| Title | : | American Vampire, Vol. 1 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401228305 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401228309 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published October 5, 2010 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Graphic Novels & Comics (2010) |
Snyder's tale follows Pearl, a young woman living in 1920s Los Angeles, who is brutally turned into a vampire and sets out on a path of righteous revenge against the European monsters who tortured and abused her. And in King's story set in the days of America's Wild West, readers learn the origin of Skinner Sweet, the original American vampire – a stronger, faster creature than any vampire ever seen before.
Don't miss out as Snyder and King set fire to the horror genre with this visionary, all-original take on one of the most popular monster stories!
This beautiful collection features a new introduction by Stephen King and bonus art including character sketches, variant covers and more!
Collecting: American Vampire 1-5
American Vampire, Vol. 1 Reviews
-
Re-read 2018
I want to check out the rest of these, but it had been so long since I read this volume I figured a re-read was in order. And I'm actually really glad I did! I think I may have enjoyed this more the second time around.
I originally grabbed this randomly, so I wasn't expecting anything...good or bad. Maybe that made a difference. After I finished it and read the reviews, I believe I might have been disappointed if I'd thought I was going to get a 'new' take on vampires.
It's not a new kind of vampire.
Not really.
Evil vampires?
Cowboy Vampires?
If nothing else, I'm sure there's a romance writer out there that beat Snyder and King to the punch.
Even vampires that can walk in the sunlight...
But.
I didn't know I was supposed to be reading anything groundbreaking, so I just sat back and enjoyed the story.
And it was a pretty cool story.
It flashes back and forth between the late 1800's and the 1920's. The early years tells how the American Vampire (Skinner Sweet) came to exist, and the later years tell how Pearl meets Skinner.
I think appreciated the idea of evolutionary vampires more this time around, to be honest. I mean, vampires have oversaturated the culture for a while now, but this didn't suck.
*snort*
Anyway. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume a lot more than I thought I would be. -
“Hello, this is Scott Snyder.”
“Scott, this is Stephen King.”
“Wow! I’m a huge fan, Mr. King. It’s an honor to talk to you.”
“Of course it is. The reason I’m calling is that I was just looking over this American Vampire story you’re working up as a comic series. This is great stuff, kid.”
“Thanks! That means a lot coming from you, Mr. King.”
“Of course it does. This is a fun idea, and I really like this Skinner Sweet character. A vicious Old West bank robber who gets turned into a new breed of vampire is very cool. And I love that your vamps are bloodthirsty monsters. None of this forbidden-love-sparkling-in-the-sun bullshit.”
“Yes, I definitely wanted to make this more of a horror comic with a character who could move through different phases of American history.”
“So in this first phase, you’re going to tell the two parallel stories of Skinner Sweet’s origin back in the cowboy days along with the one set in 1920s Hollywood with the struggling actress and the powerful vamps running the town?”
“That’s the plan, and I’m so glad you liked it. I was hoping we could talk you into writing an introduction for it when….”
“Introduction, hell. Give me a piece of this action. I want to write some of it.”
“You want to write for my comic? Uh….I don‘t think Vertigo can afford to pay what you usually make, Mr. King.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll work something out. Now, I was thinking that I could write up the origin piece of Skinner, and you could do the Hollywood story. How does that sound?”
“You want to write the origin?”
“Is that a problem? You don’t sound very happy about it, Scott.”
“Oh, I’d love to work with you, Mr. King. It’s just that….I’ve been thinking about this Skinner Sweet character for years, and now that I’m getting a chance to finally do it, I was really looking forward to writing that origin.”
“I understand you’re a little disappointed, but this was more of ‘I’m-Telling-You’ versus ‘I’m-Asking-You’ kind of a thing.”
“Uh…You’re telling me that you’re going to get involved with my comic and write the origin story of my character when I was just asking you for an introduction?”
“Basically. But don’t take this as a bad thing. Do you know what having my name on this is going to do for your sales?”
“I know it’d mean a lot more visbility for the series, but I really just wanted an introduction, Mr. King. I mean, have you ever even written for comics before?”
“No, but what’s the big deal? I directed a movie once and had no idea what the hell I was doing and everything came out fine.”
“Mr. King, I don’t know about this…”
“Scott, let me put it this way. I’m all inspired. If you don’t let me work with you on the comic, then I’m just going to have sit down and crank out a 1000 page novel in the next 72 hours about a cowboy vampire working his way through American history. I can probably have it available on Amazon by next Tuesday. Is that what you want?”
“No, definitely not. I guess I should say….Welcome aboard… Maybe?”
“That’s the spirit, Scott. We’ll crank this mother out and then I’ll jam a copy up Stephenie Meyer’s ass the next time I see her. She just annoys the hell out of me.”
“Uh…OK.”
“This is going to be great. I always wanted to write a funny book. Talk to you later.”*
* King’s introduction and Snyder’s afterward don’t give any indication that Snyder was anything but thrilled to have King involved, but I just found it really funny that King was asked for an introduction and essentially invited himself to write half the story. Not too many writers could get away with that. It didn‘t hurt the story one bit and this is a fun and nasty twist on vamps in horror comics. -
Vertigo had a serious dream team on their hands with
Scott Snyder's joint-conception and writing of the main story,
Stephen King(!)'s writing of the backstory and
Rafael Albuquerque with the artwork for both. A very interesting re-imagining of the Vampire story built around vampires' original migration from Europe to he New World. Can I have an I, for in-no-vation! A very cool concept, but the stories in this volume are scene setters for the rest of the series and feel as such! The lead, outlaw turned American Vampire, Skinner is a whole lot of interesting. 6 out of 12, Three Star read, with chunks of potential for future volumes.
