Review: Creatures of the Night & Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman

Finished: August 18, 2011

Synopsis: Both of these are graphic novels. Only the End of the World Again is about a werewolf who must save the world. Creatures of the Night contains two stories from Gaiman’s book of short stories Smoke and Mirrors in graphic novel format. There is a story about a stray cat who may be more than he appears and a second story about a little orphan girl and her owls.

Thoughts: I was excited to read some stories from Neil in graphic novel format. I still have Preludes and Nocturnes sitting on my shelf but since I am in the middle of a few different books I have not been able to pick it up yet. These were shorter stories but that isn’t to say they weren’t worth the time spent.

Only the End of the World Again focuses on the story of a lone wolf who must stand up in the end to save the world. While I did like this story, I am not big on werewolves, and it seemed to be lacking Gaiman’s usual sort of whimsical charm.

Creatures of the Night was exactly what I’m used to from Gaiman. I love the way he can turn every day occurrences, like a stray cat showing up on someone’s front porch, into a magical and otherworldly event. I also really love the story of the orphan girl and the owls. I don’t want to spoil anything but I think that the men viewing her as a silent victim gives the story a very meaningful edge. Stuff like this happens to women every day and unfortunately magic isn’t there to save them.