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Growing up, I was always drawn to the stranger side of comic books. Titles like Creatures on the Loose, Creature Commandos, and Night Force had a certain appeal that traditional superhero comics couldn’t always match. Throw in the wonderfully bizarre monsters and action figures of the 1980s, along with movies like Neon Maniacs, and the video game Darkstalkers and you’ve got the kind of entertainment I still enjoy today.

That’s probably why Graveyard Shift #1 caught my attention.

Mark Spears, the creator of Mark Spears Monsters, who most definitely had to be a monster kid growing up, has come up with a premise that feels like something pulled straight out of that era. Imagine a group of deceased individuals being temporarily brought back to life every evening, not to enjoy a second chance at living, but to deal with creatures that ordinary people would never want to encounter.

Their headquarters is an old funeral home, their supervisor is known simply as the Boss, and their employment situation is about as unpleasant as you can imagine. Once morning arrives, it’s back to being dead until they’re needed again.

I love that idea. It’s ridiculous, creepy, and just unusual enough to make me wonder why someone hadn’t thought of it sooner.

What I particularly enjoyed was how Spears introduces this strange arrangement without making the first issue unnecessarily complicated. We get a sense of how the operation functions, meet the characters, and begin to understand that there’s more going on than simply hunting monsters. There’s also an interesting question hanging over the group concerning their former lives and what might eventually happen if they’re no longer needed.

The dialogue was another pleasant surprise. There are some genuinely amusing exchanges scattered throughout the story, and the humor works without taking away from the darker atmosphere. It reminded me of those older horror-adventure comics that could be frightening one moment and entertainingly absurd the next.

Spears’ artwork is easily one of the biggest attractions. It’s obvious that Mark loves monsters and this team of undead misfits is particularly well suited as his latest monsters and supernatural subjects to be illustrated by him, and Graveyard Shift reinforces that opinion. His character designs have an old school quality that brings to mind vintage horror comics, Saturday morning cartoons, and those wonderfully strange monster toys that filled store shelves decades ago.

There’s also something about the visual presentation that makes me nostalgic for the horror comics I have always loved while growing up. It’s colorful, imaginative, and filled with the kind of exaggerated creatures that made those older books so much fun.

I wouldn’t say this first issue completely reveals what Spears has planned, but it doesn’t need to. It establishes an entertaining concept, introduces a few intriguing mysteries, and gives readers enough monster action to make the experience worthwhile.

Graveyard Shift #1 was a fun read, especially for someone like me who grew up enjoying monster comics and horror movies. Mark Spears has created something that feels familiar without simply recycling the past. I’m interested in learning more about these unfortunate employees, their mysterious employer, and what it might take for any of them to finally escape their unusual jobs.

If the following issues can maintain this combination of supernatural action, dark humor, and nostalgic monster designs, I’ll be sticking around for another shift.

–Scott Schlazer