Comics News
Tripwire Talks To Dan Brereton About His Latest Nocturnals Kickstarter Project Nocturnals 31
Nocturnal Habits
Over the Easter weekend, comics industry veteran artist and writer Dan Brereton launched a Kickstarter for a new artbook based on his creator-owned comic Nocturnals. So Tripwire’s contributing writer Paul N Neal spoke to him to find out more…
TRIPWIRE: In 2025, you are releasing a new Nocturnals book. It means it has been 31 years since your celebrated creator owned project first saw print. My first question is simple. Does it feel like 31 years?
DAN BRERETON: Yes! And no!
Time tends to shoot along, but when you look back at how much has happened- my eldest son was born around the time I’d begun drawing the first Nocturnals mini-series. He’s 31 now and I’m a grandfather. On the other hand, Evening Horror, AKA Halloween Girl, has only aged 4-5 years. My art style and probably skill level has evolved, as has the storytelling themes in Nocturnals. Things which definitely require the sweep of years.
Once the first mini-series was concluded, I’d always hoped to do more Nocturnals, despite the projects which I either helped to develop or created out of whole cloth, like Batman: Thrillkiller, JLA: Seven Caskets or Giantkiller. But I could never set the Nocturnals aside for long, and neither would their diehard readers let me. Once I truly committed to continuing the saga as my prime comics effort, which I’ve pursued in earnest the last decade, I’ve kept at it – despite hurdles like funding.
TW: Your online posts to promote your new project use the word “Halloweeniversary.” Would it be fair to say Halloween is a time of year you enjoy? Can you share any memories of that time of year?
DB: Halloween is a major setting and theme in most Nocturnals stories – Autumn is their time, as it seems to be for me, as a child of Fall. It’s as much a part of who I am and how I mark time as living by night is for characters in the Nocturnal world. For me the year ends and begins on Halloween. I call this the October Epoch. I even produced a Nocturnals calendar a few years back with this concept in mind.
My fondest Halloween memory was my first Halloween night, when I was not quite 2 years old. This was 1967. My parents took me to my grandmother’s house – Where I was confronted in their driveway but three hags and a steaming cauldron. It was traumatising. It was also amazing. It’s never left me – it gave me a strong sense that we straddle two worlds: one of imagination and a concrete world. They co-exist.
TW: Can you say what your fans can expect from Nocturnals 31? How many pages are we talking about? Will there be some behind the scenes extras? Is it hardback?
DB: It will be 9 x12”, a base of 120 pages, which means it could be expanded to 128 or more depending on how well the campaign goes. I’m currently thinking of the flexi-bound format which Marvel is using for its contemporary Treasury Edition format.
It’s beautiful – has aspects of hardcover, like the way that hardcover boards aren’t flush with the interior pages, but less cumbersome and lighter – with same end-sheets, spot UV, foil. It will have a durable, yet slim and elegant feel.
TW: Is this new project a statement of intent? Will there be new Nocturnals material in 2026 and beyond?
DB: This is the plan. Fall 2025 will see a project presented by Dark Horse (an official announcement in May). And this is in tandem with Nocturnals 31 – much of what’s new in one will be further explored in the other. Saying this only scratches the surface, but it’s all I can divulge for a few weeks. I’m very anxious to be celebrating in this way.
TW: Can you say why fans should look forward to your new book?
DB: Fans of the story and characters will find so much to enjoy – and as the year progresses with more coming from Dark Horse, there will be, I hope, full circle moments – new discoveries, familiarity- and fresh insights as I pull back the curtain on process.
TW: Do you have a favourite Nocturnals character you identify with, or enjoy illustrating or writing the most?
DB: As the years roll on, I find it’s Evening I relate to as the kid I was and maybe wished I could have been more like at her age. Her journey has been engrossing for me as a writer – I wish I had the opportunity to delve even deeper and write more stories, she’s definitely my favourite character. The upbeat, fearless ever-child, the one who befriends ghosts and tames the monsters.
TW: When can eager fans expect to receive their copies of Nocturnals 31? Do you have a release date planned? can you share a link to the Kickstarter?
DB: We always start fulfilment in the fall and work to complete all tier phases by year’s end. It’s become a set pattern.
TRIPWIRE NOTE: Here is the helpful link.
TW: Do you have any images from your new book Tripwire could share with your fans?
DB: Yes…
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