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Night Fever
Who are you, really? Are you the things you do, or are you the person inside your mind? In Europe on a business trip, Jonathan Webb can't sleep. Instead, he finds himself wandering the night in a strange foreign city, with his new friend, the mysterious and violent Rainer as his guide. Rainer shows Jonathan the hidden world of the night, a world without rules or limits. But when the fun turns dangerous, Jonathan may find himself trapped in the dark... And the question is, what will he do to get home? Night Fever is a pulse-pounding noir thriller from grand masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. A Jekyll-and-Hyde story of a man facing the darkness inside himself, this riveting tour of the night is a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips readers!
119 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 13, 2023
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,750 books2,816 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 352 reviews
September 23, 2023
Who are we inside, who is truly the “you” pulling the strings on your actions? Night Fever, a darkly brilliant noir-esque graphic novel from duo Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, asks this question in a spiral of an everyman tripping into a nightmarish, shadowy world of criminals and the obscenely rich while on a work trip to Paris to promote the publishing company he works for.
Night Fever feels like a classic noir film that comes alive in gorgeous illustrations that make excellent use of light and color and a seedy 1970s setting and brushes up against elements of horror through the ambiguous and potentially hallucinogenic qualities of the story. The story follows Johnathan Webb who, after sleepless nights haunted by an old recurring dream of his that somehow is recreated in an upcoming novel his company is publishing, stumbles into a mysterious party and assumes another identity ‘like I was writing a script in my head and following it. Writing a different version of myself.’ But is this stronger, more confident identity an insight to who he truly is inside, and is Rainer, the man who befriends him and pushes him into a whirlwind adventure of violence, someone he can trust? Night Fever is a wild ride full of the unexpected that is as eye popping as it is mind blowing.
I came to this book through Dave Schaafsma’s extraordinary review and the fact that he finds the coolest graphic novels. If you are a graphic novel fan, be sure to give him a follow. While I was vaguely reminded of The Book Tour and its Kafkaesque drama of a book tour that spills into a killing spree, this manages to be darker in a more visceral way and much more of a big action, international thriller (it helps that the lead looks like an older version of Matt Damon with his mustache in The Informant!). The whole thing just looks great, I really love the art style (which feels like a nod to older comic styles and really fits the narrative) and the use of color is perfect. It just screams trippy noir.
Everything feels haunting and vaguely threatening. Which really works when it appears to ambiguously descend into cosmic or psychological horrors. Or, as the lead puts it:
‘Violence. But with a veneer of class.’
I really enjoyed how dark this was, particularly when it examines the depths of the depravity and the darkness that could be lurking inside any of us. Such as when Webb has a series of blackouts and questions ‘What part of your mind is pulling the strings then? Is it the real you…? And if so…why is it so ugly?’ There is an element as well that makes us question who is really pulling the strings of society. Are we in control or is it an illusion created by the rich where the world is their plaything? Or is there someone ever further than them? It all swirls together in a feverish blend of violence and psychological horror that feels sharp and smart. I also was glad that it avoided the cliche Fight Club twist as I was concerned it was going to turn into a whole “he was both people the whole time!” thing when it began to nudge ideas of being the stronger, cooler self that we wish we could be.
This was a short graphic novel but just packed with fun. Night Fever is, well, a fever dream of noir action, suspense and mystery.
4.5/5
Night Fever feels like a classic noir film that comes alive in gorgeous illustrations that make excellent use of light and color and a seedy 1970s setting and brushes up against elements of horror through the ambiguous and potentially hallucinogenic qualities of the story. The story follows Johnathan Webb who, after sleepless nights haunted by an old recurring dream of his that somehow is recreated in an upcoming novel his company is publishing, stumbles into a mysterious party and assumes another identity ‘like I was writing a script in my head and following it. Writing a different version of myself.’ But is this stronger, more confident identity an insight to who he truly is inside, and is Rainer, the man who befriends him and pushes him into a whirlwind adventure of violence, someone he can trust? Night Fever is a wild ride full of the unexpected that is as eye popping as it is mind blowing.
