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Night Force: The Complete Collection
The original 14-issue series NIGHT FORCE, written by comics icon Marv Wolfman (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, NEW TEEN TITANS) and pencilled by the equally legendary Gene Colan (BATMAN, Howard the Duck) is collected here for the first time, along with the characters’ first appearance from NEW TEEN TITANS.
Writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, the creative team behind the classic Marvel Comics 1970s series TOMB OF DRACULA, reunited in 1982 for NIGHT FORCE, collected here for the first time ever. The series begins as the mysterious sorcerer Baron Winter assembles a team to take on an occult evil. But can the granddaughter of Dracula's greatest foe, a powerful parapsychologist and a time-lost warrior from the court of King David, tackle these threats?
Collecting NEW TEEN TITANS #21 and NIGHT FORCE #1-14.
Writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, the creative team behind the classic Marvel Comics 1970s series TOMB OF DRACULA, reunited in 1982 for NIGHT FORCE, collected here for the first time ever. The series begins as the mysterious sorcerer Baron Winter assembles a team to take on an occult evil. But can the granddaughter of Dracula's greatest foe, a powerful parapsychologist and a time-lost warrior from the court of King David, tackle these threats?
Collecting NEW TEEN TITANS #21 and NIGHT FORCE #1-14.
396 pages, Hardcover
First published October 25, 2011
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76 people want to read
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,310 books308 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 13, 2019
The creative team behind Tomb of Dracula reunite for a dated comic. It's a horror comic without any horror in it due to the Comics Code.
Baron Winters has lived for hundreds of years. For unknown reasons, he's trapped in his house in modern times but can travel to the past by walking out various doors of his house. The Baron is a class A a-hole. He takes on supernatural cases then manipulates "agents" into carrying the work out for him, often meeting their own demise. There's 3 stories here, none of which are really worth mentioning. Gene Colan's atmospheric artwork is the main reason for checking this out.
Baron Winters has lived for hundreds of years. For unknown reasons, he's trapped in his house in modern times but can travel to the past by walking out various doors of his house. The Baron is a class A a-hole. He takes on supernatural cases then manipulates "agents" into carrying the work out for him, often meeting their own demise. There's 3 stories here, none of which are really worth mentioning. Gene Colan's atmospheric artwork is the main reason for checking this out.
November 6, 2017
File this under comics I never thought would be collected, in hardcover, no less. Wolfman and Colan had a classic run on Tomb of Dracula over at Marvel, and when Colan moved to DC, Wolfman was at the height of popularity with New Teen Titans. I guess DC thought they would give the old magic a try in a new setting, so Night Force was born.
The premise follows a mysterious man called Baron Winter, who intervenes in mysterious cases through the manipulation of agents. The cases in this collection are bizarre: a Soviet professor using a woman's innate psychic abilities to power a super weapon, a criminal and murderer to outwit a monster keeping a group of people hostage in a brownstone, and then a mysterious group of American Nazi supporters who are using the power of Satan to fulfill their needs. Through it all, the Baron isn't heroic or admirable or even likable. Wolfman goes out of his way to make the Baron a total cad. This is reflected upon by his agents, but the Baron doesn't care, as long as he gets his check in the end.
The stories are pretty good, though, with the constraints of the Comics Code Authority choking any true horror out of them, but the concepts are rather scary in the grand scheme of things. Wolfman was always a very strong prose writer, even for the comics of the day, and his writing can come across as ornate as hell. But his dialog is pretty damn good, and the stories are well told, although the last in the book is a bit rushed due to the comics cancellation with issue #14.
Gene Colan is definitely a master of the comics medium, and his moody pencils do well here, better than they did over in Wonder Woman's comic. Ably assisted by inker Bob Smith, whose heavy blacks do well in this type of comic, Colan's art is a perfect marriage of shadows and light, and definitely gives the series and book a certain recognizable look.
Night Force appeared in 1982-83, at the dusk of DC's foray into mystery/horror books. The old anthologies like House of Mystery and Ghosts, etc., were not long for this world, and perhaps Night Force fell victim to the same sales as those revered books. It's unfortunate it ended just as Alan Moore's classic run on Swamp Thing was about to begin; perhaps Wolfman would have been allowed some of the creative freedom Moore had, allowing Night Force to grow into a true horror comic. Still, it's a rather sophisticated book for its time, and I am very happy DC has collected this series into such a nice book.
The premise follows a mysterious man called Baron Winter, who intervenes in mysterious cases through the manipulation of agents. The cases in this collection are bizarre: a Soviet professor using a woman's innate psychic abilities to power a super weapon, a criminal and murderer to outwit a monster keeping a group of people hostage in a brownstone, and then a mysterious group of American Nazi supporters who are using the power of Satan to fulfill their needs. Through it all, the Baron isn't heroic or admirable or even likable. Wolfman goes out of his way to make the Baron a total cad. This is reflected upon by his agents, but the Baron doesn't care, as long as he gets his check in the end.
