#CBR5 Review #18: American Vampire vol. 1 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Stephen King
This past weekend I spent my time at the Calgary comic expo,
and one of my cousins (who is an avid fan of all comic books and genres) got
into a big discussion with me about what he recommends I read, and American Vampire was one of them. He
said it was one of the only vampire stories that has even interested him since
he was about 12 years old, given that the whole thing has become a bit
overpowering and sanitized in popular culture today. But American Vampire is quite intriguing regardless of this, as it addresses
the concept of generational vampiric evolution, and isn’t afraid to leave a twisted
trail of bodies behind.
Scott Snyder predominantly writes the American Vampire
series, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. For the first trade volume (single
issues #1-5), however, the stories told alternate between writing from Snyder,
and guest writing by Stephen King. Each volume of the series focuses on a different
period of American history, and how the new bloodlines of vampires are both affected
and fit into each era; the first volume, which I am reviewing today, is
centered on the 1920s.
What we have in the first volume is the story of a young
woman named Pearl in Los Angeles, trying to make it as a major Hollywood star.
She and her friend are lured to a party with one of the bigwig executives of
the movie studio, where the most turn out to be vampires themselves and attack
Pearl. On her deathbed, a strange man who has been watching Pearl decides to
feed her his blood, thus changing her into a strong, sun-walking vampire, just
the kind that those who attacked her hate. We then learn the origins of this
man who changed Pearl, and how he became a vampire in the Wild West known as
Skinner Sweet. A man who witnessed the rise of this new generation of vampire –which
the traditional, sun-fearing vampires consider “abominations”—tells this story
many years later claiming his stories to be true, and not a work of fiction.
The tales of Pearl and Sweet alternate between one another,
and we somewhat come to learn a few of the reasons why Sweet decided to turn
Pearl. Much of this, however, remains in mystery, though it is suggested that
the two will end up meeting many times over the years in the subsequent volumes
in the series. Overall, however, the story is about power and control, the
strength of bloodlines and a fear of those who are different or threaten our
existence. But more than anything, it is about vengeance: dirty, bloody
vengeance.
At first I found the flipping between stories to be a bit
disconcerting as I wasn’t quite connecting all the dots, but after a while it
starts feeling more natural, as connections and characters begin to fall into
place. Also, the further I got into the story, the more interested I became as
to what was going to happen, wondering how much power the old, somewhat
tyrannical vampires actually have on American history. The ending, as well,
leaves some serious suspense to urge you to take in the next volume, and I
personally am interested to know what happens next, and more importantly, how
much further down the road we end up before we see these characters again. How
will they have changed? Will they have affected history or will it have altered
them in some ways?
The art in the book kind of reminds me of that done by
Gabriel Bá
in The Umbrella Academy series,
though to be honest I’m not sure why… whatever it is, it is very appealing to
look at, and the dark, muddy colours of many of the scenes adds to both the
ominous and eerie mood, but also to the old-timey feel found in this volume. As
for the writing, it can be straightforward with dialogue at some points, but
also features some overlays of engaging contrast between the text and the
visual panels in which they reside.
While American
Vampires, as of now, hints towards some overarching ideas and concepts
within its pages, many of the main themes presented are fairly straightforward.
I assume they are going to beef up a bit more as time goes on, but I suppose I
will have to read more to find out. In any case, if you are a fan of the
vampire genre, you will likely find American
Vampire to be quite enjoyable. If you are not, but enjoy graphic novels or
comic series, there should be something in this for you as well. If nothing
else, volume 1 is a solid beginning to what appears to be the makings of a fascinating
story that spans many years and points in history.
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