View source for The Midnight: Shadows

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|-|Standard edition=
{{Infobox graphic novel
|title=The Midnight: Shadows
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|image=ShadowsGraphicNovel.jpg
|imagesize=300
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|publisher=Dark Horse Comics
|date=October 1, 2024
|genre=
|series=
|main_char_team=Jason
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|origissues=
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|origlanguage= English
|origisbn=1506734162
|writers=Zack Kaplan
|artists={{plainlist|
*Stephen Thompson
*Jahnoy Lindsay}}
|inkers=
|letterers=DC Hopkins
|colourists=Thiago Rocha
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|pages=136
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|-|Deluxe Edition=
{{Infobox graphic novel
|title=The Midnight: Shadows
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|image=TheMidnight_hardcover1.webp
|imagesize=300
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|publisher=Dark Horse Comics
|date=October 1, 2024
|genre=
|series=
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|origpublication=
|origissues=
|origdate=
|origlanguage= English
|origisbn=9781506746487
|writers=Zack Kaplan
|artists={{plainlist|
*Stephen Thompson
*Jahnoy Lindsay}}
|inkers=
|letterers=DC Hopkins
|colourists=Thiago Rocha
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'''The Midnight: Shadows''' is an upcoming graphic novel that takes place in the universe of [[The Midnight]]. Published by Dark Horse Comics, the graphic novel will be released in bookstores on October 1, 2024, and October 2, 2024, at comic shops.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Midnight: Shadows TPB :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics |url=https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3010-854/The-Midnight-Shadows-TPB |url-status=live |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=Dark Horse Comics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130155928/https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3010-854/The-Midnight-Shadows-TPB|archive-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schedeen |first=Jesse |date=January 30, 2024 |title=The Midnight: Shadows Brings the Popular Synthwave Band to Comics - IGN |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-midnight-shadows-brings-the-popular-synthwave-band-to-comics?utm_source=twitter |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130155605/https://www.ign.com/articles/the-midnight-shadows-brings-the-popular-synthwave-band-to-comics |archive-date=January 30, 2024 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=IGN}}</ref>

The graphic novel tells the story of Jason, a soon to be parent who is struggling with the loss of his adolescence.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=January 30, 2024 |title=HALF IN LIGHT AND HALF IN DARK: SYNTHWAVE BAND "THE MIDNIGHT" CREATES NEON-SOAKED POST-APOCALYPTIC C :: Blog :: Dark Horse Comics |url=https://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/3970/half-light-and-half-dark-synthwave-band-midnight-c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130185402/https://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/3970/half-light-and-half-dark-synthwave-band-midnight-c |archive-date=January 30, 2024 |access-date=February 2, 2024 |website=Dark Horse Comics}}</ref> While playing a video game from his childhood, he gets transported inside the game and must fight to save the new cyberpunk city he's found himself in. 

==Synopsis==
<blockquote>'''''Join THE MIDNIGHT, one of the world’s top synthwave bands, comprised of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, on an electrifying and original sci-fi adventure inspired by the poetic storytelling and the neon-soaked aesthetics of their music.'''''

''Jason has spent his life running from his problems, but now he and his childhood sweetheart are on the precipice of parenthood, and he’s struggling with the loss of his adolescence. Then he re-discovers his favorite old video game, THE MIDNIGHT, a nostalgic 1980s fantasy adventure about a helmeted hero who travels to a cyberpunk world to save the people from eternal darkness. Seeking to repair his broken game, Jason ends up at a mysterious arcade in an abandoned 1980s mall, where he plays the old arcade game of The Midnight and suddenly he’s transported to…'' 

''…a post-apocalyptic Neverland in the year 2085. A world of perpetual night where time stands still. A final bastion of humanity in a glistening futuristic city. And a shocking reveal – they know him as the hero who once vanquished the shadow monsters, and they believe he’s returned to his true reality to do it again. More surprising, his wife is here, but only with a memory of Jason as this world’s hero. As this lost boy tries to embrace his new hero powers, with the help of his true love and her cyberpunk warriors, he must face the responsibility of protecting an entire world from danger and discover which world he truly belongs to.''