The stories are pretty good, though, with the constraints of the Comics Code Authority choking any true horror out of them, but the concepts are rather scary in the grand scheme of things. Wolfman was always a very strong prose writer, even for the comics of the day, and his writing can come across as ornate as hell. But his dialog is pretty damn good, and the stories are well told, although the last in the book is a bit rushed due to the comics cancellation with issue #14.
Gene Colan is definitely a master of the comics medium, and his moody pencils do well here, better than they did over in Wonder Woman's comic. Ably assisted by inker Bob Smith, whose heavy blacks do well in this type of comic, Colan's art is a perfect marriage of shadows and light, and definitely gives the series and book a certain recognizable look.
Night Force appeared in 1982-83, at the dusk of DC's foray into mystery/horror books. The old anthologies like House of Mystery and Ghosts, etc., were not long for this world, and perhaps Night Force fell victim to the same sales as those revered books. It's unfortunate it ended just as Alan Moore's classic run on Swamp Thing was about to begin; perhaps Wolfman would have been allowed some of the creative freedom Moore had, allowing Night Force to grow into a true horror comic. Still, it's a rather sophisticated book for its time, and I am very happy DC has collected this series into such a nice book.
February 25, 2023
A B-team rightfully forgotten, they’re comprised of a flaccid journalist, a nymphomaniacal demon-magnet, and a shitty Ghostbuster, led by a sloppy immortal baron who kills bystanders through his own gross negligence and stupidity. Where’s the plot going? Nobody knows! But there are monsters and demons and cults. Plus a cameo from Hitler!
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February 20, 2021I picked this up because Baron Winters is one of those DC occult characters I know from intriguing cameos in other stuff (most notably, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing) but whose original appearances I'd never read. Also because it was cheap in a sale, of course. But as it turned out, I could hardly have timed it better. How many Big Two comics are there where the lead can't leave his house? Well, at least not in the present day, and unlike all of us decaying denizens of the 2020s, Winters has at least the compensation of never ageing. And a bloody nice house, come to that – an enormous Georgetown mansion, decorated in what might be the fruits of his house having Howl-style doors to other places and times, or might just be old Hollywood sets. Because there's a wonderful ambiguity running through this, where Winters definitely has supernatural powers, but is also to some extent a charlatan, and the interest lies in working out what's which. Although when it comes to the various authority figures and catspaws who cross his path, there is perhaps a little too much of them assuming he's entirely fraudulent. This a series which is trying to negotiate a semi-detached world for itself before that was quite a thing; it exists in a deeply proto-Vertigo space, despite beginning as a giveaway with an issue of Teen Titans. So there's that tension where it doesn't ever quite make sense that, in a world with aliens and superheroes, people should be so sceptical of a mere wizard – or, equally, that sinister agencies would go to quite such extremes to capture and harness one woman with latent psychic powers. Still, this is always the downside of any series which exists in a shared universe but wants to do more or less its own thing, and the book maintains its own tone well enough that while reading, you can mostly put that out of your mind. The mood of the first story is very much that of seventies and eighties books about the Unknown, hinting at a common truth behind ancient myths, and sinister Soviet experiments bent on manifesting the destructive potential thereof. A supernatural thriller, pretty much, opening with a woman in an asylum being tormented by horrible visions (and they are quite effectively horrible – the art throughout is of its time, but often powerful), and ending with the spectacular destruction of Soviet Science City #5 and its psychic pyramid. And that proto-Vertigo tone, hinting at the 'mature readers' DC to come, is present in more than just the type and degree of powers on display. Within the first issue, two men discuss one of their wives being taken with a magazine article on open marriages; at the end of the story, an ostensible power of love ending is painfully undercut. Along the way, even the good guys come out with lines like "'No!' you said, 'I must find my wife's killers.' Great big hero, man. Don't you know by now that there ain't no such thing as heroes – just idiots who luck out!" Yes, in places it can be ripe – "Sodom and Gomorrah perished this way, burning in its own evil lusts. Plague-ridden ancient Egypt suffered this way, swept over by a tide of their own dark hates. And Hell was born this way, created from that sinister primal atom that painfully pulsates within all." But even pre-British invasion, you can see something stirring, and far more recognisably here than in seventies precursors like Green Lantern/Green Arrow, with their bold but histrionic treatment of the issues of the day. Never more so than in the panel with a flash of tan trenchcoat, a smoke trail and a voice from the shadows – it's not John Constantine quite yet, but definitely a glimpse of the currents from which he'd form.
The second story is a much shorter and less sprawling piece, clearly intended as a breather, and to demonstrate that the opening epic's players are not the only people enlisted, often regardless of their own wishes, in Winters' Night Force. This time out, he has no wish to send Vanessa van Helsing (yes relation) et al on a likely suicide mission, so instead traps a career criminal nobody will miss, sending him to a New York apartment building menaced by an otherwordly entity. And hoo boy, if I thought Winters had strong 2020s energy, it's as nothing to the set-up here. The unlucky inhabitants are all trapped by a nightmarish life-form, rounded about with protrusions. "Look, this has been a lousy year. A couple of us were killed right off. The rest, well, most of them gave in." They even have what seems like the eighties' attempt at describing online grocery deliveries and streaming in its own terms – the fridges stay full, and the beast gives them "a video recorder and all the tapes soon as they come out". They just can't ever leave...not even, it turns out, if the beast is finally vanquished; they've just sunk too thoroughly into acceptance AKA despair. "They're living, Miss Conrad, living – but they are hardly alive." Sounds about right.
