The Top 5 Vampires in Comics & Manga

It was a typically rainy night in Seattle, Washington. The rain came down in a torrential drum roll – ba bum ba bum ba bum ba bum. The city was still save the rain and a few people running down the sidewalk, umbrellas clutched in their white knuckled hands or newspapers shielding their frizzed hair. Suddenly, an outpouring of women spilled from the doors of a lit up building on the corner, windows plastered with posters advertising upcoming movies. The marquee scrolled ahead as the women went their respective ways, laughing and hugging and generally being a good example of merriment.

They all seemed so happy. So happy except for one.

One young lady stood outside the theatre doors in a daze, hugging herself with a mixture of expression between perplexed and terrified. She looked around her with a sneer, and then set off through the downpour, stomping in puddles overzealously.

That woman was me, and the reason I was so irritated is because I had just seen the screening of the new Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. While I’d love to pound some whiskey and go on a rant about how tremendously bad it (and the entire series) was, I’m not going to do that. Rather than spout negativity, I’d prefer to be positive! Then maybe I can get the bad taste of that film out of my mouth…

The utter lack of respect for the rules of vampirism in the Twilight series got me thinking (thinking of anything other than the horrible film that was unfurling in front of me): Comic books have always embraced pop culture monsters and ran with them. Things like zombies, werewolves, ghosts, superhumans, and of course, bloodsucking vampires. They vary from the terrifying to the endearing, but comics definitely have a huge roster of vampiric characters. Here’s my pick for the top five (in no particular order).

 

Blade

Blade could not be even more confused and badass if he tried. A vampire hunter who’s also half vampire, he’s a bit of a tortured soul. His mommy (who was a whore), was eaten by a vampire when Blade was being born, thus giving him his vampiric capabilities. He was trained to be a vampire hunter (and a musician!) but a cool old dude who likes to kill vampires with a silver cane. Most of Blade’s appearances and storylines show vampires as they should be – terrifying bloodsuckers intent on murder. Not perpetual teenage boys who sparkle in the sunlight.

 

 

 

Lord Andrew Bennett from I… Vampire

Though personally I find Lord Andrew Bennett’s lover (Mary, Queen of Blood) much more terrifying and epic because she is a brutal hunter and killer (and also kind of hot!), Lord Andre Bennett is notable on this list because he’s one of the first times I remember reading a vampire comic where the vampire chooses not to hunt in an effort to keep his humanity. He’s a “vegetarian” vampire, only consuming the blood of animals and bottled human blood. He’s also super emo and tries to commit suicide a lot (obviously without much success). His only real purpose is to track down his ex-lover Mary and stop her reign of terror, but he does so with tortured duality and sweet moves.

 

 

Vampire Hunter D

You think I wouldn’t include manga on my list? Psh, you obviously don’t know me that well.

The story in Vampire Hunter D is only only of my favourite vampire stories, but also one of my favourite comics and manga of all time. It is richly textured and planned out, with an immersive storyline that sucks you in. Every little detail has relevance and the art style is absolutely incredible.

That being said, D is yet another vampire/human hybrid vampire hunter, ala Blade. Except unlike Blade he is not a hard ass, he is an elegant and intelligent scientist who is attempting political overthrow in an honest effort to make the world a better place.

Vampire Hunter D is so amazing because it is set very far into the future, in a sort of futuristic Lovecraftian world where humans are not quite humans and Vampires rule the world because they are the most intelligent.

 

30 Days of Night Vamps

I personally feel that the vampires in 30 Days of Night are one of the most compelling and terrifying portrayls of vampires in comics and manga. They are lethal killers who don’t even necessarily feast on the people that they kill, they just destroy for the fun of it. They hunt like a pack of wolves and are intelligent enough to go to Alaska for the endless winter night, slaughtering the entire small town of Barrow. Being from Alaska, this is actually kind of believable. If Vampires wanted to go hunt in the dead of night, Barrow would be the place to go. Although, they may encounter some tough, gun wielding Alaskans…

 

Vampirella

Vampirella – she embodies sex in her tiny little red outfit and with her long black locks. Hot damn.

Vampirella is an alien vampire from a planet where the rivers are made of blood. When her planet suffers a drought, she meets some astronauts and realizes they have blood in their veins so therefore treks to earth. However, she’s a heroine and a “good guy”, and only feeds on willing victims.

I feel a little bit better now. And let me make one thing clear – narrowing my huge list of comics and manga vampires down to five was a pretty daunting task. I’m a huge vampire fan, so this article took me a lot longer than usual.

 

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Molly McIsaac is not exaggerating her disdain for Twilight. In fact, she ranted about it on her Twitter!