2020 read; 2017 read -
Bloody Brilliant!
Creative Team:
Creator & Writer: Scott Snyder
Co-Writer: Stephen King
Illustrator: Rafael Albuquerque
Colorist: Dave McCaig
VAMPYR VITAE
...will you tell me some good hobo stories? I mean really really spicy ones?
Pearl, your ears will bleed...
Scott Snyder, the creator of this comic book series, is one of the most relevant new names in the business, and being able to convince Stephen King to collaborate in his project is a proof of his rising influence around.
As you can appreciate in a panel, this work honors classic works like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the western books by Zane Grey, and since we have here a prominent female vampire character, I believe that it’s even avowed that Carmilla existed several years before of even the most famous Dracula. And of course to the now iconic “dime novels” which along with the “penny dreadfuls” were the first options to read adventure and horror at a cheap price, making them accesible to most of the people.
This evolution of the American Vampire also is a headway from previous works like Blade, presenting a day-walker vampire, and Crimson where you witness the next step in the evolution of vampires (in that case being able to manipulate fire (at first, and later more powers)). While here the evolved vampires aren’t showing magical powers (at least not in this first volume) but it’s the idea of being an evolution of the “old European vampires” and certainly using prominently the advantage of that these evolved vampires are day-walkers.
It’s kinda funny the whole deal of day-walker vampires, since in the novel of Dracula, the title character was able to be in the open under sunlight, true, he was less powerful, but the key thing is that he was able to walk on daylight. However, the Universal Pictures’ movies became so iconic in our psyches (and that’s where they inserted this limitation to vampires) that we aren’t able to process the concept of vampires standing to sunlight.
Another interesting development in this story is that while regular vampires’ weaknesses are common knowledge (something that even the evil vampires comment here), we still have to start to discover in a slowly way what kind of weaknesses have the “American Vampires”, along with the rest of their unique skills and traits.
BLOODY NARRATIVE
Nobody’ll believe half of this stuff.
In this first volume of this comic book series, Scott Snyder is in charge of the “present” storyarc, which is happening in 1925, in Hollywood, California; while Stephen King is in charge of the “past” storyarc, which is set between 1880, in Sidewinder, Colorado, and 1912, Cruces, New Mexico (featuring several dates and places). Each issue, collected on this volume, presents both storyarcs, showing what it’s becoming kinda regular in many TV shows nowadays.
Also, it’s relevant to point out that this is really the first comic book story where Stephen King writes since previous apparitions have been comic book adaptations of original prose novels, while here is trully an original story.
I want to highlight the great artwork by Rafael Albuquerque which he does the art in both storyarcs but presenting them with totally different art styles, talking good about his versatility. Obviously with the support of the colorist Dave McCaig, to give a visually distinctive effect on each storyarc.
IT’S GOOD TO BE BAD
How come the badman always gets the most of the ink?
Because bad sells. Monsters sell.
For better or worse, usually, many stories are evaluated in according to how effective were the villains, not matter if they lose at the end. However, in American Vampire isn’t about good vs. evil, but maybe it can be more accurate to say that evil vs. lesser evil.
Some characters can be seen as motivated due good reasons but they are definitely doing bloody violent acts without any kind of remorse. Real human nature at its best.
They are vampires. They are hunters. They are killers.
And if you aren’t careful, they will drink your blood out of your neck without hesitation.
And since you have two different timelines in the book, you will be able to get some characters showing totally different attitudes, giving more richness to the whole story.
Definitely I want to read more of this comic book series, so if the creative team doesn’t mind if I tag along, but yes, I know that I need to keep up. -
5 stars all the way - this graphic novel is excellent! Do you like westerns? Do you like vampires? Do you like vampire-westerns? If you answered yes to one or more of the above, then step right up!
I figured it sounded interesting, but I did not think I would end up reading one of the best approaches to the vampire genre I have seen. It is creepy, gory, sexy, etc. - all the things you expect in a good vampire tale. Also, it has the element of wondering exactly who you should be cheering for - at some points I found myself very intrigued by the charisma of the main protagonist/antagonist. Will I be for him or against him in the future? I am hooked and I look forward to more.
As a graphic novel, the art is great. I would say it has a slightly less cartoonish feel than Chew, but there is a similar look. The monsters and the gore are well done. And, as I started my Red Dead Redemption II journey last night, I am loving the western art.
I think this is a worthwhile selection for vampire fans to try even if they are not into the graphic novel format. -
3.5 Stars:
An enjoyable graphic novel written by Scott Snyder and (surprisingly) Stephen King. The excellent artwork is by Rafael Albuquerque.
This story has a split timeline - the old West (late 1800’s) and 1920’s Hollywood.
Skinner Sweet is a violent outlaw, a new breed of vampire and a very cool character. To a group of monied, old school vampires with European heritage he’s seen as a big threat.