As for the final story (and, incidentally, I'm puzzled at the thinking behind having one called Beast! immediately followed by another called Mark Of The Beast!!)...well, that's a change of pace again. Although having wealthy establishment Americans colluding with fascists is still not exactly a million miles from topical. With its spectral fifth columnists and fabulous, ominous clifftop house in Maine, it feels quite Dark Shadows, at least to someone who's never actually seen either Dark Shadows. It loses points for scorning Half Man Half Biscuit and referring to Revelation as Revelations, and that's not exactly a passing thing when the Beast turns up in person (or should it be 'persons', given all those heads?), and the way a bunch of new characters are suddenly introduced for the climax can't help feeling rushed, but even so, the abiding impression is of a book that's not without interest on its own merits, and without which we might never have seen comics reshaped as we did in the decade that followed.
The second story is a much shorter and less sprawling piece, clearly intended as a breather, and to demonstrate that the opening epic's players are not the only people enlisted, often regardless of their own wishes, in Winters' Night Force. This time out, he has no wish to send Vanessa van Helsing (yes relation) et al on a likely suicide mission, so instead traps a career criminal nobody will miss, sending him to a New York apartment building menaced by an otherwordly entity. And hoo boy, if I thought Winters had strong 2020s energy, it's as nothing to the set-up here. The unlucky inhabitants are all trapped by a nightmarish life-form, rounded about with protrusions. "Look, this has been a lousy year. A couple of us were killed right off. The rest, well, most of them gave in." They even have what seems like the eighties' attempt at describing online grocery deliveries and streaming in its own terms – the fridges stay full, and the beast gives them "a video recorder and all the tapes soon as they come out". They just can't ever leave...not even, it turns out, if the beast is finally vanquished; they've just sunk too thoroughly into acceptance AKA despair. "They're living, Miss Conrad, living – but they are hardly alive." Sounds about right.
As for the final story (and, incidentally, I'm puzzled at the thinking behind having one called Beast! immediately followed by another called Mark Of The Beast!!)...well, that's a change of pace again. Although having wealthy establishment Americans colluding with fascists is still not exactly a million miles from topical. With its spectral fifth columnists and fabulous, ominous clifftop house in Maine, it feels quite Dark Shadows, at least to someone who's never actually seen either Dark Shadows. It loses points for scorning Half Man Half Biscuit and referring to Revelation as Revelations, and that's not exactly a passing thing when the Beast turns up in person (or should it be 'persons', given all those heads?), and the way a bunch of new characters are suddenly introduced for the climax can't help feeling rushed, but even so, the abiding impression is of a book that's not without interest on its own merits, and without which we might never have seen comics reshaped as we did in the decade that followed.
April 16, 2018
In 1982, DC debuted two comics that blended science-fantasy and horror and that had nothing to do with DC's super universe during their early run. One was The Saga of the Swamp Thing, the comic which eventually kicked off DC's successful Vertigo line and which ran for over 150 issues. The other, Night Force, was much less successful at just 14 issues, but if anything it was the more innovative of the two (at least in those early days).
Night Force is a story of a manipulative Baron who gathers together people to fight against the forces of evil, and sometimes spends their life wantonly in doing so. It has a rotating cast of characters, with new Force members appearing in each arc. That particular bit of innovation works well, because author Marv Wolfman does a magnificent job of characterizing these peoples — even better than his strong work on the contemporary New Teen Titans. Jack, Vanessa, and the others are all real people, each with their own strengths and grave weaknesses. And then there's the Baron. His mysterious nature, his time-traveling house, and his mysterious past make him a wonderful entrant to the DC universe.
The plotting of Night Force is a bit weaker, but there's one story that I've always felt was the standout: "Beast!", which runs a mere two-and-a-half issues in the middle of the run. It's a beautifully told claustrophobic story about an alien beast that's holding an apartment building captive ... and what happens when the Baron causes a sociopath to be introduced to the equation.
The other stories are both intriguing, but have their flaws as well.
"The Gathering", the seven-and-a-half-issue arc that kicks off the series is very muddled. It's hard to suss out the Baron's motives in pushing these three characters together and precipitating the crisis that they then must solve. Nonetheless, the pathos of Donovan's tragedy and the wonderful period details of a battle against a Soviet psychic research lab are great.
The final story, "The Mark of Beast" had such great potential. The idea of evildoers in the 1930s who can come together to create an apocalyptic beast is wonderful (and wonderfully visualized by artist Gene Colan). Unfortunately, the storyline is rather abruptly ended by the comic's end.