I came to this book through Dave Schaafsma’s extraordinary review and the fact that he finds the coolest graphic novels. If you are a graphic novel fan, be sure to give him a follow. While I was vaguely reminded of The Book Tour and its Kafkaesque drama of a book tour that spills into a killing spree, this manages to be darker in a more visceral way and much more of a big action, international thriller (it helps that the lead looks like an older version of Matt Damon with his mustache in The Informant!). The whole thing just looks great, I really love the art style (which feels like a nod to older comic styles and really fits the narrative) and the use of color is perfect. It just screams trippy noir.
Everything feels haunting and vaguely threatening. Which really works when it appears to ambiguously descend into cosmic or psychological horrors. Or, as the lead puts it:
‘Violence. But with a veneer of class.’
I really enjoyed how dark this was, particularly when it examines the depths of the depravity and the darkness that could be lurking inside any of us. Such as when Webb has a series of blackouts and questions ‘What part of your mind is pulling the strings then? Is it the real you…? And if so…why is it so ugly?’ There is an element as well that makes us question who is really pulling the strings of society. Are we in control or is it an illusion created by the rich where the world is their plaything? Or is there someone ever further than them? It all swirls together in a feverish blend of violence and psychological horror that feels sharp and smart. I also was glad that it avoided the cliche Fight Club twist as I was concerned it was going to turn into a whole “he was both people the whole time!” thing when it began to nudge ideas of being the stronger, cooler self that we wish we could be.
This was a short graphic novel but just packed with fun. Night Fever is, well, a fever dream of noir action, suspense and mystery.
4.5/5
January 14, 2024
Trippy and dark.
So we all have different people inside of us. Or different aspects of ourselves, I should say.
I'm a friend, a daughter, a mother, a wife, a reader, and a kickass cook. And that's just the sides of myself that I'm willing to admit exist to random Goodreaders.
But what about the sides of myself that even I don't know are there?
And that's kinda what Brubaker and Philips explore here.
You have a man, mostly content with his life, who heads out on a business trip.
On the plane, he settles in to read a manuscript by one of his potential authors. Like he always does. All is normal until he realizes this author has written about a recurring dream he has been randomly having for his entire life.
This unsettles him and sets in motion events that will shake him, and everything he knows about himself and the world around him, to the very core.
How much of what happened to him is real and how much is imagined?
And at the end of the day, does the answer to that question even affect his life much?
I liked this a lot.
Then again, I'm a huge Brubaker Philips fan, so your mileage may vary.
Recommendedish.
So we all have different people inside of us. Or different aspects of ourselves, I should say.
I'm a friend, a daughter, a mother, a wife, a reader, and a kickass cook. And that's just the sides of myself that I'm willing to admit exist to random Goodreaders.
But what about the sides of myself that even I don't know are there?
And that's kinda what Brubaker and Philips explore here.
You have a man, mostly content with his life, who heads out on a business trip.
On the plane, he settles in to read a manuscript by one of his potential authors. Like he always does. All is normal until he realizes this author has written about a recurring dream he has been randomly having for his entire life.
This unsettles him and sets in motion events that will shake him, and everything he knows about himself and the world around him, to the very core.
How much of what happened to him is real and how much is imagined?
And at the end of the day, does the answer to that question even affect his life much?
I liked this a lot.
Then again, I'm a huge Brubaker Philips fan, so your mileage may vary.
Recommendedish.
January 8, 2024
"The thing is, you can be a success and a failure at the same time. That's probably how a lot of people feel, really . . . Suddenly, I was forty-five years old, and all I'd ever been was a salesman." -- the midnight thoughts of Jonathan Webb
Night Fever is a dependably good but middle-of-the-road Brubaker crime drama graphic novel, which tells an interesting tale BUT can be distractingly derivative to those who can recall the 1990 film Bad Influence (a forgotten flick from early in the acting careers for both James Spader and Rob Lowe) or the more notable Eyes Wide Shut (director Stanley Kubrick's cinematic swan song). It's the spring of 1978 - insert my stock phrase of 'no cell-phones or Internet' to assist our involved characters - and American publishing industry sales associate Jonathan Webb is attending an annual book festival in Paris. Fueled by a bout of possible jet-lag insomnia combined with some earlier freaky dreams AND a mid-life crisis of sorts, Webb explores those dark corners of 'The City of Lights' and chances upon a back alley club occupied by masked attendees and all sorts of weirdness. Soon Webb finds himself involved in alarmingly escalating felonious activity alongside his new 'friend' named Rainer while also breaking free from that self-imposed invisible straitjacket of middle-class responsibility. Although not particularly original, it was still an interesting little story with appropriately gritty illustrations.
