The Late Night Gang

Written by Joey Weiser
Illustrated by Joey Weiser
Self-Published

I first read Joey Weiser in The Ride Home and was quite pleased to find him again at SPX this year. I grabbed this and another work I'll review as soon as I finish it.

"The Late Night Gang" features Weiser's distinctive comic art style, with strong emphasis on the facial features of his characters and light-hearted storytelling. Although this is only a short set of stories, they work very well.

This mini-comic features three kid-versions of movie monsters, the Creature, Dracula, and Frankenstein. The Creature (Henry of the Black Lagoon) gets the longest feature, in a story called "Bad Apple." Our young monster tries to go to school unmolested, but a weirder adult monster won't let him alone until he takes an apple--again and again and again. It's great comic timing, and Weiser's art style makes it work.

Victor Vampire is a nifty name for a vampire. It's even better when Victor is a spoiled adolescent who doesn't want to drink his blood and has a childish brother who repeats what he's saying in kid-speak. BWOOD! It's a short set piece, but it made me smile.

Last but not least is the story of Andrew, son of Frankenstein, who tries to help a witch and mummy get their cat out of a tree. There's only one problem--the cat hates Andrew, and the results are just about what you'd expect. The gag is simple, but funny because hey--who doesn't want to see a junior Boris Karloff fall from a great height?

From checking out Joey's website, the gang are slated for more stories, and I look forward to seeing them in the future. You can grab Late Night Gang at a comic show or directly from Mr. Weiser. I definitely recommend his work, and this seems like a perfect comic for the season.