New 52 Review – “I, Vampire #1”

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:

  1. Action Comics
  2. All-Star Western
  3. Animal Man
  4. Aquaman
  5. Batgirl
  6. Batman
  7. Batman and Robin
  8. Batman: The Dark Knight
  9. Batwing
  10. Batwoman
  11. Birds of Prey
  12. Blackhawks
  13. Blue Beetle
  14. Captain Atom
  15. Catwoman
  16. DC Universe Presents
  17. Deathstroke
  18. Demon Knights
  19. Detective Comics
  20. The Flash
  21. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
  22. The Fury of Firestorm
  23. Green Arrow
  24. Green Lantern
  25. Green Lantern Corps
  26. Green Lantern: New Guardians
  27. Grifter
  28. Hawk and Dove
  29. I, Vampire
  30. Justice League
  31. Justice League Dark
  32. Justice League International
  33. Legion Lost
  34. Legion of Super-Heroes
  35. Men of War
  36. Mister Terrific
  37. Nightwing
  38. O.M.A.C.
  39. Red Hood and the Outlaws
  40. Red Lanterns
  41. Resurrection Man
  42. The Savage Hawkman
  43. Static Shock
  44. Stormwatch
  45. Suicide Squad
  46. Superboy
  47. Supergirl
  48. Superman
  49. Swamp Thing
  50. Teen Titans
  51. Voodoo
  52. Wonder Woman

3 replies on “New 52 Review – “I, Vampire #1””

    • 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.

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