American Vampire Vol. 1
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"A fantastic read." --Geeklore
Product Description
Celebrated short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque launch a new comic book series, with a unique contribution from New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen King, introducing a new breed of vampire - muscular, vicious, and distinctly American.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Six words which will make you want to read this: "Original Stephen King comic. With VAMPIRES."
In actuality, this is a two-part comic -- one part is by King, while the other is by a guy I had never heard of named Scott Snyder. But both halves of "American Vampire Volume 1" are united by a common theme -- vintage Americana is mingled with some gruesome, bloodthirsty vampires, in the 1920s and the Wild West. And it is AWESOME.
Snyder follows a young starlet named Pearl, who is invited to a party thrown by a film producer. The next day, she is found covered in bites in the desert and dying of blood loss. But then she wakes up to find vampiric cowboy Skinner Sweet next to her, and he informs her that she's now a vampire.
But she's not the same kind of vampire as the ones who attacked her -- like him, she's a newly evolved "American vampire" with claws, monstrous teeth and immunity to the sun. Now Pearl is out for revenge against the "old-style" vampires who killed her -- and along with her new love interest Henry, she's got some bloody revenge, treachery and a brewing war to deal with.
King's story goes further back in time to the late 1800s, and shows us the original "American Vampire" -- the infamous Skinner Sweet, an outlaw who runs afoul of a vampire in the desert. When a flood washes out the town where he's buried, the newly undead Sweet returns to the world... and he's more dangerous than ever before.
"American Vampire" is a pretty unique kind of comic book -- two brilliant writers (one famous and one unknown) writing two intertwined story arcs about vampires from long ago. Even better, both King and Snyder manage to do something unique and special with the vampire mythos that doesn't involve pale, wangsty aristocrats.
And while the stories are closely connected, King and Snyder have very distinct styles. King's is faster, brasher and earthier, adding sudden splatters of horror to a seemingly simple Wild West story. Snyder's is a slower, more refined story that suddenly bursts into a bloody revenge tale. And there's a clever undercurrent to his story -- predatory Hollywood bloodsuckers as REAL bloodsuckers? Not bad.
Snyder also has a knack for creating likable characters -- Pearl is a thoroughly likable protagonist, a strong young lady who has to make the best of being transformed into a bloodsucker. King's characters are less endearing, but no less vibrant -- his depiction of Skinner is of a ruthless, grinning cowboy covered in dust and stubble ("I want candy!").
And Rafael Albuquerque is well suited to both stories -- he relies heavily on shadows, black profiles and dark figures, but also suffuses the daytime parts with strong desert light. He also does some brilliant things with color -- our first glimpse of the vampires takes place in a room filled with bloody background, and the train battles take place against a slow-burning sky that fades into the color of flames.
"American Vampire 1" is an excellent start to a promising new series -- and Snyder and King are quite a formidable storytelling team. Vibrant, creepy and wonderfully bloody.
In actuality, this is a two-part comic -- one part is by King, while the other is by a guy I had never heard of named Scott Snyder. But both halves of "American Vampire Volume 1" are united by a common theme -- vintage Americana is mingled with some gruesome, bloodthirsty vampires, in the 1920s and the Wild West. And it is AWESOME.
Snyder follows a young starlet named Pearl, who is invited to a party thrown by a film producer. The next day, she is found covered in bites in the desert and dying of blood loss. But then she wakes up to find vampiric cowboy Skinner Sweet next to her, and he informs her that she's now a vampire.
But she's not the same kind of vampire as the ones who attacked her -- like him, she's a newly evolved "American vampire" with claws, monstrous teeth and immunity to the sun. Now Pearl is out for revenge against the "old-style" vampires who killed her -- and along with her new love interest Henry, she's got some bloody revenge, treachery and a brewing war to deal with.
King's story goes further back in time to the late 1800s, and shows us the original "American Vampire" -- the infamous Skinner Sweet, an outlaw who runs afoul of a vampire in the desert. When a flood washes out the town where he's buried, the newly undead Sweet returns to the world... and he's more dangerous than ever before.
"American Vampire" is a pretty unique kind of comic book -- two brilliant writers (one famous and one unknown) writing two intertwined story arcs about vampires from long ago. Even better, both King and Snyder manage to do something unique and special with the vampire mythos that doesn't involve pale, wangsty aristocrats.
And while the stories are closely connected, King and Snyder have very distinct styles. King's is faster, brasher and earthier, adding sudden splatters of horror to a seemingly simple Wild West story. Snyder's is a slower, more refined story that suddenly bursts into a bloody revenge tale. And there's a clever undercurrent to his story -- predatory Hollywood bloodsuckers as REAL bloodsuckers? Not bad.
Snyder also has a knack for creating likable characters -- Pearl is a thoroughly likable protagonist, a strong young lady who has to make the best of being transformed into a bloodsucker. King's characters are less endearing, but no less vibrant -- his depiction of Skinner is of a ruthless, grinning cowboy covered in dust and stubble ("I want candy!").
And Rafael Albuquerque is well suited to both stories -- he relies heavily on shadows, black profiles and dark figures, but also suffuses the daytime parts with strong desert light. He also does some brilliant things with color -- our first glimpse of the vampires takes place in a room filled with bloody background, and the train battles take place against a slow-burning sky that fades into the color of flames.
"American Vampire 1" is an excellent start to a promising new series -- and Snyder and King are quite a formidable storytelling team. Vibrant, creepy and wonderfully bloody.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A comic book of this quality is a treasure anyone should have in their libraries. I am speaking of the beauty of the pictures and colors. The story itself is probably less creative than it pretends. But let's look at it.