Night Fever is a dependably good but middle-of-the-road Brubaker crime drama graphic novel, which tells an interesting tale BUT can be distractingly derivative to those who can recall the 1990 film Bad Influence (a forgotten flick from early in the acting careers for both James Spader and Rob Lowe) or the more notable Eyes Wide Shut (director Stanley Kubrick's cinematic swan song). It's the spring of 1978 - insert my stock phrase of 'no cell-phones or Internet' to assist our involved characters - and American publishing industry sales associate Jonathan Webb is attending an annual book festival in Paris. Fueled by a bout of possible jet-lag insomnia combined with some earlier freaky dreams AND a mid-life crisis of sorts, Webb explores those dark corners of 'The City of Lights' and chances upon a back alley club occupied by masked attendees and all sorts of weirdness. Soon Webb finds himself involved in alarmingly escalating felonious activity alongside his new 'friend' named Rainer while also breaking free from that self-imposed invisible straitjacket of middle-class responsibility. Although not particularly original, it was still an interesting little story with appropriately gritty illustrations.
October 12, 2023
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips try to spice up a midlife crisis by setting it in the 1970s during a business trip to Lyon, France, stuffed with dream sequences, a drug trip, murder, and a homage to Eyes Wide Shut, but at heart it's still just a schmuck whining about how unhappy he is with his middle-class life.
I just can't care.
I just can't care.
October 19, 2023
A new Ed Brubaker/ Sean Phillips graphic novel is always a treat. “Night Fever” is a devilishly wicked noir thriller that every middle-aged man can relate to, whether they are willing to admit it or not.
Jonathon Webb works in publishing. He’s on a business trip to Paris, which should be exciting, but he is just bored. It goes beyond simple boredom, however. This is an existential ennui. He is tired of his life, his marriage, his kids, his job. He wants something different.
He finds it. One night, he runs into a man named Rainer. Charming but dangerous, Rainer takes Webb on a tour of the seedy underbelly. It’s a hidden world that people like Webb never knew existed. As the night progresses, so too does Webb’s fear that once he gets in too deep, he won’t be able to get back out.
There are shades of “Eyes Wide Shut” in this, as the protagonist must face temptation after temptation and make the choices that will keep his soul intact.
Another winner from Brubaker/Phillips.
Jonathon Webb works in publishing. He’s on a business trip to Paris, which should be exciting, but he is just bored. It goes beyond simple boredom, however. This is an existential ennui. He is tired of his life, his marriage, his kids, his job. He wants something different.
He finds it. One night, he runs into a man named Rainer. Charming but dangerous, Rainer takes Webb on a tour of the seedy underbelly. It’s a hidden world that people like Webb never knew existed. As the night progresses, so too does Webb’s fear that once he gets in too deep, he won’t be able to get back out.
There are shades of “Eyes Wide Shut” in this, as the protagonist must face temptation after temptation and make the choices that will keep his soul intact.
Another winner from Brubaker/Phillips.
July 24, 2023
Another small book by the A-team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. A much needed detour from their retro-crime series Reckless. Here we follow a middle-aged novel publisher as he goes to a conference in Europe and gets embroiled in a weird underground cult. It reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut with a bit more obvious crime and violence, less mystique.
I found Brubaker's narration to be a bit underwhelming, the voice he gives our narrator Jonathan Webb sounds too similar to Ethan Reckless and Dylan (Kill or Be Killed).
But it's a satisfying enough story. A quick fun read with fantastic art (I especially liked the colors).
I found Brubaker's narration to be a bit underwhelming, the voice he gives our narrator Jonathan Webb sounds too similar to Ethan Reckless and Dylan (Kill or Be Killed).