I've always been sad that this comic has never been revisited when others like Animal Man and Swamp Thing make regular appearances ... so I was shocked to discover that there was a second volume of 12 issues produced in the '90s and a third of 7 issues in '10s, all written by Marv Wolfman. Hopefully DC will get out some matching collections of those!
Night Force is a story of a manipulative Baron who gathers together people to fight against the forces of evil, and sometimes spends their life wantonly in doing so. It has a rotating cast of characters, with new Force members appearing in each arc. That particular bit of innovation works well, because author Marv Wolfman does a magnificent job of characterizing these peoples — even better than his strong work on the contemporary New Teen Titans. Jack, Vanessa, and the others are all real people, each with their own strengths and grave weaknesses. And then there's the Baron. His mysterious nature, his time-traveling house, and his mysterious past make him a wonderful entrant to the DC universe.
The plotting of Night Force is a bit weaker, but there's one story that I've always felt was the standout: "Beast!", which runs a mere two-and-a-half issues in the middle of the run. It's a beautifully told claustrophobic story about an alien beast that's holding an apartment building captive ... and what happens when the Baron causes a sociopath to be introduced to the equation.
The other stories are both intriguing, but have their flaws as well.
"The Gathering", the seven-and-a-half-issue arc that kicks off the series is very muddled. It's hard to suss out the Baron's motives in pushing these three characters together and precipitating the crisis that they then must solve. Nonetheless, the pathos of Donovan's tragedy and the wonderful period details of a battle against a Soviet psychic research lab are great.
The final story, "The Mark of Beast" had such great potential. The idea of evildoers in the 1930s who can come together to create an apocalyptic beast is wonderful (and wonderfully visualized by artist Gene Colan). Unfortunately, the storyline is rather abruptly ended by the comic's end.
I've always been sad that this comic has never been revisited when others like Animal Man and Swamp Thing make regular appearances ... so I was shocked to discover that there was a second volume of 12 issues produced in the '90s and a third of 7 issues in '10s, all written by Marv Wolfman. Hopefully DC will get out some matching collections of those!
September 23, 2020
I enjoy this Night Force stuff whenever I revisit it - but I must say that I love this 2017 hardcover edition. The nice paper and the new shine...and the whole thing can be taken on its own without worrying about any other aspect of the DC Universe.
The first two story arcs are very entertaining, while the final storyline suffers from - it's my supposition - being cut off before it could be completed as envisioned; the series was canceled.
Baron Winters is the best thing about Night Force, including the way he is drawn. His face gets special attention from Gene Colan - an artist whose work I have always admired. Merlin the big cat - well, I thought he might say something at one point, or do something unexpected...
The first story is flashy, and espionage-flavoured, and is a bit Raiders of the Lost Ark-y, in that the bad guys suffer most, trying to control something perhaps uncontrollable. The ending is heavy on action and demonic fireworks; both Jack Gold and Donovan Caine lose big while trying to keep the Soviet Union from turning a Van Helsing into a psychic weapon of massive proportions.
The second story smartly reduces the stakes, and perhaps features the best art in terms of consistency, and just the kind of things Gene Colan excelled at drawing: a creepy house full of lost, imprisoned souls, and one alien from outer space sent to test the human race in small sample sizes.
As for the last effort - two characters from earlier return, but disappear again not long after showing up, one of the many problems arising from the series no doubt being ended while a big storyline was heating up. Fortunately, the new characters - and their hazy connections to Baron Winters's past - are just as interesting.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but I did watch Fringe, and would say the first storyline has some of that Fringe-y-ness to it, while the second tale is more Twilight Zone. The third story is Night Force expanding as it is ending. The art and the oddities get 4 stars out of me, especially with this lovely hardcover edition in play. I will always be surprised the hardcover even got green-lighted - who made sure this forgotten old series got another life!? - but I'm glad it did.
The first two story arcs are very entertaining, while the final storyline suffers from - it's my supposition - being cut off before it could be completed as envisioned; the series was canceled.
Baron Winters is the best thing about Night Force, including the way he is drawn. His face gets special attention from Gene Colan - an artist whose work I have always admired. Merlin the big cat - well, I thought he might say something at one point, or do something unexpected...
The first story is flashy, and espionage-flavoured, and is a bit Raiders of the Lost Ark-y, in that the bad guys suffer most, trying to control something perhaps uncontrollable. The ending is heavy on action and demonic fireworks; both Jack Gold and Donovan Caine lose big while trying to keep the Soviet Union from turning a Van Helsing into a psychic weapon of massive proportions.
The second story smartly reduces the stakes, and perhaps features the best art in terms of consistency, and just the kind of things Gene Colan excelled at drawing: a creepy house full of lost, imprisoned souls, and one alien from outer space sent to test the human race in small sample sizes.
