MIDNIGHT HIGHWAY #1 – Indie Review

MIDNIGHT HIGHWAY #1, available now on Kickstarter, takes the reader down a dark road in the dead of night to face, monsters, ghosts, and things not of this world.

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The Details

• Written By: Mike Tener, Alex Maday
• Art By: Alexander Malyshev
• Colors By: Hedwin Zaldivar
• Letters By: Dave Lentz
• Cover Art By: Alexander Malyshev
• Cover Price: $5 (digital pdf on Kickstarter)
• Release Date: October 2021 (estimated)

Was It Good?

If you go by the description, this comic shouldn’t work. In execution, I had a fun time reading this comic.

Why? It works because this first issue actually tells a complete story (or complete chapter if you consider the ending) in a deceptively clever way. You get a setup (boyfriend and girlfriend have a great date that ends late), you get a central conflict (boyfriend encounters something VERY weird on the drive home), and you get a conclusion (boyfriend must survive or die).

It’s deceptively clever because you don’t get a traditional exposition about what’s going on or a super obvious ending, but the piece parts are all there. There is some dialog, but this is also a great example of letting the art tell most of the story through the action happening in-panel.

We’ll cover the details of the story in the next section, but a quick word about the tone and vibe. The Kickstarter description calls this an “80’s-inspired sci-fi/horror comic,” and that description lines up with what we received, but this first issue more specifically feels like something out of a Stephen King anthology. The events surrounding Alex (the protagonist) have a surreal quality to them reminiscent of the reality-bending stories King is famous for ala “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” in his anthology, Skeleton Crew.

Moving over to the art, the visuals in this comic are fantastic. There’s more than one horror encountered on the Midnight Highway, but one creature takes the spotlight for the majority of the story, and it’s a true nightmare. The human and non-human character designs are clean and expressive. The colors glow and swirl for maximum effect. And Lentz’s lettering takes the top honor spot for the rage-filled, clipped language of the main monster. The art in this issue is creature feature heaven.

As Kickstarters go, this is a project worth backing. The art is stellar, the writing is remarkably complete, and the net result is a fun monster story in the same vein as Stephen King and the Twilight Zone.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Alex and Kelly enjoy a great date with a cheesy drive-in movie, followed by french fries and laughs.

On his way home from the date, Alex’s car radio starts encountering interference when suddenly, the announcer’s voice changes into something otherworldly. The voice warns Alex that the Midnight Highway is a place where all meaning disappears.

Distracted by the strange voice, Alex doesn’t see a deer wander onto the road directly in front of him. However, Alex sees the deer at the last second and stops his car just before impact. Alex gets out of the car to check on the deer since it refuses to move.

Suddenly, the deer morphs into something monstrous and it screams for Alex to turn over the golden vessel (his car). Scared out of his mind, Alex jumps into his car to get away. Without pause, the deer gives chase, and with each successive page, it stretches and mutates into something reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing.

We conclude the issue with Alex realizing he’s not in Kansas anymore.

Final Thoughts

MIDNIGHT HIGHWAY #1 takes everything you love about Stephen King, John Carpenter, and every 80s horror/sci-fi film you’ve ever loved, and gives it a thrilling coat of paint. The art is fantastic, and the writing is perfect for comics that let the art tell the story. This is definitely an indie project worth checking out.

Score: 9.5/10