But it's a satisfying enough story. A quick fun read with fantastic art (I especially liked the colors).
February 25, 2023
Thank you to Edelweiss and Image for an ARC of a book I was pretty sure I'd love anyway, but was very curious about. I will say that this was unusual and surprising, but I think it's going to require a 2nd read before I can fully articulate how I feel about it. If you want to know why I love Ed Brubaker though, I can point you to the Afterword where he says "After doing five of the Reckless books in two years, Sean and I needed a break, which for us means not actually taking a break but doing a different graphic novel instead." He also admits this is a dark story and it really is (even for this team.)
It is a misdirection to call this a "mistaken identity" book, but it's also a fair place to start with it. It's also a story about a man having a midlife crisis (which is on par for the author) and a man struggling with sleep problems and recurring dreams. It has wild moments that are tough to believe until you get to the end of the book, so please reserve judgement till you seen this through.
I haven't really been surprised by Brubaker/Phillips in a while and I don't want that to sound disparaging. They are one of my favorite creative teams of all time, but there are some hallmarks you can expect from them that I appreciate. This takes some bigger swings and some bigger chances and I really enjoy that it all lives in this story that isn't trying to spawn a larger world. It's all here, it's contained and it's very engrossing.
It is a misdirection to call this a "mistaken identity" book, but it's also a fair place to start with it. It's also a story about a man having a midlife crisis (which is on par for the author) and a man struggling with sleep problems and recurring dreams. It has wild moments that are tough to believe until you get to the end of the book, so please reserve judgement till you seen this through.
I haven't really been surprised by Brubaker/Phillips in a while and I don't want that to sound disparaging. They are one of my favorite creative teams of all time, but there are some hallmarks you can expect from them that I appreciate. This takes some bigger swings and some bigger chances and I really enjoy that it all lives in this story that isn't trying to spawn a larger world. It's all here, it's contained and it's very engrossing.
August 17, 2023
Many have surmised that Brubaker was dealing with some inner middle-aged demons while writing this but my own (absolutely unsupported by evidence or logic) is that he was stuck watching outré Tom Cruise films of yesteryear, most notably Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky and Collateral and generated an entirely readable one-shot graphic novel about a sad-sack sales rep who's lured into a violent demimonde by a charismatic Eurotrash ne'erdowell.
February 6, 2023
There’s never been a Brubaker/Phillips book that wasn’t great, and this is no exception. It’s a little weirder, closer to their work on Fatale or Incognito, but a bit more grounded than those. Honestly I was nowhere near done with Reckless, and good as this is I’d rather have had another volume of that, but “not as good as my favorite graphic novels of the last few years” isn’t really faint praise.
July 17, 2023
Jonathan Webb is on a business trip to Paris for the publisher he works for. One night, battling insomnia, he finds himself trying to find a pharmacy to get something to knock him out, but all the pharmacies are closed. A fateful meeting with a stranger will change his life and unlock a side in him he didn't know existed.
I really enjoyed this book! The story was intriguing and the artwork is absolutely phenomenal. I loved the color palette that was used. I also liked the different tone of the story with the horror elements. Brubaker and Phillips are a great team and I love their work. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves noir with some horror mixed in.
My thanks to Image Comics, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this book! The story was intriguing and the artwork is absolutely phenomenal. I loved the color palette that was used. I also liked the different tone of the story with the horror elements. Brubaker and Phillips are a great team and I love their work. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves noir with some horror mixed in.
My thanks to Image Comics, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
November 26, 2023
4.5⭐️
Ooohmgee!!!
Jonathon Webb’s, The MMC, problems all started when he decided to read a book.
😂😂😂.🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️.😂😂😂.
Welcome to the club Jonathon. Welcome. To. The. Club!!!
Ooohmgee!!!
Jonathon Webb’s, The MMC, problems all started when he decided to read a book.
😂😂😂.🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️.😂😂😂.
Welcome to the club Jonathon. Welcome. To. The. Club!!!