''For The Midnight fans and newcomers, created by rising comics writer, Zack Kaplan (Break Out, Mindset), artist Stephen Thompson (Star Trek, Batman Beyond), artist Jahnoy Lindsay (Superboy) and The Midnight, follow your dreams to a visually stunning cyberpunk metropolis, find love in the darkness, defeat shadow monsters and explore what happens when we hide in our fantasies. Are we escaping life’s monsters or simply escaping ourselves? The answers lie in the Midnight Graphic Novel.''</blockquote><ref name=":0" />

==Background and announcement==
Beginning on January 22, 2024, several The Midnight fans reported receiving postcards in the mail that featured comic book style art on one side and a cryptic message on the other. The postcards contained a QR code which led to [https://themidnightshadows.com themidnightshadows.com]. The site displayed nothing other than the band's logo and a message of "Coming Soon", with a form to sign up for updates. A hidden countdown timer was later found in the source code, which counted down to January 24. On that day, the message was changed to "There's a moment in time..." and a new countdown to January 30 was started. On each day, the site displayed a new message before eventually displaying all of the posted messages, which were also seen on the postcards. On January 30, ''The Midnight: Shadows'' was officially announced with a trailer and made available for preorder, with a deluxe bundle and both hardcover and paperback editions of the novel available.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 30, 2024 |title=ｔｈｅ　ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on X: "We are excited to present “THE MIDNIGHT: SHADOWS” A graphic novel inspired by our music - Coming October 2024 to; everywhere books &amp; comics are sold. Now available for preorder. Are you ready to leave this world behind and enter The Midnight?🌃" / X |url=https://twitter.com/TheMidnightLA/status/1752397763839770797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/tuMK6 |archive-date=February 6, 2024 |access-date=February 6, 2024 |website=Twitter}}</ref>

[[File:The Midnight Shadows Site.png|left|thumb|The Shadows website on the day of January 29, 2024, showing all the messages in order.]]

On the day of the announcement, The Midnight's manager Justin Little answered fan questions about the graphic novel on Discord, [[Media:StartofGraphicNovel.png|revealing]] that planning for the project began in the fall of 2020. It was also confirmed that the recipients of the postcards were [[Media:PostcardSending.png|randomly selected]] from people who had ordered merchandise from the [[List of The Midnight merchandise|US online store]]. [[Tyler Lyle]] further elaborated on the graphic novel's release in a post on Threads, stating that the band "wanted to tell a big story" that was longer and more in depth than what could be expressed in a typical three-minute song.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lyle |first=Tyler |date=January 30, 2024 |title=(1) @tylerlyle • Threads has eaten my post, so let’s try the lazy way • Threads |url=https://www.threads.net/@tylerlyle/post/C2vKNTPv9FQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/dcfHK |archive-date=January 30, 2024 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=Threads}}</ref> 

