Transcend the Night of the Hunt
During the burning of Old Yharnam, an unnamed Hunter takes custody of a child who may or may not be the Paleblood needed to transcend the hunt and escape the recurring, living nightmare of fighting beasts. The Hunter and child begin their own journey not only to leave behind Yharnam but also to abandon the only life and world they can remember in the search for something better.
Eyes on the Inside
The graphic novel remains true to many of the themes form its video game source material: the devastation caused by bodily and societal corruption, the unreliability of memory, the place of humans in a vast and uncaring universe, and the far-reaching effects of violence. The difference between the media, however, is that in the game, players must piece together knowledge they find to form their own conclusions, but the graphic novel is frequently more heavy-handed in presenting information to the reader. It does so while also using the imagery and symbols of the game but without nearly as much contextual depth. The graphic novel might seem hopelessly opaque to anyone without working knowledge of the source material, but having that background also doesn’t reward readers with a deep insight—it just makes the story more navigable. The glimpses of Djura, Iosefka, and Gehrman don’t add much aside from a bit of context.
Fear the Old Blood
It is a wise move by Kot to tell a stand-alone story without simply presenting the main action of the game, a narrative trap into which the worst video game adaptations fall to the delight of no one. Creating this journey of shepherding the alleged Paleblood child turns much of the graphic novel into a combination of Lone Wolf and Cub and Edge of Tomorrow as seen through the lens of Bloodborne. Again, this is a better set up than might otherwise be expected, and it keeps The Death of Sleep from being a cynical cash grab. While there is nothing wrong with the premise, the obscure nature of the setting and many side characters—without prior knowledge from the source material to work as a background—and the thinness of the central duo can make this book a frustrating read for anyone looking for a more traditional narrative or more realized characters.
“Oh, don't you worry. Whatever happens...you may think it all a mere bad dream.”
Macabre
Kowalski’s art manages to evoke the same mood as the source material often by directly replicating images and symbols not only from the game but also from works that helped inspire Bloodborne’s visual style, such as the paintings of Caspar David French and Gothic architecture. Some might argue the art is too faithful to the source material, but without that distinct, visual aesthetic, the graphic novel would be criticized for deviating too far. The action is easy to follow from panel to panel, and the violence and gore are on the page, reinforcing the various types of horror found in Bloodborne. While the artwork is pretty consistently good—humans can seem a little stiff sometimes—through no fault of its own, the graphic novel cannot truly replicate the cluttered, ostentatious iconography of Yharnam seen in all its grotesque grandeur in the video game. Sana Takeda’s incredibly detailed yet surreal art might have come close, but it is difficult to imagine anyone being able to replicate the dripping, oppressive, Gothic setting panel after panel. A point of artistic interest is the desolate landscape outside Yharnam as the central duo try to make their way to the fishing hamlet. This might be the graphic novel at its most cinematic as the protagonists trek across a barren, dream-like wasteland.
Project Beast
There is nothing terrible with Bloodborne: The Death of Sleep. Everyone involved seems to have cared and created a reasonable if inessential side story to the source material. Most readers will likely be fans of Bloodborne already, and the graphic novel will give a taste of what made the game great while also touching on some of the same themes. Though it is superfluous, it is an interesting curiosity with some strong visuals.
Source
Bloodborne: The Death of Sleep. By Aleš Kot, artwork by Piotr Kowalski, colors by Brad Simpson, et al., letters by Aditya Bindikar, Titan Comics, 2018.
© 2024 Seth Tomko