A vampire horror series is part of the relaunch as well. Like the cliche says, do not judge a book by its teen angsty romance cover.
General Information
Title: I, Vampire #1
Author: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Illustrator(s): Andrea Sorrentino (artist) and Marcelo Maiolo (colours)
Cover Date: November 2011
Cover Price: $2.99
Buy the digital edition.
Premise
Andrew, a vampire, has spent four hundred years trying to prevent his vampire wife from taking over the world. Now she has a new approach and a new plan, sparked by other events in the world.
High Point
Though I have yet to read “Voodoo,” “Blackhawks” or “All-Star Western,” so far this title seems to be the most successful title in creating a diversified line for DC. Even more importantly, these vampires most definitely do not sparkle!
Low Point
Some variety in colour would be nice.
The Scores
This feels very original. This is not like any other title I’ve seen in mainstream continuity from the Big Two. I give it 6 out of 6.
The artwork is great as far as pencils and inks are concerned. It’s not until entire pages are coloured with different shades of the same hue that it starts to fail. One era is very, very brown, while the other era is very, very blue. I give it 4 out of 6.
The story is off to a clear start. This is clearly about to explode into outright supernatural war. I give it 5 out of 6.
The characterization is the core of the drama. Armies aside, this is about Andrew and Mary and what they’ve lost. I give it 5 out of 6.
The emotional response was good. Granted, I came in with very low expectations on the order of “Twilight” and ended up with something closer to “The Walking Dead.” I give it 4 out of 6.
The flow is odd. There are no captions to guide one through the time changes, which is why the colours are so extreme. Colour is the only real queue. While that worked well in Memento, movies are a fundamentally different medium. I didn’t find things worked as well here. I give it 3 out of 6.
Overall, this was a pleasant surprise. It’s not the type of title I’m looking to collect right now, but if “Walking Dead” alone isn’t enough to satisfy your craving for a post-apocalyptic monster apocalypse, give this title serious consideration. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, I, Vampire #1 receives 31 out of 42.
The New 52
Here are handy links for the reviews of all 52 new #1 issues:
- Action Comics
- All-Star Western
- Animal Man
- Aquaman
- Batgirl
- Batman
- Batman and Robin
- Batman: The Dark Knight
- Batwing
- Batwoman
- Birds of Prey
- Blackhawks
- Blue Beetle
- Captain Atom
- Catwoman
- DC Universe Presents
- Deathstroke
- Demon Knights
- Detective Comics
- The Flash
- Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
- The Fury of Firestorm
- Green Arrow
- Green Lantern
- Green Lantern Corps
- Green Lantern: New Guardians
- Grifter
- Hawk and Dove
- I, Vampire
- Justice League
- Justice League Dark
- Justice League International
- Legion Lost
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Men of War
- Mister Terrific
- Nightwing
- O.M.A.C.
- Red Hood and the Outlaws
- Red Lanterns
- Resurrection Man
- The Savage Hawkman
- Static Shock
- Stormwatch
- Suicide Squad
- Superboy
- Supergirl
- Superman
- Swamp Thing
- Teen Titans
- Voodoo
- Wonder Woman
I haven’t seen this title, but it sounds a little like Marvel’s Dracula series from the 70s.
I’ve read about 3/4 of Marvel’s 70s Dracula in Essential format. (The entire series hit in four volumes, and I’ve read three.) This has a completely different tone. At no point was I reminded of that series. It feels more like “Walking Dead” to me than anything else.
Isn’t there a book by this name?