Published by IDW in 2002, 30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book series written by Steve Niles (The October Faction) and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. Multiple miniseries followed, as well as novels and movie (and audio) adaptations. It did in fact become a movie after Niles wrote the comic version of the unsuccessful film pitch he had developed.
The story is about vampires in Barrow, Alaska, a place where the sun sets for about 30 days. As most of the locals go away during that nightly time, the ones who stayed become the target of a group of vampires. The town’s only hope of survival lies in the hands of Stella and Eben, the local husband-and-wife sheriff team. They have to face the vampire elder Vicente and survive until the sun came back.
In the first sequel, the survivors try to spread the word about vampires but nobody wants to believe. However, vampires heard about it and want revenge for what happened to Vicente.
Some of the books that followed are more directly connected to Barrow than others–some of them are not written by Steve Niles. Dan Wickline, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Ben Templesmith, David Lapham, and Joe R. Lansdale wrote stories set in the 30 Days of Night universe.
This was the first era of the 30 Days of Night saga, published from 2002 to 2011. In 2011, Steve Niles launched a new ongoing series following new characters. It lasted for 12 issues.
And in 2018, Niles wrote a reboot of the story, a reimagination presented as a modernization of the first miniseries. This time, it lasted for 6 issues.
30 Days of Night Reading Order
30 Days of Night: The Original Saga
- 30 Days of Night
Collects 30 Days of Night #1-3. Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 1. - Dark Days
Collects Dark Days #1-6. Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 1.- 30 Days of Night Annual 2004
Not Collected yet. The issue features four short stories, each written by Steve Niles, but featuring different illustrators.
- 30 Days of Night Annual 2004
- 30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead
Spinoff novel co-written by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte set after Dark Days - 30 Days of Night: Immortal Remains
Second spinoff novel co-written by Steve Niles and Jeff Mariotte set both in the Savannah Georgia area and Norway. - 30 Days of Night: Eben and Stella
Collects Eben and Stella #1-4. Written by Steve Niles and Kelly Sue DeConnick, with art by Justin Randall, this book was published after 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease, but is set between Dark Days and Return to Barrow. Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 2. - 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow
Collects Return to Barrow #1-6. Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 1.
- 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales
Collects Bloodsucker Tales #1-8. There are 2 stories in this 8-issue book:- “Dead Billy Dead“, written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Kody Chamberlain, is about a young vampire named Billy, his girlfriend Maggie, a vampire-obsessed scientist, and a police officer who discovers Stella Olemaun’s book.
- “Juarez or Lex Nova and the Case of the 400 Dead Mexican Girls“, written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, is about Lex Nova’s investigation of the disappearance of hundreds of girls in Juarez, Mexico.
- 30 Days of Night: Three Tales
Collects 30 Days of Night 2005 Annual: The Journal of John Ikos, 30 Days of Night: Dead Space #1-3,- 30 Days of Night Annual 2005: “The Journal of John Ikos,” written by Steve Niles with art by Nat Jones, is the story of John Ikos leaving Barrow and going to Los Angeles in search of Agent Norris.
- 30 Days of Night Annual 2005: “Picking up the Pieces,“ written by Steve Niles with art by Ben Templesmith, is about John Ikos taking a frozen vampire home to study it.
- 30 Days of Night: Dead Space, written by Steve Niles and Dan Wickline with art by Milx, is about NASA dealing with a vampire aboard a shuttle.
