One of the titles at Silverwolf which Tim Vigil worked on was Nightmaster, a book about an American ninja in California.
The issue has an amazing cover by Vigil, with only 21 B&W interior pages.
The first half of the book deals with Nightmaster hunting down the location of the ‘Red Dragons’ gang and dealing with a street thug who has just killed a shop owner. The second half of the book deals with Nightmaster’s origin and his confronting the ‘Red Dragons’. The opening half of the book is a real treat, but in all honesty the second half of the issue the art is noticeably weaker.
It has been noted that Vigil sometimes had to hurry to meet deadlines while at Silverwolf and that the art, particularly the inking, suffered as a result. I cannot say for sure if that was true in this case (or in any case), but it does appear so.
The book itself is pretty typical of the stuff being put out by Silverwolf during it’s short run. Not being constrained by the Comics Code Authority, Vigil was able to illustrate in a manner fanboys of Marvel and DC were not used to seeing.
Note the opening splash below; Vigil uses one of his trademark illustrating techniques of drawing the lines for the sword swing, and then following through with the blood. And a few entrails to boot. Click on the picture below for a much larger version.
This was the sort of graphic and sometimes gory artwork Vigil had developed and shown to us during the 4 issues of Grips published by Silverwolf.
Nightmaster
Real Name: Kevin Masters
Hieght: 6′ 0″
Weight: 180 lbs
Eyes: Black
Hair: Brown
Age: 19
Occupation: Professional Ninja
Early the early 1800’s a sect of ninja relocated to the United States, remaining small and secret. Only family members were permitted to learn and master the art of ninjitsu. It was at this home that fate delivered Kevin while he was still an infant, presumably abandoned by his parents in hope that strangers could provide him a better life.
Raised as one of their own, Kevin would learn to master the art of ninjitsu…and become Nightmaster.
The title only lasted one issue before Silverwolf went out of business in 1987, but a second ‘lost’ issue was released in serial format in the anthology GMC Action issues #7 – 9 by Greater Mercury Comics (GMC).
GMC Action also continued some of Silverwolf’s other ‘lost’ issues, like Edge #3 (Gary Shipman) and Grips #5 and 6 (and 7?) in addition to Nightmaster #2 (Vigil).
The Character Nightmaster also appears in GMC’s Grips Adventures issues #4 & #5 with Darryl Cobbs as the artist.
According to internal company newsletters recently released for sale to the public, Grips artist Pete Ayala was originally hired to draw a Nightmaster title for Greater Mercury Comics.
The newly revived Silverwolf is promoting a “Countdown to a Nightmaster Related Product!!!” at this time, possibly a continuation of the character’s story. Moby is hopeful that whatever this new product is will include some of the unpublished Nightmaster artwork done for Greater Mercury Comics. This post will be updated with info and loinks to anything new. Stay Tuned…
Nightmaster © Silverwolf Comics. Images used here under fair use to illustrate references made to the character and artwork used to depict the character. Nightmaster was one of the more interesting characters that fell through the cracks. It would have been very interesting to see what Pete Ayala could have done with him, but alas I cannot get the interview to ask about Pete’s tryout work or other unpublished Nightmaster work. Sigh.