As for the last effort - two characters from earlier return, but disappear again not long after showing up, one of the many problems arising from the series no doubt being ended while a big storyline was heating up. Fortunately, the new characters - and their hazy connections to Baron Winters's past - are just as interesting.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but I did watch Fringe, and would say the first storyline has some of that Fringe-y-ness to it, while the second tale is more Twilight Zone. The third story is Night Force expanding as it is ending. The art and the oddities get 4 stars out of me, especially with this lovely hardcover edition in play. I will always be surprised the hardcover even got green-lighted - who made sure this forgotten old series got another life!? - but I'm glad it did.
January 12, 2025
I always loved this series as a kid and it's surprising how well I remembered reading it in the far-off 1980s. The re-experiencing of it is a bit like the rooms in Baron Winters' mansion, gateways to another time when the original Cold War was still in force and occult forces seemed to lurk in shadows everywhere. Marv Wolfman taps these currents in his scripting for the series, and the first story of the saga is probably the best, though none of them fail. Gene Colan's art is as brilliant as ever and nearly matches the mysticism of Steve Ditko's Dr. Strange run (Colan had a great run on that title too). Bob Smith's inks over Colan's pencils are satisfactory, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss Tom Palmer's embellishments on the great artist's works at Marvel.
Reuniting Wolfman and Colan a few years after they wrapped up The Tomb of Dracula was a brilliant idea. It's sad to say it didn't have a longer run, but I'm very impressed with DC for giving the series a lavish hardcover release. First class.
Reuniting Wolfman and Colan a few years after they wrapped up The Tomb of Dracula was a brilliant idea. It's sad to say it didn't have a longer run, but I'm very impressed with DC for giving the series a lavish hardcover release. First class.
April 30, 2020
I ordered this book with the intention of reading it over winter break. Unfortunately something personal came up, and I could get back to it until I was sheltering in place.
I discovered this comic book when it was being printed in single issues. I was in middle school and was going to Lake Tahoe with my then best friend. Stopping at a convenience store on the way there, I went to the good old wire spinner and there was issue 4. Mind you, I had read about the impending release of this book in the trades and was more than anxious for it to come out. (Yes, I was already that kind of collector.) I new I loved Gene Colan as an artist and Marve Wolfman as a writer, yet, somehow, I had never read Tomb of Dracula. This issue was going to be my introduction. I was not disappointed. Upon my return, I was able to find all the back issues at my local comic shop, then was devastated when DC decided to cancel it after 14 issues.
When I was still ordering comics on a monthly basis through DCBS, I was overjoyed when it was announced that Night Force was coming out in a hardback collection. I dutifully placed it on my preorder list even though I knew I had the original issues still in my collection. Then DC halted production. My heart sank. Than, just recently, I was surprised to see it had finally seen print, ordered it, then couldn't wait for it to arrive. Going from poor production of newsprint of the originals to pristine white glossy paper of a hardcover was all I needed to excuse the purchase. (Yes, I know DC hardcover reprint standards aren't as high as Marvel's.)
I was not disappointed. The nostalgia alone made the reread exciting. Looking at Mr. Colan's artwork reproduced with crisp clarity made me just flip the pages back and forth. And the stories, the stories on whole hold up, and the time travel aspect of the Baron's lair makes it okay that we are dealing with Soviet Russia, Nazis, aliens from other worlds. This is Twilight Zone meets Mission Impossible, the television program not the movies. I flipped every page with relish and anticipation. And, again, I was let down when I turned the last page of issue 14.
I have since read that there were attempted relaunches and that DC may try doing it once again with super heroes and abandoning the horror and temporary nature of the team ups. I feel this would be a travesty. The heart of the book is the paranormal, mystery, and, yes, horror. To make it another superhero book would miss the point and make it mundane. But, hey, superheros sell to everyone. Horror books are still just a niche market. And we know, DC does things just for the money.
I discovered this comic book when it was being printed in single issues. I was in middle school and was going to Lake Tahoe with my then best friend. Stopping at a convenience store on the way there, I went to the good old wire spinner and there was issue 4. Mind you, I had read about the impending release of this book in the trades and was more than anxious for it to come out. (Yes, I was already that kind of collector.) I new I loved Gene Colan as an artist and Marve Wolfman as a writer, yet, somehow, I had never read Tomb of Dracula. This issue was going to be my introduction. I was not disappointed. Upon my return, I was able to find all the back issues at my local comic shop, then was devastated when DC decided to cancel it after 14 issues.
When I was still ordering comics on a monthly basis through DCBS, I was overjoyed when it was announced that Night Force was coming out in a hardback collection. I dutifully placed it on my preorder list even though I knew I had the original issues still in my collection. Then DC halted production. My heart sank. Than, just recently, I was surprised to see it had finally seen print, ordered it, then couldn't wait for it to arrive. Going from poor production of newsprint of the originals to pristine white glossy paper of a hardcover was all I needed to excuse the purchase. (Yes, I know DC hardcover reprint standards aren't as high as Marvel's.)