August 18, 2023
A pretty dark view into the world of a man who's at his midlife crisis and decides to go a direction that feels like he's reading one of the thriller mystery novels. But the situations a regular dude is placed in makes for some unexpected endings. I really enjoyed the end, as it wrapped up this dark tale in a very believable way on top of some excellent art as always from the main man Phillips. This team never fails to deliver the goods. It's probably closer to a 3.5 but I'll bump it up to a 4 for the ballsy ending.
July 9, 2023
That was a Fantastic experience! Excellent and raw art in every panel. Crime at its finest.
September 4, 2023
One of the better looking books from the creative team so far, and nice to see Brubaker take things to Europe for a change. I always liked these stories of Middle aged man stuck in the day to day cycle and they meet someone to tip them over the edge and see what they maybe have been capable all these years A' La Fight Club style, also this character seems to be battling insomnia as well. Note to self kids get that 8 hrs of sleep and you can avoid murderous tendencies too.
Not a bad read but Even Brubaker admits it is basically just filler material to hold fans over while they take it easy before announcing their next project.
Not a bad read but Even Brubaker admits it is basically just filler material to hold fans over while they take it easy before announcing their next project.
November 10, 2023
This was good, like really good. I'm definitely looking forward to more work from the authors. I couldn't put this one down once I started reading, it's so compelling and the writing was everything. I enjoyed this one.
July 16, 2024
Everything these two touch turns to gold. They are getting better and better with each story they told. I love how every they time can find new theme, and turn even some banal one into something extraordinary.
This time, story of book salesman is twisted into something completely different, each chapter adds something new, move from one genre to another, exploring usual concepts from new angle. And although it's getting pretty crazy at some point, it works and holds together quite well.
Phillip's art is also getting better and better, and while style stays pretty much the same, there are tiny details that are making it more enjoyable for reader and building atmosphere. Same goes for coloring.
The ending was quite strange and maybe I didn't got it right for the first time, so it lowered overall impression a little bit. But still I would go with 4.5*
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After second read I must add, that this comics is mostly about middle life crisis. One wild night (or maybe few) where main protagonist is trying to escape from boring routine of his life, only to realize that he actually already has everything that makes me happy. Were those strange events just fantasy or some coping mechanism that buried reality deep down. Probably he (and we) will never know...
This time, story of book salesman is twisted into something completely different, each chapter adds something new, move from one genre to another, exploring usual concepts from new angle. And although it's getting pretty crazy at some point, it works and holds together quite well.
Phillip's art is also getting better and better, and while style stays pretty much the same, there are tiny details that are making it more enjoyable for reader and building atmosphere. Same goes for coloring.
The ending was quite strange and maybe I didn't got it right for the first time, so it lowered overall impression a little bit. But still I would go with 4.5*
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After second read I must add, that this comics is mostly about middle life crisis. One wild night (or maybe few) where main protagonist is trying to escape from boring routine of his life, only to realize that he actually already has everything that makes me happy. Were those strange events just fantasy or some coping mechanism that buried reality deep down. Probably he (and we) will never know...
November 18, 2023
Cuenta en la nota final Brubaker que querían salirse de sus escenarios habituales, que Phillips quería una ambientación europea para dibujar cosas que conoce... Así que, ni harto ni perezoso, el guionista idea una de agente literario de viaje por Europa en plena crisis de los 40 que se mete en una sociedad secreta rollo Eyes Wide Shut, con drogas, club de la lucha, orgías... que perfectamente podría suceder en Nueva York o Los Ángeles. Todo son callejones oscuros, hoteles, restaurantes... Bueno sí, hay un castillo.
Ese bajonazo "me hago mayor, ¿qué he hecho con mi vida?" es plausible. La pena está en que a su alrededor hay un argumento traído por los pelos que va sumando WTF tras WTF hasta el WTF final. Muy bien dibujado por Phillips y con un color particularmente saturado que le sienta bien al relato. Pero con la continua sensación de "volved a lo vuestro".
Por cierto, la edición de Norma regresa al tamaño tomo comic-book, algo que no veía desde Sleeper, a precio de tomaco de todas las series que ha publicado del tándem Panini.
