Thank God for Stephen King.
Had it not been for my favourite author’s name on the front of the first issue of American Vampire, I might have missed out on one of the absolute best books on the shelves right now. The thing I love most about American Vampire is that, as the title suggests, it’s as much a book about America as it is about vampires. This issue presents part one of the origin story of vampire bad-ass Skinner Sweet, and as such gives Scott Snyder a chance once again to delve into the history of his country. This time we’re back in the old West, so what better artist could we have than Jonah Hex’s Jordi Bernet? Bernet shows exactly why he is a comic art legend in this issue, with flawless storytelling and some splash pages that are totally jaw-dropping. I had to pause for a couple of minutes just to admire the full page shot of Chief Hole in the Sky’s war party perched on the edge of a ravine looking out over their enemies’ camp, and the final page reveal was a ferocious, visceral masterpiece.
This is a book that never fails to deliver, month in and month out. It upholds a standard of quality of writing and artwork that are almost unrivalled right now, and even though Stephen King is long gone from the title, the fact that I don’t even miss him one bit really does speak volumes.