I was not disappointed. The nostalgia alone made the reread exciting. Looking at Mr. Colan's artwork reproduced with crisp clarity made me just flip the pages back and forth. And the stories, the stories on whole hold up, and the time travel aspect of the Baron's lair makes it okay that we are dealing with Soviet Russia, Nazis, aliens from other worlds. This is Twilight Zone meets Mission Impossible, the television program not the movies. I flipped every page with relish and anticipation. And, again, I was let down when I turned the last page of issue 14.
I have since read that there were attempted relaunches and that DC may try doing it once again with super heroes and abandoning the horror and temporary nature of the team ups. I feel this would be a travesty. The heart of the book is the paranormal, mystery, and, yes, horror. To make it another superhero book would miss the point and make it mundane. But, hey, superheros sell to everyone. Horror books are still just a niche market. And we know, DC does things just for the money.
August 28, 2016
Preso no interior da sua mansão de Washington, obrigado por castigo a estar confinado a um tempo e espaço específico, o irascível, aparentemente imortal mas sábio barão combate o mal por meios pouco ortodoxos. É obrigado a usar agentes, capazes de intervir no mundo exterior, que manipula para que enfrentem situações perigosas. Impedido de sair para o mundo contemporâneo, pode ir ao passado. É-lhe tão fácil quanto abrir uma das portas da mansão. Ponto mutável no tempo, qualquer porta pode dar para outros tempos e geografias do passado. É uma experiência desconcertante para quem visite o barão. Agregou os seus associados na Night Force, uma equipa informal que, sob suas instruções, enfrenta os serviços secretos soviéticos, empenhados em transformar os poderes sobrenaturais numa arma ao serviço do estado, um misterioso ser que isola os habitantes de um prédio nova-iorquino, prendendo-os na armadilha dos seus desejos, e o mal encarnado que gosta de se incorporar como a grande besta bíblica. São os desafios que o barão Winters enfrenta, com o seu vasto poder oculto e a fidelidade de Merlin, o tigre de estimação com que partilha o pólo multi-temporal da sua mansão.
Típico personagem dos títulos dedicados ao sobrenatural da DC, não conquistou as boas graças do público e acabou cancelado ao fim de catorze edições. Winters pertence ao tipo de personagens cujo conceito de base é mais interessante do que as histórias em que é usada. A primeira temporada, escrita por Marv Wolfman e desenhada por Gene Colan, fica-se num terror muito morno, apesar da hipérbole manifestada nos argumentos. Winters tem sido recorrente como personagem secundária noutras séries da DC, especialmente em Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger e Constantine Hellblazer. Mantendo viva a memória, a DC lança, com pouca regularidade, novas mini-séries que recuperam a Nigth Force.
Típico personagem dos títulos dedicados ao sobrenatural da DC, não conquistou as boas graças do público e acabou cancelado ao fim de catorze edições. Winters pertence ao tipo de personagens cujo conceito de base é mais interessante do que as histórias em que é usada. A primeira temporada, escrita por Marv Wolfman e desenhada por Gene Colan, fica-se num terror muito morno, apesar da hipérbole manifestada nos argumentos. Winters tem sido recorrente como personagem secundária noutras séries da DC, especialmente em Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger e Constantine Hellblazer. Mantendo viva a memória, a DC lança, com pouca regularidade, novas mini-séries que recuperam a Nigth Force.
January 8, 2026
So much potential, and probably a big breath of fresh air for when it originally came out, but it doesn't feel to me like it lives up to its potential.
This is not a superhero book, or a standard team or storyline like was common when it first came out (around 1982-1983-ish), and not typical for Wolfman, though Colan was definitely a solid fit for it.
The concept feels very interesting initially, with agents sent out by Baron Winters for supernatural-related missions, and these agents don't necessarily know each other or like each other or Winters, but this doesn't go much further.
We end with the same characters ongoing through most of the run, and their animosity grows a little tiresome. They are pursuing helping a young lady because... her professor who has a history of sleeping with younger women feels a responsibility, and a much older man who doesn't really care for her much also feels like he needs to, because he slept with her. This is the Wolfman who gave us Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and teen Tara Markov, sadly.
In the end, we see a bit about Winters' backstory, but it isn't enough. It isn't withheld to be more mysterious, just seems rushed and not fully planned out (sort of like what happened later in Wolfman's backstory for the Adrian Chase Vigilante, which he later admitted to not even remembering).
The final result isn't all that satisfying, but, darn it, there's so much potential here!
(Side note: Alan Moore was asked if Winters was an influence on Constantine, and he said that he was not, but that Moore likes how Winters was a manipulator of the agents in this supernatural world; in hindsight, I wish that we had seen MORE of that, but it wasn't as strong as I might have found interesting)
This is not a superhero book, or a standard team or storyline like was common when it first came out (around 1982-1983-ish), and not typical for Wolfman, though Colan was definitely a solid fit for it.
The concept feels very interesting initially, with agents sent out by Baron Winters for supernatural-related missions, and these agents don't necessarily know each other or like each other or Winters, but this doesn't go much further.