Many years after the opening scenes in which Sweet prints his unique, bloody stamp on the Wild West the action moves to Hollywood. The vampires are still around, bearing grudges, baring fangs and biting on the necks of new recruits ie doing what vampires do.
Pearl, an aspiring movie actress finds herself unceremoniously dragged into the narrative.
This is a colourful, wittily written story - it’s also creepy, gory and quite an original take on the vampire tradition. The characters come alive in the artwork and are given sharp, naturalistic dialogue.
The story is multilayered, has some depth and features two fine writers writing different sections. For this reason (this is my only issue) the story and timelines seemed slightly muddled at times ......... but in all fairness, this was probably just me :)
Overall this is an impressive addition to my graphic novel collection and I’m hoping to get hold of the volumes that follow. -
Sung to the tune of “American Woman”*
American vampire, stay away from me
American vampire, please let me be
No more vampires, European way
Creepy cowboy, Skinner Sweet is here to stay
Sweet and Pearl can daylight ramble
Where European vampires burn up like bramble
Now monster, just leave me be
American vampire, scarin’ the crap outta me
American vampire, Bloch done Pearl wrong
American vampire, revenge’s thirst is strong
Don't come sinking your fangs in me
Don't wanna live in eternal misery
Fangs and claws can hypnotize
Sparkly vampires are full of lies
Stephanie Meyer, I said get away
American vampire is here to stay
American vampire, cowboys and the wild west
American vampire, a roaring twenties quest
Don't come stalking around my door
Don't wanna see your face no more
I don't want your western mien
I don't want your Hollywood scene
Twilight gets cut down to size
Go sparkle someone else's eyes
Scott Snyder and Stephen King
Just couldn’t put down this thing
Go, gotta get away, gotta get away
Now go, go, go, I'm gonna leave you, vampire
Gonna leave you, Skinner
Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye
You're no good for me
I'm no good for you
Gonna look you right in the eye
Tell you what I'm gonna do
American Vampire, runnin’ away from you.
You know I'm gonna leave
You know I'm gonna go
You know I'm gonna leave
You know I'm gonna go, vampire
I'm gonna leave you, Skinner
Goodbye, American vampire
*With apologies to The Guess Who. -
Find all of my reviews at:
http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
What happens when good ol’ Uncle Stevie gets sick and tired of the “sweetie vamp craze?” Well, vampires go from this . . .
back to something a little more like this . . .
American Vampire kind of fell into my lap by accident. I went to the library’s website looking for
Wytches #1 - which of course they didn’t have. However, my temper tantrum was quickly interrupted when I focused in on the word VAMPIRE!!! and requested this instead.
While this selection wasn’t able to seal the deal of the “anything you can do I can do better” battle between King and his son Joe Hill (sorry Steve, but your baby boy writes a damn good graphic novel), it was a solid beginning.
American Vampire runs a dual narrative – Snyder’s half tells of a young aspiring actress named Pearl in the 1920s who should have opted to not RSVP to a certain party . . .
The story then goes all . . .
back to the wild west where Stephen King introduces us to main character number two. If you’re a fan of a certain fella . . .
Skinner Sweet will probably be right up your alley . . .
I’m telling you, this guy is A – W – E – S – O – M – E . . .
I realize I may lose my Constant Reader membership card for being completely unaware that American Vampire even existed, but I’m willing to do penance . . . in the form of reading the next volumes in this series. Come on library, mach schnell with getting me the stories of Vegas in the 30s and the great war of the 40s! -
SPOILERS
Ok it’s my own fault for falling for it –I know vampires are overused in today’s culture, so much so that Amazon have a store called “Amazon Vampire”, but I still went ahead with reading this comic book, thinking that somehow Scott Snyder and Stephen King had pulled off a remarkable fresh version of the vampire story – I hoped, but I was wrong.
Snyder writes about Pearl, a wannabe actress in mid 1920s Hollywoodland working bit parts until one day she’s invited to the party of a big time producer, where she finds out too late that he’s not quite what he appears to be. And we follow her journey thereon out.
King writes about an outlaw called Skinner Sweet who steals from the wrong person (a “euro-vamp”) and winds up dead. And then alive. You see where this is going. Blood and carnage follow.
Sounds promising, no? It’s not. King writes in his introduction “Those vamps got hijacked by a lot of soft focus romance”, talking about the recent explosion in vampire romance stories (think Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, etc) and yet “American Vampire” is just one more example of just such a book. Pearl meets Henry, a friend – or is he? Corny romance ensues, not to mention the obligatory pseudo-erotic scene where Pearl “drinks” from Henry. Is it me or has this become standard practice in modern vampire stories to have one hero vamp drink the blood of a hero human? Jim Book meets his goddaughter Abi who happens to be a twenty something girl in love with him and with a penchant for wearing very revealing outfits. King working the forbidden fruit angle there, which is bad enough but the dialogue is so stale and soppy. “Just promise you’ll send that monster to hell” (simper) or “I’ve lost everyone I love and now I’m supposed to lose you as well?” Yawn.
But the poor dialogue doesn’t stop there. Some memorable quotes include “You will never leave here alive!”, “Jim you don’t know how many times I’ve doubted what I saw that day”, “Been thinking it over the last couple days and it’s not that I didn’t believe you, it’s that I just didn’t care”, and “Yes, go run and hide! We’ll find you! We’re everywhere!”. Throw in the English aristocratic vamp who explains the nefarious plan in full at the end like a well-dressed Blofeld with hair and you got yourself the kind of script that you could catch mice in if you put it on a trap.
