One panel of a set of eyes watching Julia and Barnabas would have been disquieting and effective. This just comes off as overkill. Plus, the artist reveals way too much of the creatures and does it far too soon, ruining any element of surprise whatsoever.[
Exactly, the reveal should have been held until the last panel. I have no idea why they felt the need to give away too much too soon.
As for "monsters" in general, Campiti was very proud to say that the story would feature monsters for those who want to see monsters in their horror. But the thing is, DS was never that type of show so why would DS fans actually be expecting to see monsters? Sure, there was the Leviathan monster during that storyline - BUT we never saw it. And yes, that had much to do with budget and the limitations of special effects at the time - BUT many feel that aspect of the storyline was all the more effective for what we didn't see. Nowadays it seems such things have to not only be seen but to be thrown up in the audience's face for them to be effective. Which does lead me to the possibility I've mentioned before that perhaps the Barrettstown mutants were a ploy to attract/satisfy non-DS fans coming upon the comics. Who knows? But as far as I'm concerned, not only weren't they needed for the story, they actually lessen it.
I don't care much for the character design either. I guess that the artist was trying to make them look intimidating and spooky. But they come off looking like Smurfs on a lost weekend.
Exactly - especially when it comes to how they're often drawn in Issue 3. There's nothing horrific about them when they often come off looking like jokes. Dangling tongues and drool and goofy expressions make them look more like crosses between slobbering dogs and munchkins.
Julia's never been there at night?
Who knows? She does tell Barnabas that her mother took her away from Barrettstown when she was three years old, so she may not recall much of those years - and she also says that as an adult she only visited once, and the panels for that flashback indicate it took place during the day. So given that I'm willing to cut her statement that she'd never been to Barrettstown at night some slack.