We end with the same characters ongoing through most of the run, and their animosity grows a little tiresome. They are pursuing helping a young lady because... her professor who has a history of sleeping with younger women feels a responsibility, and a much older man who doesn't really care for her much also feels like he needs to, because he slept with her. This is the Wolfman who gave us Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and teen Tara Markov, sadly.
In the end, we see a bit about Winters' backstory, but it isn't enough. It isn't withheld to be more mysterious, just seems rushed and not fully planned out (sort of like what happened later in Wolfman's backstory for the Adrian Chase Vigilante, which he later admitted to not even remembering).
The final result isn't all that satisfying, but, darn it, there's so much potential here!
(Side note: Alan Moore was asked if Winters was an influence on Constantine, and he said that he was not, but that Moore likes how Winters was a manipulator of the agents in this supernatural world; in hindsight, I wish that we had seen MORE of that, but it wasn't as strong as I might have found interesting)
May 8, 2019
From the creators of the Marvel Comic "The Tomb Of Dracula", the longest running horror comic of the 70s.
This was a short lived series that I felt was ahead of it's time. Think of it as a kind of supernatural Mission Impossible. The series only ran for 14 issues plus the preview tale in New Teen Titans.
The enigmatic Baron Winters, living in his mystical Georgetown mansion puts together his Night Force to take on supernatural threats for a fee.
What set it apart was the fact that, other than Baron Winters, it did not have a regular cast of characters. A couple did make an additional appearance but the idea was to have a different team with unique skills for the story and the stories ran for three to five issues. They also announced that the series would not do "the story so far" issues which were common at the time.
The first story unites failed reporter Jack Gold, Paranormal reseacher Professor Donovan Caine and Vanessa Van Helsing, granddaughter of the famed vampire Hunter, who, as the story opens, is confined to an asylum for violent seizures which the Baron realizes are a psychic connection to something evil. Together they must battle evil Soviet agents trying to kidnap Vanessa for their nefarious scheme.
The second story pits violent criminal Paul Brooks against an alien menace from space who is terrorizing an apartment building in New York City.
The third and final story pits the Baron against an ancient evil that was helping Hitler in the 1930s but the evil is still existing in the present day. This tale gives the origin of Baron Winters and reunites him with his ex-wife as well as Vanessa Van Helsing.
A well done series that ended too soon.
This was a short lived series that I felt was ahead of it's time. Think of it as a kind of supernatural Mission Impossible. The series only ran for 14 issues plus the preview tale in New Teen Titans.
The enigmatic Baron Winters, living in his mystical Georgetown mansion puts together his Night Force to take on supernatural threats for a fee.
What set it apart was the fact that, other than Baron Winters, it did not have a regular cast of characters. A couple did make an additional appearance but the idea was to have a different team with unique skills for the story and the stories ran for three to five issues. They also announced that the series would not do "the story so far" issues which were common at the time.
The first story unites failed reporter Jack Gold, Paranormal reseacher Professor Donovan Caine and Vanessa Van Helsing, granddaughter of the famed vampire Hunter, who, as the story opens, is confined to an asylum for violent seizures which the Baron realizes are a psychic connection to something evil. Together they must battle evil Soviet agents trying to kidnap Vanessa for their nefarious scheme.
The second story pits violent criminal Paul Brooks against an alien menace from space who is terrorizing an apartment building in New York City.
The third and final story pits the Baron against an ancient evil that was helping Hitler in the 1930s but the evil is still existing in the present day. This tale gives the origin of Baron Winters and reunites him with his ex-wife as well as Vanessa Van Helsing.
A well done series that ended too soon.
March 12, 2025
A mysterious boss, unconventional heroes, and the forces of darkness…they are the Night Force…
Night Force by Marv Wolfman collects the first of three volumes bearing the title…a testament to horror comics of the 70s and 80s when superheroes had all just replaced them.
Baron Winters has been called many things…a conman, a charlatan, a madman, a manipulator, but he’s also the leader of a ragtag group of agents…most of which unaware of their manipulated recruitment…who oppose evil in a variety of forms…and don’t always survive.
It was a fun weird book off the heels of Wolfman and Colan’s Tomb of Dracula…and at the same time Wolfman was writing New Teen Titans.
For now it’s likely a lesser known forgotten bit of horror storytelling, but I still remember it and enjoyed it…ever since I first heard of Baron Winters in the B issue of Who’s who.
Night Force by Marv Wolfman collects the first of three volumes bearing the title…a testament to horror comics of the 70s and 80s when superheroes had all just replaced them.
Baron Winters has been called many things…a conman, a charlatan, a madman, a manipulator, but he’s also the leader of a ragtag group of agents…most of which unaware of their manipulated recruitment…who oppose evil in a variety of forms…and don’t always survive.
It was a fun weird book off the heels of Wolfman and Colan’s Tomb of Dracula…and at the same time Wolfman was writing New Teen Titans.
For now it’s likely a lesser known forgotten bit of horror storytelling, but I still remember it and enjoyed it…ever since I first heard of Baron Winters in the B issue of Who’s who.