In the official press release for the graphic novel, Lyle stated:<ref name=":1" /><blockquote>''The creative MO of The Midnight has always been to "combine not confine". We noticed early on that creative people in other fields were taking our music and adding video, VR worlds, digital art, photography and the world of The Midnight kept expanding. We were thrilled to be able to work with Zack and this amazing creative team to help to add even more flesh on our creative skeleton. What is nostalgia? Does it indicate an escape from "normal life" or does it provide the wisdom to help us escape INTO it. The graphic novel is a medium that allows a much bigger and more complex story to be told and we couldn't be more excited to watch that story slowly become real.''</blockquote>[[Tim McEwan]] also said:<blockquote>''Visuals have always been a huge aspect of the world of The Midnight. From the very beginning, our fanbase joined in by creating videos and art that expanded on our music and visual aesthetic. It was natural to take it one step further and create a graphic novel. We've been lucky enough to have an incredible team of artists and creatives, headed by the talented Zack Kaplan, who skillfully helmed this ship from the very start. Partnering up with Dark Horse is a match made in heaven and we feel so blessed to see this creation come to life. Thank you to everyone who participated in making this a reality but thank you first and foremost to our amazing fans, without whom none of this would have been possible.''</blockquote>Further teaser images from ''The Midnight: Shadows'' were shared on the band's social media accounts on February 23, 2024, and March 1, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 23, 2024 |title=ｔｈｅ　ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on X: "ICYMI, our original graphic novel “The Midnight: Shadows” is available to pre-order now. The Deluxe Edition and Ultimate Bundle are both LIMITED, so put your orders in now to guarantee a copy before they sell out! Pre-order at 🌃" / X |url=https://twitter.com/TheMidnightLA/status/1761136648799371359 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/rQPPh |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Twitter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 23, 2024 |title=ｔｈｅ　ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on X: "The story draws on a number of characters and themes from our past albums - these comic panels are a sneak-peek of the adventure…" / X |url=https://twitter.com/TheMidnightLA/status/1761136651806597566 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/QzY1z |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Twitter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 1, 2024 |title=ｔｈｅ　ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on X: "Another glimpse into the world of our graphic novel… pre-order at" / X |url=https://twitter.com/TheMidnightLA/status/1763662385368519079 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/OC8NO |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Twitter}}</ref><div class="media-group center-group">
[[File:Teaser1-012424.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (January 24, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser2-012524.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (January 25, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser3-012624.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (January 26, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser4-012724.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (January 27, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser5-012824.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (January 28, 2024)]]
{{#widget:Video|url=/tvvids/TM57.webm|caption=Announcement trailer}}[[File:Teaser6-022324.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (February 23, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser7-022324.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (February 23, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser8-022324.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (February 23, 2024)]]
[[File:Teaser9-030124.jpg|thumb|Teaser graphic (March 1, 2024)]]
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== Editions ==
''The Midnight: Shadows'' will be published in both paperback and hardcover editions. The paperback edition is expected to be available at most places where Dark Horse Comics are sold. The hardcover edition of the graphic novel is exclusive to The Midnight's online store and features an alternate cover, gilded magenta edges, and additional pages. The extra pages include bonus art, interviews, and a behind the scenes look at the graphic novel's creation. The hardcover edition is available with a signed art print or as part of a limited bundle set, which also includes a custom display case for the novel, a signed art print, a picture vinyl featuring a new song and a new version of [[Shadows]], a postcard set, a black guitar pick, and a mystery trading card.

<div class="merch-gallery">
[[File:TheMidnight softcover2.webp|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows paperback edition]]
[[File:TheMidnight softcover1.webp|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows paperback edition]]
[[File:TheMidnight softcover3.webp|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows paperback edition inside]]
[[File:TheMidnight hardcover1 520ba2e1-a045-4096-a56f-51c23577a867.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Deluxe hardcover edition]]
[[File:TheMidnight hardcover4 6c8bbfa8-b850-42b0-bb8b-325f5c84183a.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Deluxe Hardcover edition inside]]
[[File:TheMidnight hardcover3 bbfbfdb1-c7d8-4c39-aa88-ede2abb0b1f0.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Deluxe Hardcover edition inside]]
[[File:TheMidnight UltimateBundle.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Ultimate Bundle]]
[[File:TheMidnight Hardcover InBox.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Ultimate Bundle box]]
[[File:TheMidnight PictureVinylPictureDisc.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Deluxe Ultimate Bundle picture disc vinyl]]
[[File:TheMidnight SignedPrint a967f1ae-167b-467c-9ec7-d3dc8d90ca6a.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Ultimate Bundle signed print]]
[[File:TheMidnight Postcards.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Ultimate Bundle postcards]]
[[File:TheMidnight GuitarPick.webp|300x300px|thumb|The Midnight: Shadows Ultimate Bundle guitar pick]]
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== References ==
<references />