Ese bajonazo "me hago mayor, ¿qué he hecho con mi vida?" es plausible. La pena está en que a su alrededor hay un argumento traído por los pelos que va sumando WTF tras WTF hasta el WTF final. Muy bien dibujado por Phillips y con un color particularmente saturado que le sienta bien al relato. Pero con la continua sensación de "volved a lo vuestro".
Por cierto, la edición de Norma regresa al tamaño tomo comic-book, algo que no veía desde Sleeper, a precio de tomaco de todas las series que ha publicado del tándem Panini.
August 22, 2023
What’s amazing with Brubaker & Phillips is that they can’t seem to produce something actually bad.
Take this book for instance: the plot is nothing to write home about- a sordid and violent mid-life crisis- with a rather unengaging main character to boot.
And yet the pair- the trio, I wouldn’t want to exclude Jacob Phillips- is so talented they manage to deliver something above average. It’s not the plot; it’s the way the plot is told. Pacing and storytelling are excellent, dialogues/inner voices are brilliant. Sean Phillips, whose work had kind of slackened off on the late Reckless issues, is back in town and draws great pages. The european settings were more to his liking maybe? Who cares? It’s just great.
So, even if the story itself won’t blow off your mind, you know you’ll read some solid good stuff because these guys? They’re magic.
Take this book for instance: the plot is nothing to write home about- a sordid and violent mid-life crisis- with a rather unengaging main character to boot.
And yet the pair- the trio, I wouldn’t want to exclude Jacob Phillips- is so talented they manage to deliver something above average. It’s not the plot; it’s the way the plot is told. Pacing and storytelling are excellent, dialogues/inner voices are brilliant. Sean Phillips, whose work had kind of slackened off on the late Reckless issues, is back in town and draws great pages. The european settings were more to his liking maybe? Who cares? It’s just great.
So, even if the story itself won’t blow off your mind, you know you’ll read some solid good stuff because these guys? They’re magic.
Read
February 8, 2023Given my general failure altogether to get the fuss about Brubaker/Phillips, combined with this being firmly within the genre of male mid-life crisis stories, I shouldn't have been that keen on it. In short: a man who meant to be a writer himself, only to find that the interim job with a publisher has become his life, finds his own recurring nightmare is on the pages of the firm's hot new signing. Can't sleep. Ends up in an Eyes Wide Shut sort of establishment, makes a dangerous new friend while pretending to be someone else, fucks off work...none of this is new ground, is it? But as in Kill Or Be Killed, I just like their work more when they're slightly out of their comfort zone because the lead is out of his too – when it's not just a case of someone from the underworld who's got in a bit too deep, but of someone fundamentally unsuited to be there and unsure what the hell he's doing. Nothing remotely revolutionary, and I could very easily go full Alan Moore regarding the cultural implications of how much they're celebrated, but it definitely has a little more bite this time out. Or maybe it's just that like the lead this time, I am also 45.
(Edelweiss ARC)
(Edelweiss ARC)
June 23, 2023
Night Fever is a graphic novel published by Image Comics and is written by Ed Brubaker, drawn by Sean Phillips, and colored by Jacob Phillips.
Jonathan Webb is a traveling American salesman on a business trip to France. Feeling trapped in his everyday life and unable to sleep, Jonathan takes a late night stroll through the Paris streets. He follows a couple to a mysterious underground club where he pretends to be Griffin, a name he spots on the guest list. Caught up in a new world where he can pretend to be this mysterious Griffin, Webb is sucked into a world where all his life’s inhibitions, prejudices, and safeguards have been removed.
Simply captivating. Brubaker and Phillips do it again! When Night Fever arrived the other day it instantly jumped to the top of my read pile and did not disappoint. It’s a dark and foreboding look at the human psyche. I really enjoyed the pacing of the book and how it all feels very fluid and natural. Sean Phillips art is amazing as usual and his son Jacob continues to impress in colors - That’s a talented family right there. If you have enjoyed any of this team’s previous work, you will like this one as well!