- 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease
Collects Spreading the Disease #1-5. Written by Dan Wickline, art by Alex Sanchez. A sequel to Dead Space following Agent Michael Henson in Alabama following the traces of vampires. - 30 Days of Night: Red Snow
Collects Red Snow #1-3. Written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, this is a story set in 1941 about British military attache Corporal Charlie Keating observing the war from the Soviet side, making sure crucial supplies get through to aid Stalin’s front in the battle against the Nazis. He discovers that there are things deadlier than the Nazis. Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 2. - 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow
Collects Beyond Barrow #1-3. Written by Steve Niles with art by Bill Sienkiewicz, the story is taking us back in the snow, but as the citizens of Barrow, years after the first encounter, have become united against random attacks on their city by the undead, it’s not the case outside of Barrow or the rest of the mysterious Arctic Circle (featuring John Ikos). Also available in 30 Days of Night Omnibus, Vol. 2. - 30 Days of Night: 30 Days ‘Til Death
Collects 30 Days ‘Til Death #1-4. Written and illustrated by David Lapham. A war has started in the secret society of vampires. A reaping. A death squad of elders has come to America to “thin the herd” of the troublesome new breed. Rufus doesn’t care about anything but his own survival and is willing to do anything to ensure it, including getting a dog and a girlfriend, pretending to like his neighbors, and going to extreme lengths to hide his insatiable craving for blood… - The X-Files/30 Days of Night
Collects The X-Files / 30 Days of Night #1-6. Written by Steve Niles and Tom Mandrake with art by Ben Templesmith. When evidence of a possible cannibal killer in Wainright, Alaska, draws the attention of the FBI, Agents Mulder and Scully draw the less-than-glamorous assignment. But all is not as it seems once the agents are on the ground. Not only has the long seasonal darkness begun to fall, but there’s something unnatural about a few of the locals. - 30 Days of Night: Night, Again
Collects 30 Days of Night: Night, Again #1-4. Written by Joe R. Lansdale and art by Sam Kieth. Fleeing the site of a secondary vampire infestation in the cold, wilds of Alaska, a band of survivors arrive at a climate change facility during the final days of a long period of extended daylight. The inhabitants of the research compound are trying to determine the nature of a strange object found in the ice when the survivors arrive, leading to a frightening and bloody confrontation between humans and vampires and an odd and unexpected guest. - Infestation 2: 30 Days of Night #1
One shot written by Duane Swierczynski with art by Stuart Sayger collected in Infestation 2 Volume 1 as part of the IDW crossover in which The Elder Gods of H.P. Lovecraft invade the different worlds from the publisher. December 1952. An Air Force pilot and civilian photographer embark on a top-secret mission to investigate a possible Russian installation near the North Pole. They discover they’ve been beaten to the punch by another team, and they’re not Russian. But they do have a fondness for red…
30 Days of Night: The 2011 Relaunch
In 2011, Steve Niles went back to 30 Days of Night with a new ongoing series–Sam Kieth was the artist on the first issues. I was advertised as featuring “an all-new cast of characters introduced to the world of 30 Days of Night for the first time!”
Here is the starting point: “A letter from Barrow, Alaska, carries a cryptic warning to a young, curious woman, which leads her down the rabbit hole and face-to-face with her desire- and likely her demise. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, a vampire resurrection ignites, which could threaten the very way of life of all mankind.”
- 30 Days of Night Vol. 1
Collects 30 Days of Night (vol. 2) #1-4. - 30 Days of Night: Ongoing Vol. 2
Collects 30 Days of Night (vol. 2) #5-8. - 30 Days of Night Vol. 3
Collects 30 Days of Night (vol. 2) #9-12.
- Criminal Macabre: Final Night – The 30 Days of Night Crossover
Collects Criminal Macabre: Final Night – The 30 Days of Night Crossover #1-4. Written by Steve Niles with art by Christopher Mitten. Cal McDonald only wanted a beer, but what he got was a jaded federal agent and a story about vampires up in Barrow, Alaska. There’s a new vamp in LA, and he’s hell-bent on bringing mankind to its knees.
30 Days of Night: The 2018 Reboot
Not a sequel. It was presented as an all-new reimagining of the series “designed to titillate the mind and horrify the senses!” This short-lived reboot was written by Steve Niles with artist Piotr Kowalski.
- 30 Days Of Night
Collects 30 Days Of Night (vol. 3) #1-6.