Like the rest of the world I’m suffering from vampire fatigue. Nonetheless, I decided to pick American Vampire up anyway.  I was a casual fan of Rafael Albuquerques’ art, but team him up with horror master Stephen King and I’m in.

The best surprise of this book thus far is Scott Snyder, who created the book and brought Steve along for the ride.  I have never heard of him before, but now I will make sure to be on the lookout for what he does next, because goddamn this book is good.  With all the different angles and cliches to deal with in setting up a new vampire saga, Snyder and King have done something that hasn’t happened in a while and that’s make a vampire tale that’s fresh.  In this issue, you learn a little more about the rules of being a vampire in this universe, and what makes Pearl and Skinner different from the other vampires.  Without spoiling anything, I enjoyed the subtle twists on the usual vampire weaknesses and strengths.  This is a very well written book.

Of course I’d be a douche if I didn’t bring up Rafael Albuquerque and his contribution, which is stunning.  There are panels from each story where you can tell that it’s the same guy drawing them both, but not very many.  Although I prefer Pearl’s storyline for setting up many of the rules of the vamps, the art in the Skinner story is slightly better in my book.  It has a grittiness that goes well with the western setting of the story, contrasted to the cleaner lines of the Hollywood story. 

Any way you slice it, this book is worth every penny.  It’s one of the only 3.99 books around that I feel like justifies its price, and I would advise anyone who enjoys good comics to pick it up and check it out.