Jonathan Webb is a traveling American salesman on a business trip to France. Feeling trapped in his everyday life and unable to sleep, Jonathan takes a late night stroll through the Paris streets. He follows a couple to a mysterious underground club where he pretends to be Griffin, a name he spots on the guest list. Caught up in a new world where he can pretend to be this mysterious Griffin, Webb is sucked into a world where all his life’s inhibitions, prejudices, and safeguards have been removed.
Simply captivating. Brubaker and Phillips do it again! When Night Fever arrived the other day it instantly jumped to the top of my read pile and did not disappoint. It’s a dark and foreboding look at the human psyche. I really enjoyed the pacing of the book and how it all feels very fluid and natural. Sean Phillips art is amazing as usual and his son Jacob continues to impress in colors - That’s a talented family right there. If you have enjoyed any of this team’s previous work, you will like this one as well!
July 24, 2023
I'm a long time fan of Brubaker & Phillips's collaborations (Criminal, Fatale, Reckless, etc.), and Night Fever was an interesting story. Yes, it's essentially a story of a mid-life crisis, but told in their unique style. I really liked the exploration of a shadow-self, with his "adventures" with Rainer while walking at night. (Amusingly, in a newsletter, Brubaker said that part of this story (the setting) was due to Phillips asking for a story set in Europe so he'd have different landscapes to draw for once.)
This probably isn't the Brubaker/Phillips I'd recommend people try at first (I think the three I mentioned at the beginning might be better intros), but it's a good one.
This probably isn't the Brubaker/Phillips I'd recommend people try at first (I think the three I mentioned at the beginning might be better intros), but it's a good one.
December 31, 2023
This one has a great atmosphere, sort of an Eyes Wide Shut mixed with the drearier work of David Goodis. But this one proves itself to be middle-of-the-road when compared to other Brubaker and Sean Philips work, really petering out at the end into a bit of an anticlimax. Still better than a lot of material out there though and I feel like a re-read might be warranted soon.
June 29, 2023
Excellent. Vibes like The American Friend and Le Cercle Rouge.
August 18, 2024
A complex mystery which explores a man’s assumptions about his identity. Who are we really?
August 16, 2023
A bit of an outlier in the Brubaker/Phillips oeuvre, Night Fever reads more like the author going through something rather than a completely thought out tale. That said, it's rich and engaging for what it is, and Phillips' art has never looked better.
A publisher's agent travels to France for a European sales trip, but can't seem to fall asleep for mysterious reasons. During a late-night ramble, he sneaks into a masked party, where he finds himself easily slipping into the borrowed role of Griffin, a rich gambler. Another party-goer engages "Griffin" in a series of late-night adventures that grow weirder and darker over the course of the book.
It has the noir vibe of a typical Brubaker/Phillips read, though seemingly without the painful twist. I'm not sure what to make of Night Fever, though I certainly encourage Brubaker/Phillips fans to give it a read.
A publisher's agent travels to France for a European sales trip, but can't seem to fall asleep for mysterious reasons. During a late-night ramble, he sneaks into a masked party, where he finds himself easily slipping into the borrowed role of Griffin, a rich gambler. Another party-goer engages "Griffin" in a series of late-night adventures that grow weirder and darker over the course of the book.
It has the noir vibe of a typical Brubaker/Phillips read, though seemingly without the painful twist. I'm not sure what to make of Night Fever, though I certainly encourage Brubaker/Phillips fans to give it a read.
March 22, 2023
A friend passed along the ARC of this one, and I burned through it so fast, I immediately started over and burned through it again.
I've been a huge Brubaker/Phillips(/and Phillips now, I guess) fan ever since discovering Criminal at the library almost a decade ago. The longer they've been working together, the tighter and more cohesive their stories got, the deeper into the genre they fell, and at this point they are consistently turning out the best work of their career together, every single time.
Night Fever is another noir/crime story, and it's special as much for what it doesn't do as it is for what it does. The lead benefits from being someone else for a time (and as I read it, I recognized every single feeling and emotion on both ends of the story), and becomes someone else for a time. When tables are turned, he doesn't back down or return to his original self, because the point of the story, like the point of so many well told crime stories, is that no one knows which person is the real one.