This isn’t a “new” version of a vampire story, just another vampire story that you’ve read before but with different costumes - 1920s Hollywood and late 19th century frontier America. Even the parts people will say are new – that Skinner and Pearl can walk in daylight and are unaffected by religious tokens – have been done to death before. And let’s not even begin to point out how long it takes everyone to figure out they’re vampires. It’s so tedious you want to shout at the page just so the story can move on.
And the artwork is nothing to write home about either. Rafael Albuquerque has his moments, creating genuine moments of horror with full page depictions of very warped looking vampires, but in between this are scores of pages full of rough sketching and even worse colouring. Not to mention the lack of imagination – some of the scenes look like campy 80s metal album covers with Sweet topless sat on a throne in a cave surrounded by fiery torches in the dark.
A friend and I are both fans of King but both of us have noticed, as have many others, that King tends to have as his protagonist/narrator a person, usually a man, who is a novelist. Guess who the narrator of King’s portions of the book is? Man, he really isn’t trying anymore is he? I’m beginning to think his blurbs and brief intros are better to read than his slow moving, predictable books.
And unfortunately that also includes this book, "American Vampire". Poor artwork, dull story, even duller characters, utterly unmemorable dialogue that disappears into nothing as you read it, all mixing together to create a totally uninteresting and trying-too-hard-to-be-cool book. Definitely doesn’t live up to the hype, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a good read. -
American Vampire tells two tales: the origin and early days of American vampire Skinner Sweet in the dying days of the Old West, and the tragedy of aspiring actress Pearl Jones, who runs afoul of old world vampires in 1920's Los Angeles. How will their tales intersect?
Where do I start with this? I've never read Scott Snyder before but I loved his writing in this. Stephen King's was also really good, not surprising since he did write my favorite epic of all time, The Dark Tower. Rafael Albuquerque's artwork has come a long way since his days penciling Blue Beetle.
Scott Snyder is taking back vampires from the people who made them romantic fops. Vampires are murderous predators from beyond the grave and should be depicted as such! The vampires in American Vampire remind me of the vampires in I am Legend, Salem's Lot, and Garth Ennis's Preacher. They aren't pretty, don't fall in love with mortal girls, and love the taste of blood.
The two plots were both very interesting. While Skinner Sweet's story of carnage in the old west was good, I think I'd give the edge to the Snyder-penned tale of a Hollywood infested by vampires in the 1920's. I like the idea of different strains of vampirism based on genetics and such. It'll be interesting to see how this concept is explored in subsequent volumes.
I got American Vampire as a Christmas gift and it's pretty high in the Christmas gift ass-kicking hierarchy this year. It's an easy four stars if you like graphic novels and killer vampires. -
Failing to blow minds, American Vampire succeeds as an original and respectable thriller in the exhausted sub-genre of vampire horror. It’s historical fiction meets slasher, with a large cast of stock characters begging for development. With expressionistic illustrations prone to being too rough. Fun as guilty pleasure reading, with the potential for a great series.
-
American Vampire Vol. 1 caught my eye when I was at the bookstore getting the next two volumes of the Sandman series. Then I saw one of the storylines was written by Stephen King and I had to have it. I was not disappointed.
Within are two stories, one about Skinner Sweet, (late 1800's) and the other about Pearl Jones, taking place around 1925. I enjoyed them both but Skinner was my favorite. He's not even a good guy-he's an evil vampire, (just the way I like them), sporting a western duster and a peppermint stick. A cowboy, gun-slinging, vampire. Oh yeah.
Pearl is an aspiring Hollywood actress, made into a vampire against her will and she's a badass. She was determined to get revenge and you'll have to read this to find out if she got it or not.
I originally was waffling between 3.5-4 stars, but I decided to go with 4. I really liked the artwork in this volume and even though the story was not a phenomenal one, it has interested me enough to continue with volume 2.
Get your copy here:
American Vampire Vol. 1 -
This is Stephen King’s debut into graphic/comic writing.
American Vampire (part 1) is a glossy edition. It has two stories one told by Stephen King and the other by Scott Snyder both with fabulous art work by Rafael Albuquerque.
Snyder’s tale follows Pearl, a young woman living in 1920s Los Angeles, who is brutally turned into a vampire and sets out for revenge against the European monsters who tortured her.
King’s story is set in the days of America’s Wild West, we learn the origin of Skinner Sweet, the original American vampire – a stronger, faster creature than any vampire ever seen before.
I admit I liked both stories but I did enjoy the laid back, rakish character, of Skinner Sweet. My only criticism is that I didn’t feel there was enough depth in the stories, but this might just be that this is my first foray into graphic novels and I need to think differently about this genre.
I definitely want to continue with this series. -
It's okay. Snyder's storyline feels like set up for coming volumes (at least I hope it is), and King's storyline is set up for Snyder's storyline.
I'll have to read some more, it could go either way, really.
I did like the art.