June 11, 2021
I remember reading the free preview of NIGHT FORCE that appeared in NEW TEEN TITANS way back in 1982. As excited as I was by the thought that Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan were reuniting for the new title, my lack of interest in a horror title meant it never got purchased and read. After nearly forty years I finally decided to read the original series.
I like the premise. Baron Winters and Merlin showed a lot of promise. Yet in trying to keep the Baron this mysterious character, Wolfman sacrifices the series. By the time we get to know more about the Baron and his past the series has been canceled. And that's a shame. Perhaps Wolfman and Colan could have had a long run as they did with TOMB OF DRACULA at Marvel.
I like the premise. Baron Winters and Merlin showed a lot of promise. Yet in trying to keep the Baron this mysterious character, Wolfman sacrifices the series. By the time we get to know more about the Baron and his past the series has been canceled. And that's a shame. Perhaps Wolfman and Colan could have had a long run as they did with TOMB OF DRACULA at Marvel.
January 15, 2025
Los tres arcos que componen el volumen original de "Night Force" - servidos por la celebrada dupla creativa tras "Tomb of Dracula" - parten con una historia tan extensa como vacilante, donde ni el equipo protagónico ni su primera misión - que conecta ocultismo y política como se podía concebir a inicios de la década ochenta - logran convencer. Por fortuna, los dos siguientes captan mayor atención pese a su premisa algo genérica al enfocarse en el único personaje realmente interesante del gruppo original: Su líder, el enigmático Barón Winter. De menos a más y muy disfrutable por el trabajo gráfico de Gene Colan.
August 29, 2018
A short lived Title from the 1980’s that is long overdue for a new life. There is so much potential with this title and characters. This collection has three stories that while good do have a slow pace. I think this would have been more successful with a few quick one shot issues in between the longer stories. The art and writing is amazing but you can’t expect anything less from Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan.
March 4, 2019
Mismo equipo creativo que la magnífica Tumba de Drácula, y aunque ni Wolfman ni Colan se acercan a su mejor nivel se hace una lectura interesante.
Mucho en común también en cuanto a argumento: Vanessa Van Helsing y fuerzas paranormales, aunque no vampiros y sí demonios, tecnología y... rusos!
Se echó en falta a Tom Palmer.
Mucho en común también en cuanto a argumento: Vanessa Van Helsing y fuerzas paranormales, aunque no vampiros y sí demonios, tecnología y... rusos!
Se echó en falta a Tom Palmer.
November 28, 2024
Its ok.
Not what I expected in my head. I will be honest and say this book was not all that great. The characters were a bit shallow and nothing is really explained or explored. This was a rare miss from Marv Wolfman in my opinion. The ending was a bit anticlimactic for my taste. Get it on sale cause its definitely not worth full price.
Not what I expected in my head. I will be honest and say this book was not all that great. The characters were a bit shallow and nothing is really explained or explored. This was a rare miss from Marv Wolfman in my opinion. The ending was a bit anticlimactic for my taste. Get it on sale cause its definitely not worth full price.
May 3, 2018
Just not enough substance. I really liked the one story where the apartment complex was being taken over by a Lovecraftian horror, and there were certainly good things going for it. But the story never really got going. It just felt like it was missing something.
October 16, 2019
Some fun stories, with some great art by Gene Colan. Unfortunately, the book ended before it really had a chance to shine. A shame, as it had great potential, and it would have been fun to see the series evolve.
January 4, 2019
I actually only read the first 8 issues of this collection. Great premise, but the dialogue is hokey and the story is a bit muddled. The character of Jack Gold is the WORST.
December 7, 2020
This series took me by surprise. Except for the last 2 issues, it has quite a lot to offer in terms of storytelling.
September 18, 2024
I can see why it was a hard sell but despite some outdated tropes it was a fun read.
Wish it had stuck around for a volume two.
Wish it had stuck around for a volume two.
January 19, 2025
WHAT A GREAT SERIES. I ENJOYED THE WHOLE BOOK. GREAT WRITING AND ART AND FANTASTIC CHARACTERS. WOLFMAN, COLAN AND SMITH WERE AWESOME!
June 8, 2020
I probably would have missed this comic altogether when it originally came out but it was included as an insert in an issue of the New Teen Titans which pretty much anyone who had anything to do with comics back then was reading. And then I realized it was done by one of my favorite creative teams of the 1970s who had a long run on Tomb of Dracula for Marvel. So I eagerly collected every issue. The first storyline was a slow burn establishing new characters and then causing one of them to lose their limbs and another to lose her vast power. The remaining issues didn't seem to pick up on those characters much and honed in more on the Baron. I don't feel Wolfman had enough time to get these characters established the way he did on Tomb or it might have been just as good. Alas, it was a short stunted run. Thankfully Wolfman returned to these characters in a couple more short series much later, though with new artists.
May 26, 2013
A strange Baron recruits people to fight supernatural threats. It feels like the old Misty comics, but without the female leads. It's quite fun, and unusual stories. The artwork is of its time, and is nothing special. Just read it for the stories. A good read.
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