Number 11 - American Vampire - Scott Snyder/Stephen King

 

Scott Snyder came to my attention last year when I read his Wytches graphic novel - which was possibly my favourite graphic novel of the year. 

This one was apparently his first original comic he produced after working on various Marvel and DC established properties.

Wytches was a very original take on the concept of witchcraft and magic.  This is, on the surface, an original take on the vampire story.

It creates its own vampire lore and the protagonist vamps have a new set of powers compared to what we're used to. They certainly look a lot different to the standard aristocratic gentlemen or the more recent moody emo look. It's stated specifically that this is an attempt to get away from the recent trend for moody teen vampires in love and make them scary again.

That's what Stephen King says in his intro and I have no reason to disbelieve him.  

I'm not 100% sure it's as original as it thinks it is.  Mutant ugly vamps - 30 days of Night/Buffy, daywalking vamps - Twilight, SP Somtow's Timmy Valentine books/Lucius Shepherd's the Golden/ Blade. The look of the vampires in full attack mode is new, but the extra powers have been done before in various guises.  This doesn't make it bad in any way.  It feels fresh as you read it.  it's only after finishing it and let it simmer that any similarities came to mind- and that's a sign of good writing.

Each issue of the comic that makes up this volume is split into two parts - a story set in Hollywood in the roaring twenties (scripted by Snyder) and a set of flashback stories charting the origins of Skinner Sweet, the first vampire created on American soil, written by Stephen King.

It's a bit of an egotistical concept that America makes better vampires than Europe, (there's something very MAGA-hatty about it) but it's played well enough that I can forgive it and go with the flow of the story.  

The artwork perfectly suits the story being told.  It's vivid and gruesome and contains some really great flash pages. 

The Hollywood story follows a newly created vamp, Pearl Jones, as Skinner enlists her into the ranks of the undead to help him get revenge on the European vampires who accidentally gave him undeath forty years earlier and tried to bury him under a lake. The flashback tale fleshes out the 1920s story neatly. 

Both stories are equally well written, Snyder here showing us he's as good as the King of horror at least in comic book format.  They blend together seamlessly, and if it wasn't for the credit page at the beginning of each issue, you wouldn't know there were two writers involved, let alone who wrote which part.

Maybe in a few volumes we might find out why the American vampires are so different. There's only one way to find out and I'm happy to part with more of my hard earned cash to do it. This is exciting and entertaining, and just bloody good.