Buddy read with
Kadi vamP -
It's not too often that good vampire comics come out. That's probably why I decided to re-read "American Vampire" now that it's finally over. This vampire book brings a new kind of vampire to the lore, the American Vampire. They are impervious to anything but gold. Not even daylight hurts them. But they aren't common. There are only two of them. However, there are older vampires with more traditional weaknesses. What I really like, is they aren't romantic. Vampires turn into hellbeasts with extended limbs and other gross features. However, they aren't all evil either. The original, Skinner Sweet, is a world class heel. Pearl, the 2nd American Vampire, is a good person who doesn't want to harm anyone, just live her life in peace.
-
Just Fantastic.
I just loved the way the stories played out. Some nice twists and turns and strong characters.
My first comic or graphic novel if you will for decades - and well worth it.
Wonderful illustrations.
A great set of vampire stories.
Strongly recommended. 5 'there's no vampire like an american vampire,' stars. -
I've always loved vampire narratives, but these days I feel as though I have to make that statement with a "but not those sparkly Meyers' bullshit vamps" disclaimer because the term "vampire" now requires two definitions: 1) glittering and eternal boy band wannabe who tries to protect naive (and horny!) young women from the monster he's become while slurping up woodland critters like they're Hi-C fruit boxes, and 2) vampires who seduce and cruelly toy with their prey before ripping open a jugular and letting someone else worry about the clean up. When it comes to vampires, I'm more of a "Team Kill" than "Team Brood." I tell you all of this to say that I really enjoyed American Vampire, which returns vampires to their more horrific origins: the single-minded drive of a predator coupled with human intelligence. Nothing is more terrifying.
The story is actually two intertwined narratives: the story of Skinner Sweet, a ruthless outlaw in the twilight of the Old West, and Polly, a Hollywood extra in the 1920's. Until Skinner is accidentally turned, vampires in America consist of Old World European vampires who have come to the United States to feed on the economic boom, as well as the unsuspecting populace. With Skinner's creation, a new kind of vampire is brought into being: one who can walk during the day and who is not susceptible to the weaknesses of the generation that came before him. It turns out that, with each new vampiric creation, a new and unpredictable strain of vampirism comes into being. Therefore, the European vampires jealously guard their "gift" lest they create a breed that can eventually overthrow them. This plot twist promises for rich and varied narratives as we follow these vampires into future storylines; Skinner creates Polly, a vampire whose powers mimic Skinner's but may ultimately eclipse his.
Of the two storylines, I preferred the Stephen King narrative about Skinner Sweet, but I'm a sucker for the Old West. However, it was a close call as Snyder's tale is equally intriguing and Polly is definitely one badass mamma-jamma.
While not quite as violent as I expected, Snyder and King have definitely given a tired genre a new life with plenty of subtext about American innovation versus European traditionalism. So keep the anemic Edwards of young adult narratives. From now on, I'll take my vampires like I take my tea--Sweet, please.
Cross posted at
This Insignificant Cinder -
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A graphic novel worth raving about.
A layered story of villains, lovers, law breakers, blood and time.
Pledge allegiance to the scary fucking vampire. -
I really wanted to like this more. After Batman: The Black Mirror and All Star Batman, I have high expectations for Scott Snyder. This book was half good.
I loved the bits with Pearl and old Hollywood. I can totally see how that would work as a TV show. I like the character and what happens to her is just tragic enough to set up a good motivation for her journey. She's and interesting character and I hated having her portions inter-spliced with Skinner Sweets. I just didn't care about him.
The outlaw has been done before. This one doesn't even do that particularly well. I have no incentive to follow a guy who keeps throwing out offensive terms for the only Mexican character. His character doesn't bring anything new to the table. He's not even charming. This were my least favorite parts.
The team of Felix and Book was fine, I guess. I didn't particularly want to follow their story either. The ending sets up an interesting premise for the next volume if it pans out into something more.
I just felt like Pearl was the stronger character and story and I wish the whole book had been about her. -
I have always been a fan of Vampires. So when I saw this comic book I hopped on-board. The first vol collects issues 1-5 of the American Vampire series. Each issue is told in two parts- the first part (written by Scott Snyder) takes place ca. 1925 and primarily revolves around a young actress named Pearl, who happens to become a snack for vampires one night at a Hollywood party. Pearl is then resurrected by former wild west outlaw extraordinaire Skinner Sweet, who just happens to also be a vampire. This is where we learn that the ones that killed Pearl are the European breed, while Skinner is an American Vampire. Now, one small quibble in that I find it fairly incredulous that Skinner Sweet a rough and tumble, tougher-than-Hell and mean as a rattlesnake outlaw somehow is familiar with the concept of evolution- but apparently he's taken the time to read his Darwin. That being said Sweet informs Pearl due to evolution the American "breed" of vampire has different abilities than the original European stock. Some of the changes are immunity to sunlight and no weakness to wood. Though on a moonless night it seems the American version becomes far weaker and somnolent. The rest of the Volume is Pearl's tale of revenge on the Euro-vamps who killed her (well the 1st part of each issue of the volume).
The 2nd part of each issue (Written by Stephen King) in this volume is the tale of Skinner Sweet and how he became a vampire. His starts in the l880's and then jump's to his rising from the grave 3 decades later. Sweet also has a history with the Euro-vamps. As the Sweet story shows him getting his revenge on the lawmen who originally hunted him, as well as his war with the European vamps. More than that I shall not say for spoilers.
