All Nighter #1 (Image – Hahn / Bidikar)

Kit Bradley is a 20 year-old art student and petty criminal who knows it’s time to leave her delinquent past behind, but isn’t ready for the responsibilities of adulthood. Her social headquarters is an all night diner, and while trying to put the ‘off’ on an on-again-off-again boyfriend, she runs into an old flame, and an enigmatic loner named Martha, whose mysterious disappearance will alter Kit’s life forever.   Created, written, and drawn by Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee DAVID HAHN, with lettering by Aditya Bidikar.

All Nighter as a book might represent the second coming of the non-caped B&W indie comic to the forefront of the geek  collective mind.  It is has all the right components – a directionless anti-protagonist in search of purpose, numerous supporting characters spinning the previously mentioned anti-protagonist in various gyrations, and edgy ink-heavy look to the art – both in the individual panels and in the pages holistically, and the constant examining and re-examining of situational ethics.

Not only does creator David Hahn bring all the right components for the genre together – but he uses the right proportions of each and synthesizes a story that ends up being quite an enjoyable read.

I have to be honest, this is not my usual comic diet – I am much more used to consuming the supes.  But from the get go, Kit’s inner-dialogue had it’s grip on me.  In a traditional indie form (how’s that for an oxymoron) Kit’s thoughts help layout her world and narrates her day-to-day as she tries to tries to figure out her life – and not mention give hints to how and why she killed her mom. Yea, that hooked me too.

The visuals of the book are very ink-driven and angular, but not over done and not so edge-heavy that it distracts from the story.  For me, the look felt very reminiscent of reading a modernized take on old issues of Love and Rockets.

All Nighter comes out on the 22nd and is well worth a look!

the bottom line:  no capes, no powers, no parallel timelines… but a solid story that will make you a fan.

Issue Grade: B+