The vampire of the twenty-first century will be able to walk in the daytime and under the sun and it will be totally normal as for his own life even if he or she has to supplement his or her diet with some human blood.
The man who initiated this new line of vampires is Skinner Sweet, a bank robber turned vampire by an old fashioned one as a sort of punishment since the old fashioned one is a banker, and Sweet is buried deep under millions of cubic meters of water. But some curious people decide to dive deep under that water to bring the body back and they bring the vampire back. Good morning America.
He is violent and ruthless. Fine. All vampires are supposed to be that. He gives his vampiristic tendency to another man James Eldred Book, a lawyer, but this one is ashamed of it and he wants his girl friend to kill him. She accepts provided he gives her a child, and that will be a daughter. Sad end for the man, sad beginning for the daughter, sad life for the mother. Sadder than that you die.
The story ends with the mother and the daughter (of a vampire father, is she a vampire too?) watching Skinner Sweet after his second resurrection. He had been buried in a mine by the woman, Pearl Jones, as a vengeance for what he had done to Jim Book. But some adventurous dummies decide to get him out, which has the effect of reviving him and he snacks on the fresh meat of these rescuers.
The story spreads from 1880 to today, or at least a more recent period, via the 1920s. The traditional vampires are the tycoons who are building the railroads across America and their friends the bankers. I find the metaphors of the vampiristic capitalists slightly easy and particularly worn out, but we have to make do with it. That does not add any depth to the story. Count Dracula was a heroic champion of the fight against the Ottomans. To make vampires simple industrial entrepreneurs, that is passé, unjust and unfair with history and even the vampire myth itself. That cannot compete with Anne Rice's gentle vampires. That cannot compete with the sweet teenage vampires of a TV series dedicated to the night. And that will not even cast a shadow of shade on the monstrous vampires of Supernatural. Vampires are outcast and have to remain such, living on humanity as parasites and not as entrepreneurs building the future of humanity.
But, as I said at the beginning the colors and the pictures are marvellous and the dynamic drawing explodes on every single page or nearly, though it keeps within a single page frame. A book you have to have read.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
The vampire of the twenty-first century will be able to walk in the daytime and under the sun and it will be totally normal as for his own life even if he or she has to supplement his or her diet with some human blood.
The man who initiated this new line of vampires is Skinner Sweet, a bank robber turned vampire by an old fashioned one as a sort of punishment since the old fashioned one is a banker, and Sweet is buried deep under millions of cubic meters of water. But some curious people decide to dive deep under that water to bring the body back and they bring the vampire back. Good morning America.
He is violent and ruthless. Fine. All vampires are supposed to be that. He gives his vampiristic tendency to another man James Eldred Book, a lawyer, but this one is ashamed of it and he wants his girl friend to kill him. She accepts provided he gives her a child, and that will be a daughter. Sad end for the man, sad beginning for the daughter, sad life for the mother. Sadder than that you die.
The story ends with the mother and the daughter (of a vampire father, is she a vampire too?) watching Skinner Sweet after his second resurrection. He had been buried in a mine by the woman, Pearl Jones, as a vengeance for what he had done to Jim Book. But some adventurous dummies decide to get him out, which has the effect of reviving him and he snacks on the fresh meat of these rescuers.
The story spreads from 1880 to today, or at least a more recent period, via the 1920s. The traditional vampires are the tycoons who are building the railroads across America and their friends the bankers. I find the metaphors of the vampiristic capitalists slightly easy and particularly worn out, but we have to make do with it. That does not add any depth to the story. Count Dracula was a heroic champion of the fight against the Ottomans. To make vampires simple industrial entrepreneurs, that is passé, unjust and unfair with history and even the vampire myth itself. That cannot compete with Anne Rice's gentle vampires. That cannot compete with the sweet teenage vampires of a TV series dedicated to the night. And that will not even cast a shadow of shade on the monstrous vampires of Supernatural. Vampires are outcast and have to remain such, living on humanity as parasites and not as entrepreneurs building the future of humanity.
But, as I said at the beginning the colors and the pictures are marvellous and the dynamic drawing explodes on every single page or nearly, though it keeps within a single page frame. A book you have to have read.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A really enjoyable vampire story with exceptionally well written characters.
The way the plot is almost split in the middle with the excellent young writer Scott Snyder's (see also Batman: The Black Mirror and Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones (the New 52) (Swamp Thing (DC Comics))) work being complimented by the ever reliable Stephen King, is very interesting. There's an interesting dynamic between them and both stories work very well together. The art is also gorgeous to look at.
Definitely worth picking up if you're either:
a) a fan of vampire fiction, in general, but particularly the darker, sexier vamps (think True Blood, not Twilight)
b) a fan of Stephen King
c) a fan of Scott Snyder
or
d) just interested in reading a really entertaining, new(ish) comic with some great, talented people working on it.
The way the plot is almost split in the middle with the excellent young writer Scott Snyder's (see also Batman: The Black Mirror and Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones (the New 52) (Swamp Thing (DC Comics))) work being complimented by the ever reliable Stephen King, is very interesting. There's an interesting dynamic between them and both stories work very well together. The art is also gorgeous to look at.
Definitely worth picking up if you're either:
a) a fan of vampire fiction, in general, but particularly the darker, sexier vamps (think True Blood, not Twilight)
b) a fan of Stephen King
c) a fan of Scott Snyder
or
d) just interested in reading a really entertaining, new(ish) comic with some great, talented people working on it.
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