I thought the King story to be better than Snyder's tale-but that's because I really liked the story of Skinner Sweet, as well as the character. Sweet is one mean son-of-a-bitch. Though, the Pearl story is not bad. I enjoy Vampire tales, but I do not like the cutsey vampire that is often prevalent in our teeny-hipster era (Twilight, Buffy, etc)- either not very scary or they are vaguely emo metrosexual glitteratti a' la the Twilight vamps. This is not the case here. These Vampires are closer to the 30 Days of Night Vampires. All in all-quite a good vampire tale(both of them)....and I can see the intersection in timelines that will more than likely occur as some point (I assume vol 2?) between the Pearl and Sweet storylines.
So why 4 stars? Simply put-the art. Sorry, I just don't care for it. It's not awful or even bad. It just never rises to more than "ok" for my taste. I think an artist like Jim Lee (who did one of the alternate covers for issue 2) would have made a great artist for the series. I like more detail in my comic art rather than the vaguely impressionist work that Mr. Albuquerque uses. The vampires, drawn with detail, would have looked truly horrifying. But, that being said- this is a good series for Vampire fans, especially if you also have a soft spot for either the Gilded Age or Penny Westerns. -
Stephen King (win) +
Scary-ass, blood-thirsty vampires (win) +
Bone-chilling, full-color graphic illustrations (win) =
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.
This was great, and the only thing holding me back from gushing is that I still haven't been completely won over to the graphic novel format. Steven Niles rocked my world with
30 Days of Night - those vampires kick ass. I was actually really pleased with the movie too. I love how Niles re-imagines the vampire, stealing it back from the trashy, paranormal bodice rippers! For far too long vampires have been distinguished aristocrats, Byronic heroes, or sexy-emo-pouting "bad boys". The vampires that descend on Barrow are ruthless, and everything vampires should be if you want to scare the heck out of someone -- merciless, bloodthirsty villains with no conscience. Niles should be given a medal for his contribution to both the literary and vampire film canon. For far too long the debonair, smooth-talking vampire has ruled.
Stephen King thinks so too, which is why Scott Snyder did not have to twist his arm too hard to get him on board with this project. Snyder went fishing for an intro, what he got was a full-on, hard core collaboration. King is all over American Vampire, and the "wild west" themes found in his parts of the story have a lot of Dark Tower energy running through them. I really half-expected Roland to walk right into the story at some point. He may yet, who knows? And can I just give a shout out to the toe-tag? ::grin::
I've been drawn into the world, and the notion of a "new" kind of vampire that can walk in daylight at war with the ancient Euro-vampires is intriguing. I will definitely come back for more of this series.
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I don't think this form of storytelling works for me. But I'm still willing to try more.
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I probably like vampire-centric stories as much as the next person who had seen enough of it in movies and shows. In fact, two my current favorite 22 shows that I watch dutifully each season launch are about vampires (The Vampire Diaries and its superior spin-off The Originals). I haven't read any Anne Rice books but was familiar with her mythology because of a friend who obsessed about her work; I continue to regret to this day the the fact that I had read Stephenie Meyer's shit of a series, and I enjoyed True Blood, but only finished the first 2 seasons because I didn't like Sookie Stackhouse as the anchoring heroine of the show. So, you know, I like vampire-centric stories, but not to the point where I actively seek out the genre. If the formula works for a vampire story, it works. I'd watch/read it. Hell, I like the romantic melodrama of the Vampire Knight manga as well.
American Vampire is written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque. The first volume featured Stephen King because, apparently, he wanted to be featured because he had a compelling origin story to tell about the vampire asshole character. It worked. I think Snyder had loved having him around, and that is why the first volume worked in a dual manner where Snyder handled telling the 'present' story in Hollywood America about a pair of aspiring actresses and friends Pearl and Hattie; while King paralleled it with a sweeping cowboy tale that gives the readers information about the vampire asshole named Skinner Sweet.
Artist Albuquerque's visual style is commendable with a technique that offered enough variation in his depictions of both stories told in different periods, complementing both Snyder's and King's narrative voices. It was therefore a dream team that showcased American Vampire and, for the most part, the first volume was your standard fanfare of blood and gore coupled with the same kind of hedonistic sensibility and Shakespearean drama that I know and eat up when I do read/watch vampire-centric stories. American Vampire is no exception.
I wouldn't do it an injustice by calling it a rehash of the same things I saw already because anything could be called that; what should be notable is the execution and the believability and appeal of it. In that sense, American Vampire does its job being gritty, enjoyable and self-aware enough to be considered clever. But I wouldn't call it a masterpiece--at least not with two volumes read. There is potential in this series that I can't wait to get into!
In Snyder's vignettes of Pearl and Hattie's story, he brandishes the same kind of hopeful voice in his characters amidst the backdrop of despair that they have to put up with as they go about their daily grind. Synder after all is the current Batman writer who gave us a Gotham City that is alive and thriving with either chaotic or neutral evil machinations, while his Bruce Wayne is actually more dreamy and introspective than any other version of Batman I have ever read. He employs that same thing when he wrote Dick Grayson as Batman in The Black Mirror, and he does it again with Pearl in her story of transformation from ordinary struggling nobody-actress to a vampiric hybrid, sired by the enigmatic Skinner Sweet due to nothing more but lucky chance. It actually reminded me of that scene in Hellsing manga where Alucard rescues a British policewoman by turning her. It's reminiscent of that.
