When a comic gets an offshoot mini-series published after just 15 issues, you know it might be worth jumping in before the water gets to deep. This is exactly what I did and ended up reading vol.1 of American Vampire in just two days, I could hardly put it down and was amazed by the quality of Snyder and King’s writing and the skill of Rafael Albuquerque’s art. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. In the mini-series Survival of the Fittest the story starts in 1941 New York; vampire hunter Felicia Book has tracked down a vampire who is working undercover at a newspaper. But how does she convince the boss this guy he has worked with for 15 years is one of the un-dead? Well just shoot him in stomach of course, simples.
Having only read the first volume and a few issues of the main run I was worried that I may be jumping the gun by buying this issue and would be lost trying to fill gaps in the plot, but Snyder’s writing is so well structured that you could read this without any prior knowledge of American Vampire. The character of Felicia Book is well formed throughout the issue, and even though she needs to go through the usual pleasantries and introduces herself and sets the scene (father killed by vampire, vampire blood in her own veins, etc…) this never feels too over-explanative, and the plot moves at a steady pace to quickly get onto the interesting stuff.
It’s always nice to see a strong female character lead the action, and Felicia Book seems to fit the bill pretty well, a loner trying to find a cure to the vampire aspects of her being. Readers of American Vampire’s main run will already recognise the name, and will surely be looking forward to finding out more about her and the organisation she works for, a group of vampire hunters called the V.M.S. I am a sucker for any kind of secretive organisation, be it the company in TV’s Heroes or the B.P.R.D in Hellboy, and the mission that Felicia looks likely to unwillingly accept in the issue’s conclusion seems right up my street.
Sean Murphy has taken over the artwork for this series, and he’s just as impressive as Albuquerque. I was completely captivated by the opening scene; the visceral use of the frame and the striking use of colour really made the action feel kinetic and jump out from the page (Anyone who listens to our podcast’s will know Joe (Innes) is a huge fan of his work on Joe the Barbarian) This book is just as violent as the main run, but similarly, none of it feels gratuitous or un-necessary. One warning though, if you own a rabbit you might not want to know what happens when they come into contact with an infant vampire, definitely not a good Christmas morning present.
American Vampire # 16 is also out in June, and a double dose of awesome sauce like this sounds good to me. There is a lot to look forward to in Survival of the Fittest, as the team are heading off to Romania to fight Nazi vampires. And yes, some people might read this and say “Yeah I have seen Nazi vampires before…” but all I would respond with is, don’t speak too soon when it comes to American Vampire.
Will Pond.
