In this review of 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2, the Barrow bloodbath truly begins. But there’s a second party also out for Jalen’s blood…
30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2
Plot: Steve Niles
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Art and Main Cover: Chris Shehan
Variant Covers: Damien Worm, Malachi Ward, Chris Shehan
Page Count: 48 pages
Release Date: October 15, 2025
This review contains spoilers
30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2 begins in L.A., the leader of Jalen’s old crew wants him dead. Tequan, who’d been a good friend of Jalen’s since childhood, is the one that pays his mother a visit to get some answers…
Jalen, meanwhile, is having a hard time sleeping and heads out for something to do. Or at least to clear his head.
The vampires, for their part, have officially come into the town, and drop by the local tavern for a celebratory drink. The first patron to try and intimidate them is the first casualty of the carnage. A bit later, Jalen notices the door is ajar, checks inside…and upon seeing the aftermath of the vampires’ attack, rushes back to his uncle’s to tell him what he saw.
From there, Calvin tells the sheriff, who goes to investigate. Oliver thinks Calvin’s just being dramatic over a more-intense-than-usual bar fight. Nope. It’s bad enough to call for backup. Ernie, upon getting the call, wakes her mom up to get her to safety.
Back in LA, Tequan has been interrogating Jalen’s mother, ultimately shooting her once he’s gotten his answers.
Barrow- Ernie gets the alarms going, since those aren’t connected to the now-cut power. Meanwhile, Vladimir has gotten what he wanted: a reunion with his brother, who he invites to come feed with him and the others. And the next resident of the town to meet with them happens to be the sheriff himself. He tries to shoot them, but becomes that next casualty.
The town’s residents have taken shelter, and not all of them believe that the stories of the vampires are true.
As Jalen’s old crew’s leader learns his whereabouts and tells them to track him down, Ava is trying to boost morale. Jalen learns that what he saw wasn’t an animal attack, but a different variety of non-human. Some of those that don’t believe the situation is what it is want to leave, but they’re told not to. Jalen tells them what he saw, but he’s brushed off.
They’re allowed to head out, and are soon the next course of the blood buffet.
Those still inside head for the basement, hoping it provides some safety (but aren’t too optimistic about that).
30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2 definitely ramps up this installment. The vampires would be a horrifying enough scenario to deal with, but Jalen gets to deal with his past catching up to him as well rather than it remaining in the rearview. So, his whole situation (not that he knows it just yet) is set to become all the more harrowing once the old gang turns up to kill him for their boss.
Of course, there’s a possibility that they might not get that far in their murder mission, given the vampires skulking about Barrow during this time. They may be armed, but the vampires have proven that guns aren’t necessarily a deterrent for them. Another possibility involves them being forced to fight alongside the other humans, all in the name of survival with the intention of dealing with their target after. Either way, I’m interested in seeing how things play out with both of these threats happening at the same time.
Having 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2 take place a couple decades after the original events of “30 Days of Night” is a good narrative choice. Still recent enough to be burned into the survivors’ memories, but a long enough time that those that hadn’t dealt with it can dismiss it as the ramblings of people that’ve been in the realative isolation of Barrow for far too long.
Even the sheriff initially believes that the problem is just an exaggeration (until he sees the carnage for himself). Of course, nobody wants to believe that there’s a freaking vampire invasion happening in their own backyard, but this is their reality, horrific as it is, and they’ll need to find some way to survive it.
The artwork in 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2 is just as atmospheric as ever, with the mostly desaturated color helping to bring in that sense of dread. Some of the bright spots that immediately draw the eye: the pops of orange that come up when something particularly violent happens, and Ava (who’s definitely focused on bringing some light to everyone’s lives, because overt negativity’s not what one would call an asset in this situation).
Final Thoughts
30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2 helps cement this title as a worthy addition to the line. It’s a long issue, but it’s loaded with enough tension that it doesn’t feel all that long and it moves along at a great pace.