As two standalone arcs, they complemented each other fairly well. The dusty landscape and gun-totting characters for King's Sweet origin story was action-packed and disconcerting, told in the perspective of a writer haunted by the upsetting evils he had seen when he personally witnessed Skinner Sweet's rampage as a newborn vampire of a different breed. Meanwhile, Snyder's quieter yet suspenseful tale focusing on Pearl Jones and her integration into the vampire lifestyle was a little heartbreaking and personable, where a good woman was given not only the unwanted curse of immortality because of Sweet's rare yet twisted moment of generosity, but also the package of ancient enemy vampires who want Sweet extinguished because they see him as a threat as the next step of evolution for vampires.
This volume was not perfect or an easily rewarding experience aside from the pivotal revelations and crackling action sequences that kept the story afloat for the most part, but Snyder certainly has a vision, and it's one that shows a lot of promise and creative endeavor along the way. I'm invested enough on Pearl as the heroine to root for, and I'm glad that Skinner Sweet is mostly in the shadows, still barely knowable, and that adds to his charisma, making him more of an intimidating figure in spite of the way he can be an utter goofball at times. I like this volume. It's inventive enough to be fresh and thrilling.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
READ MY REVIEWS AT:
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Even though I had heard great things about Scott Snyder's "American Vampire" series, I've been hesitant in checking it out. Like many people, I'm just too "vampired-out" these days! After finally reading the 1st collection, I realize my fears were completely unfounded. Just as Scott Snyder recently managed to breathe new life into the 70+ year-old "Batman" franchise, he has done the same with the vampire genre.
"American Vampire" chronicles the rise of a new breed of vampire...the first vampires conceived on American soil. The main story focuses on Pearl Jones, a rising starlet in 1920s Hollywood who is killed by a group of vampires and rises from the dead to take revenge upon her attackers. Pearl Jones is one of the main reasons why this series works so well. The very first couple of pages are narrated by Pearl as she shares a sweet memory of her first being enchanted by the magic of movies...a touching narrative that acts as a complete contrast to the horrific events happening on panel. Not only are moments like these emotionally jarring, but they also give more in sight into Pearl's backstory and personality, which makes her a protagonist we truly care about and root for, even when we see her doing horrible things.
The main story works on so many levels. Yes, it's quite disturbing and gruesome at times, but there are also tender moments and humor mixed in as well. Pearl's quest to discover just exactly what she has been turned into is compelling, loaded with action, suspense, mystery, and a twist towards the end that I never saw coming. I also loved how Snyder used vampirism as a metaphor for how the innocent were often preyed upon in the early days of Hollywood. This isn't just about vampires running around killing people, there's a much deeper story at work here.
The first "American Vampire" collection also features a back-up story by master horror novelist Stephen King, as he reveals the origin of Skinner Sweet, the very first vampire created on American soil who is also responsible for Pearl Jones' resurrection. When you can say that Stephen King's contribution is excellent, but not quite as excellent as the main story, you know you're reading something truly magical! -
I'll start this off by saying that I fully expected to hate this.. or at least be bored by it. Despite the fact that Scott Snyder is highly regarded in the comic industry at the moment - what with kicking all kinds of ass with the recent Batman reboot/relaunch/whatever - and perennial favorite, Uncle Stevie lending his writing chops to the series, I still expected mediocrity.
Why?
Because I'm starting to hate vampires. No, this isn't an anti-twilight rant nor does it have anything to do with disliking something because it's popular. It mostly has to do with just a never ending stream of what feels like average content. Take Justin Cronin's The Passage series. While I felt the first book was OK at best, the second book was unbearable, so much so that I put it down - I just couldn't soldier on through something I feel so negatively about.
The good news is, with lowered expectations, it only really leaves room for someone to move up. That or dive down into the sub basement of boredom.
Snyder and King craft a story bringing together two distinct periods in time involving two pretty different characters. While at their core, they're a lot a like, it's there origins that bring about conflicting emotions in the reader. One, an outlaw of the old wild west and the other, a struggling young actress in 1920s Hollywood.
Both were excellent and certainly leave a lot in the open for future volumes. I already enjoy Snyder's writing but Rafael Albuquerque's art is exceptional to say the least. His visuals sync up perfectly with the style of the story that's being told and offer up some pretty gruesome shots.
This is the kind of vampire storytelling I can get behind. You've got compelling characters with an interesting plot for them to play around in. It doesn't feel manufactured and the inclusion of vampires never really feels like a gimmick used to cash in on the genre's massive popularity.
I've got volume one and two sitting on my coffee table all set to go - I think I'll be breezing through these in pretty rapid succession. -
Others have discussed this in depth. I will say I liked the Stephen King sections less that Snyder's. This feels like an energetic and inventive start. Plot and dialogue are not that great, I felt, but I still thought it was good. Snyder has this and Batman now, and he's getting to be (okay, he's been for some time) a big name because of these two….
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I haven’t been living under a rock. I know that the names Scott Snyder and Stephen King are enough to make random people turn their heads when they overhear you in a supermarket. So I figured, why not tackle both names at once? Why not read a comic they wrote together? And about my favorite paranormal creature, the vampire, no less?
I expected greatness.
I should have lowered my expectations.
