A dudes rock midlife crisis Fight Club-esque romp through the drugs, sex, and violence of an American's fantasy of the Parisian night with less social commentary.

I am not a fan of star ratings of talking about the minutia of awarding them, but it feels pertinent this once as the rating I was going to give this has changed dramatically from the reading, the moment I finished, and during the process of writing this review. There was a level of enjoyment and urge to continue and finish I felt while reading it that evaporated upon finishing. I thought I was going to give this a four, but as soon as I was finished it was three, and upon reflection it became two. So...it actually fell to one.

The art is genuinely great and the writing is decent enough, the whole thing seems entirely unoriginal, which isn't an issue if there is something new or unique, but if it's there I'm not seeing it. It also appears to be a particularly vapid and even more white cisheteronormative fantasy example of this kind of nihilistic, breaking out of your buttoned-down life. A life with a well-paid job, including travel, a loving partner and children...which don't always mean a happy life, but he is happy? Is he 'just' mentally ill? A throwaway line suggests this, which also is a kinda simplistic and harmful way to include mental health in a story like this, right?

(It was at this point that sidhe realised fey actually really, really didn't like this comic, so it's a one star)

All art is subjective. If people enjoy this, I don't want to yuck their yum. For me, I don't see the point in it. It's mildly harmful and gross. And I can't imagine a big publisher picking this up if it weren't for the name attached.

Just not my cup of tea. ( )

¿Quién eres realmente? ¿Eres el autor de tus actos o la persona que habita en tu mente?

De viaje de negocios en Europa, a Jonathan Webb le resulta imposible dormir. En lugar de eso, acaba deambulando por las calles de esta extraña ciudad extranjera con un nuevo amigo como guía, el misterioso y violento Rainer. Este le muestra a Jonathan el mundo oculto de la noche, un mundo sin reglas ni límites. Pero cuando la diversión se vuelve peligrosa, Jonathan podría verse atrapado para siempre en la oscuridad.

Night Fever es una historia a lo Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde sobre un hombre enfrentado a su propia oscuridad interior y un thriller noir trepidante que nos trae el tándem magistral formado por Ed Brubaker y Sean Phillips, los autores superventas de Criminal, Reckless, Pulp, The Fade Out y Kill or Be Killed.

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips try to spice up a midlife crisis by setting it in the 1970s during a business trip to Lyon, France, stuffed with dream sequences, a drug trip, murder, and a homage to Eyes Wide Shut, but at heart it's still just a schmuck whining about how unhappy he is with his middle-class life.

I just can't care. ( )

This was a hell of a thing to pick off my tbr when I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t read the description; the cover pulled me in and once I saw the creative team it was a done deal. I like what I’ve read of Brubaker and Phillips and I’ve got more of their work on my list.

Going in blind I was a bit concerned at the start that we were going to have a very violent midlife crisis on out hands. And while that isn’t entirely untrue it also doesn’t capture just what the story is about.

Jonathan Webb can’t sleep. On an ill-timed expedition for… we’ll call them sleeping pills — he follows a domino-masked couple into an underground speakeasy for the very rich and gets saved by a manic pixie dreamboat with a violent streak that makes me think I probably should have read/watched Fight Club.

Things get progressively more interesting and convoluted as our storytellers slip into their familiar mashup of spy noir and the reader os left just as confused about the reality if the situation as Webb himself.

I was pleasantly surprised by how it all wrapped up and I look forward, as always, to seeing more work from Brubaker and Phillips. ( )

Note: I received access to read this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Night Fever is perfectly paced, appropriately mysterious, and frenetic. It's straightforward, but it's constantly lunging for the throat. One of the best Ed Brubaker/ Sean Phillips duo's work. ( )