The original Night Force had a wonderfully strange identity of its own. This revival certainly has its moments, but too many storylines wander into familiar territory without taking full advantage of Baron Winters, Wintersgate Manor, Merlin, and the enormous supernatural playground Wolfman had created.
I also wish Wolfman had connected the series more directly with the mainstream DC Comics Universe. The Book of Fate, Scare Tactics, and other supernatural characters were already out there. The “Convergence” crossover demonstrated that Night Force could interact with that larger world, but the opportunity never developed into anything substantial. Baron Winters crossing paths with more of DC’s supernatural heroes could have given this revival some much-needed momentum.
Still, I wouldn’t tell horror fans to skip this volume. There are cannibals, demons, dream creatures, ancient mystics, biblical monsters, dimensional invaders, psychic powers, and enough supernatural weirdness to make the twelve-issue journey worthwhile. The second volume may never reach the heights of the original series, but there is still plenty here for fans of Marv Wolfman and DC horror comics to enjoy.
And I have to give Wolfman credit for that title: “A Tale of Temporary Farewells.”
Not goodbye.
Just farewell—for now.