The Art
Oh wow. I didn’t know mainstream comics could look this awful and still get the greenlight for 9 volumes. Maybe Rafael Albuquerque is your cup of tea. Maybe you’re blind. I don’t know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The facial expressions in this were just…how???? Who sits down to draw, makes this monstrosity, and then calls it a day?
And who looks at it and says, “Yup, looks good! Let’s send this baby to print!”
Honestly, the only panels that didn’t look like garbage were the silhouette shots, and that’s only because I couldn’t see the people, only their black and white outlines.
The Story
Wow, Scott Snyder must be only good at one kind of bat-related property because he really sucks at vampires. He wanted to be original? He wanted to bring the fear back to vampires? Well, he seems to think that “original” means to do what everyone else is already doing.
Evil group of mustache twirling, chair sitting villains who do nothing for 90% of the story? Check ✔
Brooding love interest who saves the main character? Check ✔
Hints of a love triangle between the normal, good-for-you human and the bad boy vampire? Check ✔
And let us not forget that Snyder thinks phones run on magical vampire energy or perhaps just wishful thinking. He has a character who lives on a boat in 1925 and has a telephone? Um??? Did he do any research whatsoever? Radiophones are the only thing potentially likely but 1) there wasn’t even a transatlantic phone yet, and 2) regular (not radio) telephones still ran on a wire. There’s no way he has a regular phone on a boat. Forget vampires, the real strange stuff is that Henry the hobo is a time traveler.
Stephen King fared slightly better, but not by a lot. His side of the narrative at least tried to be coherent and well written, however pompous and pretentious it ended up being. It wasn’t really scary, except for one sequence that didn’t last for too long.
But what really nailed the stake into his coffin was this:
“Unfortunately she was his goddaughter”
Why don’t you just kill me now, Stephen, so I don’t have to live in this world any longer?
TL;DR & Conclusion
I don’t understand why it was the way it was. The art was horrendous, the writing was just plain weird, and the tropes!!! It was so cliche!!! Which is hilarious because the forward and afterward are all about how it’s unique and transcends the current vampires, that they were gonna make vampires scary again, but I’m more afraid of Edward Cullen than I am of their stupid vampires.
Have you ever seen the movie Byzantium? With Saoirse Ronan? Well, it’s one of my favorite underrated vampire stories, and managed to do a past/present split perfectly while maintaining a linear narrative. If you want cool vampires, just watch that. It has some annoying parts, but you have to take what you can get. Or even just watch 2011's Priest, which is awful but better than this. -
I guess I'm not that into westerns, even westerns with vampires. Stephen King wrote the origin story here of Skinner Sweet, outlaw-turned-vampire. This was violent and gory and so-so, as Sweet just wasn't that interesting to me. He didn't sparkle, which I appreciated, but all we know about him is that he likes candy and violence. To care about a character, I need to know more details than that - does he like cats, for example? What's his favorite book? Hobbies, other than hold-ups? He was basically just a monster, and I found the lawmen hunting him way more interesting.
And since we cut back and forth to the second story, Sweet's tale suffers from lost tension and momentum. Fortunately, the second story is stronger and had more appeal to me, possibly because the protagonist is a woman. Scott Snyder writes the continuing saga of Sweet in 1920-era Los Angeles, where he loiters around the abode of Pearl Jones (aspiring actress/waitress/cigarette girl) who is about to run afoul of some nasty mobster vampires. She survives and gets a chance at revenge thanks to Sweet.
I liked Pearl's story better than Sweet's - she was a more likeable and well-rounded character, with a more developed storyline than just sweet-tooth bank robber. She's cute AND smart, kind AND tough, and she can tell Sweet is nothing but trouble.
Lots of gore-soaked images, plus the use of a lot of browns and reds give the book the look of bloody sepia, which was kind of cool. The story was slight and was all action, unless I missed something. I find comics a bit hard to follow, I want things more spelled out, and sometimes I think the pictures use a short-hand I'm not familiar with. Or, there's not as much there as I want there to be.
I understand the story gets better in book two, which I'm off to the shelves in the graphic novel section of the library to find... -
Meet Skinner Sweet, the peppermint candy-chomping former Wild West outlaw who traded his six-shooters for fangs and immortality to become antihero of the vampire genre.
Scott Snyder and Stephen King split the storytelling duties in this graphic novel, originally published as the first five issues of the Vertigo series. Artist Rafael Albuquerque captures 1920s LA and 1880s Old West outstandingly. The first dozen pages or so are deliciously restrained, a buildup that pays off when Albuquerque unleashes the vampires in full-page panels.
The story centers on two characters, the aforementioned outlaw Skinner Sweet, and aspiring actress Pearl Jones, who is left for dead in the desert outside Los Angeles in 1925. Both become vampires not by their own choosing but their transformation separates them from the older, European bloodsuckers. Skinner and Pearl's immunity to sunlight is just one of many differences (I won't spoil the others).
King's introduction gets to the bloody heart of why American Vampire rises above the undead deluge:
"Here's what vampires shouldn't be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and only work at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes.
What should they be?
Killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A. Bad boys and girls. Hunters. In other words, Midnight America. Red, white and blue. Accent on the red."
In summary, I finished this graphic novel and immediately ordered American Vampire Vol. 2. It is a great, gory ride and a welcome antidote to the Twilight plague.
"Just try to keep up."
