Carpe Noctem From Hashtag Comics [NSFW Previews]

Hashtag Comics is a new publisher who is sem-local to me. I met writer Martin Dunn last year at the Tampa Bay Comic-Con, and now we run into each other at local events and comic stores. After running into each other recently at Heroes Haven over in Tampa, he told me about a new publisher that he was involved with, and a book that he was writing for them. Pixel crossed the internet and I found myself with some previews to read. Hashtag Comics has an interesting approach as a publisher because they publish comics geared towards a more adult audience, as well as more family friendly titles as well.

Carpe Noctem is on the less family-friendly, more "adult" end of their publishing spectrum. The first issue was raw, and I found it very reminiscent of 90s Horror Comics, but in the hands of Dunn and artist Derrick Fish the story manages to rise above many of the cliches of this particularly genre/style of comic book story.

There is blood, and violence and sex. This is a story about vampires, werewolves and other things that go "bump" in the night, and telling stories about these sorts of creatures would be difficult without at least the blood and violence. I would be disappointed in a vampire comic that didn't have blood in it.

Carpe Noctem also has some intriguing concepts in it, ideas that elevate it about the average. The Auditors are ancient, eldritch beings that manage to avoid the Lovecraftian cliches that usually come with "Old Ones" and "Eldritch Beings" in comics, or a lot of horror for that matter. It is the task of the Auditors to keep the supernatural world a secret, often through dark means. In this first issue we are introduced to Chelsea, who is going to be the viewpoint character for the readers, the one through whom the supernatural world is revealed.

[Previews and more adult material after the jump]

I won't lie, there are some cliched elements in this comic. The main vampire character owns a Las Vegas nightclub and the first werewolf that we are introduced to is a sex worker. Left on their own, I think that these elements would be damning, but the the female werewolf sex worker isn't just presented for titillation even if she falls into the stereotypical "angry ex" that you find in a lot of stories. The character gets all of a couple of pages in this issue. Who knows, there might be greater depth added to the character as time goes on (if the character appears again).

The character of Chelsea Nobles is written with more complexity, even if she is based on the stereotype of a frustrated novelist who works as a reporter. In a less capable writer's hand, this character would probably have ended up as the "Madonna" to counterpoint the "whore" of werewolf Ashley (Yes, Virginia, there is a werewolf named Ashley.) but thankfully this doesn't happen. This is one of the places where Dunn avoids the pitfalls of the horror comics of the 90s.

It is the actions of Jace's brother (and co-owner of the Carpe Noctem nightclub which gives the comic its name) Dante that provides the greatest push to the plot. He does something spectacularly and publicly stupid as a vampire that threatens the secrets of the supernatural world and introduces us to The Auditors.

Is this comic worth buying? I'm going to say that is a yes. It is a reserved yes, because, obviously, this isn't going to be a comic for everyone, but it was an entertaining read and I definitely wanted to read the next issue when I was done with this. Carpe Noctem could have easily descended into Tim Vigil levels of excess, but it didn't. Unlike a lot of the 90s horror comics that seem to have influenced this story, the creators chose restraint over titillation and extreme gore. Believe me, there is gore a plenty in this issue (as the preview page at left aptly demonstrates) but it is there for a reason.

This is definitely a horror comic that is intended for an adult audience, and it makes no pretensions towards what it is and what it does. If a night in a Grindhouse theater would be your idea of a fun time, then you should check out Carpe Noctem. This isn't a deep comic, but it is definitely a fun comic. I think that gamers can find some inspirations for their modern horror games in these pages as well. Carpe Noctem number one is the start of an interesting new universe that would be appealing to fans of horror. Apparently splatterpunk hasn't died...it was just having a lay down for a while.

The first issue is coming soon, go check it out.