Pick of the Week

December 28, 2011 – American Vampire #22

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

451
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.7
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 36.9%
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

As the year 2011 draws to a close it comes down to this: the final Pick of the Week of the year. It’s only fitting that Scott Snyder, he the writer of so many of the Picks of the Week in 2011, will carry us into the new year.

And because it’s late, and I have somewhere to be, and technically I’m on semi-vacation this week, it’s going to be a short one.

So here are the Top Ten Reasons Why American Vampire #22 is the Pick of the Week.

1) American Vampire is Sort of an Anthology

The title of the book pretty much tells the story: it’s about American vampires. So what you’ve got so far is a lot of vampire action taking place across the history of the United States. But dig deeper and you’ve got the story of America itself. Sure, there have been threads of stories and characters that have taken us through different eras — we’ve seen vampires in the 1920s, the Old West, during World War II — but for the most part we’ve seen distinct examinations of specific times and places. And now with American Vampire #22, we’ve got vampire action in the 1950s. And that brings us to…

2) Greaser Vampire Hunters

In this issue we meet Travis Kidd, vampire hunter extraordinaire. Not only is he one bad ass vampire killer with a mad-on for the vampires who killed his loved ones, but he drives a sweet car that has never lost him a drag race, he sports sunglasses, a leather jacket, blue jeans and greasy jet black hair. And he makes the ladies swoon.

3) Scott Snyder

What can be said about Scott Snyder that hasn’t already been said many times before? Between American Vampire, Detective Comics, Batman, and Severed, this has been his year, at least where the iFanboy Pick of the Week has been concerned. I think that the most impressive thing about this title, even over his others, is that he gets to flex his writing muscles a bit and tackle many different eras of history in one book. it must be fun to plan a World War II story for one arc, then a post-Civil War Old West story in the next, followed by a 1950s greaser story. What’s next? There’s no way to know and that’s exciting.

4) It’s a Good Jumping On Point

Come on in, the water’s fine. It’s a new arc with new characters and everything you need to know is right there on the page. If you’ve been curious at all about American Vampire, give this one a go.

5) Rafael Albuquerque

I’m a huge fan of Jordi Bernet and I loved his work on the last arc of American Vampire — the Old West arc, appropriate for the primary-ish Jonah Hex artist — but I was really happy to see Rafael Albuquerque return. This is his book as much as it is Snyder’s and it’s his art that really makes the book sing. Albuquerque’s characters are all made up of hard lines and sharp edges and when they get mad, boy do you know it. His vampires are scary. His angry (or hungry) vampires are terrifying. And it’s all such a joy to behold.

6) Fake Wooden Vampire Teeth

“I like to bite them back.”

7) Dave McCaig

We talk a lot about the great writing and art, but we don’t talk enough about the color and the colorists responsible for them, both of whom are as important to what you’re seeing on the page as anything else. Colorist Dave McCaig does a wonderful job in this issue, making the bright colors of the 1950s — the red cars, the pink sweaters — pop when appropriate, but bringing the mood down to a dark and shadowy place when the fangs come out.

8) There is no number eight.

9) American Vampire is Sort of Not an Anthology

Despite the fact that all of these different story arcs (and miniseries) take place in distinct era throughout American history, and can be picked up and read without any prior knowledge of the characters of the story, there is still enough on-going threads and recurring characters to let long time readers know that there is something bigger at play here. If there was an over-arching story to American Vampire, it’s probably the long fought battle between different vampire factions and the humans who mean to wipe them all out. You can be a new reader and be satisfied with a cool story about vampires, or you can be a long time reader who is satisfied with a cool story about vampires but also gets another piece in the on-going war.

10) The Classic Cliffhanger

Some of the best kind of stories present you a protagonist who seems to be in complete control of his or her life and surroundings and then pulls the rug out form under them and you. In this issue, Travis Kidd seems to be the best at what he does, with a plan for every eventuality. He’s got his intended target right where Travis wants him… until the trunk pops open.

There you have it, the final Pick of the Week of 2011: American Vampire #22.

Conor Kilpatrick
“What you got?”
conor@ifanboy.com

Comments

  1. does scott snyder’s check cover next year’s POTW’s too 😉

    I just got the first couple of trades for x-mas and can’t wait to read em!

  2. Woop! Day-and-date digital. I bought this while at work and it made me ignore no less than ten customers while I read it. Not great from a sales standpoint, but damn it was a good comic! Scott Snyder might be fighting off the scant few other contenders for my favourite writer of the moment.

  3. Oh hell, yeah! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this since it was first solicited. American Vampire + the 1950s? How much better can you get?

    Glad to hear it’s as good as it sounds. And great review, Conor!

  4. It’s a good time to be a horror comic fan.

  5. I see scott snyders check cleared this week I droped this book on issue 20 I was never geting around to reading it I read the first arc and enjoyed it so I kept buying the book and the sean murphy mini I kept saying ill get to it and before I knew it I had a pile of issues that I just put into my to read pile . The book just wasnt for me so I have no problem with the pick im sure its great but my pick was uncanny,xmen 3 gillen is slowly becoming one of my fave writers between this and jim so I loved it. But im sure american vampire was awsome

  6. Darn! I saw this in my local store, and considered buying it, but instead got Secret Avengers(which I hated!!)

  7. Was the absence of 8 sort of a Violent Femmes tribute?

  8. Yes! This was a great issue. Not sure if it will be my pick (still have like 8 more books to go), but it’s certainly a contender.

  9. Travis Kidd is a great new character. Lets hope he survies this arc and goes on to kill many more vampires in the future.

    Love the cover, kinda want it as a poster.

  10. I never checked out American Vampire, but this greaser 50s thing has me interested. Hey Good Lookin’, now there’s one badass animated flick.

  11. i might have to check out this vampire-a-billy comic booking.

    i wonder if its a “new storyline” cause that subheading on the cover wasn’t subtle enough. heh, actually, i kinda think its a brilliant salesmanship move in this day and age. gotta let the people know whats up.

  12. Don’t forget swamp thing! This was one of my favorite issues of American vampire yet. Great stuff

  13. Finally got a chance to ‘sink my teeth’ into American Vampire. This was a jumping on point for me and I was not disappointed.
    This was the only Snyder-based book on the shelves missing from my ‘pull list’. After this issue, that is no longer the case.

    I’m still baffled how one writer can have so many quality story lines in so many different books at one time. Congrats Mr. Snyder!

  14. Happy new year fanboys!

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