Night's Dominion #1

When a comic opens with a rhyming bard singing about the glories of heroes past, consider me hopelessly seduced. There are times when the dialogue gets a little too Disney-fied for the material, but then Ted Naifeh’s throws in antiquated insults like “gutterslag” and I forget why I was complaining.

Night’s Dominion is kinda sorta what would happen if Batman existed in a medieval city, only this story isn’t about him. It’s about the villains. The story focuses on a magi, a bard, a church acolyte, an assassin and a thief that plan to burgle “untold riches” with a daring plan.

The thief is basically medieval Catwoman known as the Night who battles medieval Batman known as Furie (great name, right?). There is an exciting, albeit brief, chase scene and a comedic fight scene right out of a Charlie Chaplin movie, but most of this issue focuses on the characterization and interaction of this newly formed super team.

Naifeh’s artwork brings to life an ancient city that weighs just as heavily over its heroes as Gotham does its own. It’s easy to feel the weight of that world when winding through dark alleys and skulking in dim corners of taverns.

Naifeh also makes us feel the intense presence of the Furie who watches everything our protagonists do in his city. There’s a wonderful panel about halfway through the issue that shows the terror on the Night’s face when Furie chases her across rooftops. It isn’t always easy to tell which character is which, especially when some of the characters are androgynous, but the problem doesn’t arise often.

The potential for this world is endless. Naifeh has shown a willingness to borrow ideas from famous works, but has also shown originality. It shouldn’t surprise us to medieval version of other famous characters in upcoming issues. It also shouldn’t surprise us to see Naifeh draw from historical or legendary figures that will mingle with his original creations. This could be Astro City of the Middle Ages and I can’t wait to see where the next issue takes us.