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Hello there fellow comic book readers! For today’s reviews, we have another title from the DC New 52, I, Vampire #1. We have Joshua Hale Fialkov (writer of Echoes and The Cleaners) on writing duties and Andrea Sorrentino (artist of God of War comic, and X-File comic) on art.
The story starts out with the setup of our two main characters of the story, we have Andrew, a Vampire who is over 400 years old, and we have Mary, Andrew’s old love and the Vampire he sired (turned into Vampire). We are also presented with the concept of the series, two lovers on separate sides of the spectrum, Andrew is the hero who sides with humans and Mary is our Vampire that believes that humans are only good for food. Andrew has decided his stand is with humanity so he is on a quest to kill the Vampires that prey on the humans. But Mary has become the queen of Vampires, and her goal is to put Vampires at the top of the food chain and get rid of anyone that gets in her way, including Andrew.
Joshua is pretty new writer for me, but I reviewed his other book (The Monkey King) and liked how much setup that he was able to do in the span of one issue, not many comics can do that, so it was a nice bang for your buck kinda thing. I thought that the book was a nice setup for a new part of the DCU, the supernatural side of the universe where Vampires are rising up in status. But also, this book didn’t become clichéd along with the whole Vampire craze that is happening in pop culture. Rather it is a story that is building its own world, and also developing a tale for a good dark and unique Vampire drama. Another aspect that I am feeling with the characters which is making me love them is how the main characters and environment kinda give off a nice Joss Whedon’s Angel feel, and I am a sucker for the tortured soul characterization that Andrew gives off for all his regrettable actions.
Andrea Sorrentino is an artist that I also don’t really know but I’m really loving him on this book, his linework is fantastic. They are heavy on the shadows and lines being very expressive, great for faces and poses. Andrea’s art style is a perfect fit along with Marcelo Maido (colorist), who’s earth tone and shades of gray palette, helps establish the dark and gloomy nature of this Vampire story.
I’ve never really gotten into any Vampire based comics, but I definitely jump on board this dark twisted tale of love and Vampire. This is not your kinda Twilight rip off, but more like an interesting take on Vampires with the feel of the Angel TV series characterization. So check this title out if you are hungering for a different take on Vampires. Have Fun Reading.