There's a bit in this book where Rainer talks about how people traveling alone get to their hotel rooms and get wrecked because this is the extent of them being another person, and I completely relate to that. Right now, my family is out of town, so I'm getting to do things without having to schedule them, maybe I drink too much, maybe I go to one too many bars after work, maybe I stay up too late, all because I don't have any responsibilities. I don't need to be the person I usually have to be. That's the extent of my becoming a different person, but there always is in the back of my mind that thought that Johnathan Webb has.
I've been a huge Brubaker/Phillips(/and Phillips now, I guess) fan ever since discovering Criminal at the library almost a decade ago. The longer they've been working together, the tighter and more cohesive their stories got, the deeper into the genre they fell, and at this point they are consistently turning out the best work of their career together, every single time.
Night Fever is another noir/crime story, and it's special as much for what it doesn't do as it is for what it does. The lead benefits from being someone else for a time (and as I read it, I recognized every single feeling and emotion on both ends of the story), and becomes someone else for a time. When tables are turned, he doesn't back down or return to his original self, because the point of the story, like the point of so many well told crime stories, is that no one knows which person is the real one.
There's a bit in this book where Rainer talks about how people traveling alone get to their hotel rooms and get wrecked because this is the extent of them being another person, and I completely relate to that. Right now, my family is out of town, so I'm getting to do things without having to schedule them, maybe I drink too much, maybe I go to one too many bars after work, maybe I stay up too late, all because I don't have any responsibilities. I don't need to be the person I usually have to be. That's the extent of my becoming a different person, but there always is in the back of my mind that thought that Johnathan Webb has.
February 3, 2024
Shades of Eyes Wide Shut in this nicely done, dark thriller about a businessman who falls into some bizarre and violent happenings while on a work trip in 1970s Paris. Cool artwork and use of color.
February 4, 2024
On a business trip to France, an ennui-wracked insomniac sneaks into
Eyes Wide Shut
. Deviating sharply from the safe life he's built for himself, he goes on a bender and a crime spree just to feel alive. Eventually, of course, the real world catches up with him.
"Rainer was one of those guys...bold, loud, and unafraid. He spoke in monologues and pronouncements." What a perfect way to communicate a character's superfluity of confidence. I know this guy.
Sean Phillips is more innovative and experimental than I've ever seen him. He gives us some immensely creative black-heavy one- and two-page spreads that impart a character's experience of a fierce acid trip, a memory filled with gaps, and a week living life as a completely different person. A person with no responsibilities and no fear. In the afterword, Brubaker comments that this is perhaps Phillips' best work. I agree.
Brubaker makes some interesting observations about the deep dissatisfaction of coasting through life, playing it safe, discovering too late that you've taken the easy path. He notes that it's possible to be a success and a failure at the same time.
While there is a lot to like here, Night Fever ultimately felt unfinished to me. Brubaker leaves some startling plot threads hanging. It's incomplete.
"Rainer was one of those guys...bold, loud, and unafraid. He spoke in monologues and pronouncements." What a perfect way to communicate a character's superfluity of confidence. I know this guy.
Sean Phillips is more innovative and experimental than I've ever seen him. He gives us some immensely creative black-heavy one- and two-page spreads that impart a character's experience of a fierce acid trip, a memory filled with gaps, and a week living life as a completely different person. A person with no responsibilities and no fear. In the afterword, Brubaker comments that this is perhaps Phillips' best work. I agree.
Brubaker makes some interesting observations about the deep dissatisfaction of coasting through life, playing it safe, discovering too late that you've taken the easy path. He notes that it's possible to be a success and a failure at the same time.
While there is a lot to like here, Night Fever ultimately felt unfinished to me. Brubaker leaves some startling plot threads hanging. It's incomplete.
June 26, 2024
I really dig Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips for keeping hard-boiled fiction as premier as it can be amid the current state of the comic book industry, but Night Fever feels like the comic inside of a much lengthier comic (a la Tales of the Black Freighter). Packs as much of a wallop as an inadvertent pop from an infant's fussy fist.
Oh well.
Oh well.
January 15, 2024
Really good, and very effective. This is the simplest idea for a story, told with depth and complexity.
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