American Vampire Vol. 1

If you are tried of pretty, seductive vampires and enjoy graphic novels, then you need to try this book.

There is a new kind of vampire rising in the American West and things the kill the old ones don't seem to have any effect on the new ones.

Sunlight turning vampires into ash? While these new vampires still can't tan, sunlight doesn't seem to be a problem.

That's only a hint at the changes in the new vampires.

This book is a mix of two stories. The year 1880 and 1925. The story of Skinner Sweet and that of Pearl. Pearl is a movie extra in 1925 and Skinner Sweet is an outlaw in 1880.

Skinner... is just not a guy you like but he isn't really the bad of the bad guys in this book, that would be the old European vampires. Pearl is the real star of this book so sometimes it was hard to read through the 1880 sections when I just wanted to find out what was happening with Pearl. Pearl you grew to like and Skinner just gets weirder and scarier.

The artwork in this graphic novel is vivid and captures both the characters and the feel perfectly (or maybe it creates the feel...either way, I enjoyed it). The vampires weren't beautiful and seductive...well I guess Pearl could be considered beautiful but when they are ready to bite, no one is pretty. I liked how it wasn't the typical romance vampires but the ones that horror books show.

I enjoyed Pearl's story line and I'm interested to see where it goes. While I enjoyed Skinner's storyline it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as Pearl's was.

I found American Vampire to be a good graphic novel and gave it 4 Stars.

I really enjoyed this comic from Scott Snyder and Stephen King. I’ve never been much of a comic book/graphic novel reader, but since I received it as a gift, I decided to check it out. I thought they both did an excellent job working in tandem. Skinner Sweet is definitely an interesting character that you like at times and despise at others. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I’ll root for him. As for the comic itself, it has good rhythm, is very graphic and dark, and overall, is very captivating. I would not recommend this comic for younger readers as there is a lot of graphic material and even some nudity, but any fans of comic books would surely love it.

T.S. Charles
Author of young adult book, "Consumed." Available on the store.

This book has some good ideas, but the whole thing is muddied with sloppy writing and poor, overly-inked art. The story is supposed to be told across multiple time periods, with multiple generations of families, in some cases. The art is nowhere even close to being up to that task; I found myself puzzling over which poorly-drawn face belonged to which badly-sketched character in every scene.

The art is bad enough that the story gets lost, which is a huge shame. The story at its heart is a basic rip-em-up tale of revenge. What could make it interesting is the various forces at play: European blueblood vampires, old West American bad guys, working women, and movie moguls. Even in the introduction, Stephen King waxes poetic about his attempt to re-create the tired vampire myth. He sneers - and rightly so, in my opinion - at the plethora of sparly tweens, noir detectives, and mopey emo people. He wants to bring vampires back to being monstrous, and the cast of varied characters should help create a thriving backdrop for his grisly tale.

However, as each crudely-drawn scene unfolds, it does so with startling blandness and regularity. Bad men group up, have a dialog (in which every character's name is spoken again so that you can tell who is who amongst the muddy art), and then a fight breaks out.

This is not a good story, and I can't recommend it.

I am shocked to see how well this was reviewed here. The shoddy art, coupled with a repetitive story, makes for thoroughly uninteresting reading. I give two stars for the overall concept - I like the idea of following something with a very long life as they react to the events of American history.

There are two stories, told simultaneously in American Vampire. The first, Snyder's part of the novel, is the story of Pearl trying to make her way in Hollywood during the 1920's. Pearl falls victim to a vampire attack and a strange man vampire, Skinner Sweet, helps her out. Sort of. Pearl seeks revenge, thanks to Sweet's gift, and the reader watches her go from lovely, gentle flapper one moment to disgustingly grotesque and violent the next--and cheers for her the whole way.

The story that begins with the second chapter is written by Stephen King, and is Skinner Sweet's back story, taking place some forty years early in the Wild West. Through it, the reader finds out how and why Sweet became a vampire, and what is motivating him--and what makes an American Vampire different from the European vampires. As is to be expected, a hard new country like the United States creates a hard new kind of vampire. In addition, he writes an excellent introduction, validating the graphic novel as a medium. A very good read for those not convinced that it is a legitimate literary medium.

The stories are told alternating, first a chapter about Pearl, then a chapter about Sweet, so that they finish up together in the last two chapters. It may sound awkward, but the back-and-forth flow was actually excellent, with a certain amount of parallels between the two stories. Both Snyder and King write a good story, with solid characters, riveting plot lines and some terrifying instances.

Albuquereque brings it all to life with his drawings, full of bold lines and brilliant colors and lots of scary bits and gore. His vampires are frightening and horrible and they do unspeakable (but not undrawable) things to their victims. As the reader takes in the background, and sees the horror of the scenes, at times it's enough to turn the stomach. On the other hand, his ladies are very lovely, he drew some strong heroes and used some very effective, unusual angles and compositions. As for Skinner Sweet. . . well, darn it, despite King's introduction all about how American Vampire reclaims the evil vampire from the sexy mold it's been placed in of late, Albuquereque draws Sweet as rather desirable. Even seeing Sweet at his worst, I could turn the page and see him turn on the charm and forget just how evil he really was--and then be whammed again by his horrible actions. I think that was the artist's intent: another way to show just how dangerous these American vampires are.

The collaboration between these three was wonderful and produced a story both haunting and satisfying. American Vampire does reclaim the vampire from it's present fictional state, and successfully gives it new blood with this new American breed. I look forward to following Sweet's further adventures in American history, with pleasant trepidation because I expect the story will be creepy and icky but sensational, just like this volume.

There are bloodthirsty killers and blood-drained dead aplenty in the hardcover edition of American Vampire from Vertigo. It collects the first 5 issues of vibrantly colored panel-stretching art from Rafael Albuquerque and colorist Dave McCaig, detailing the two side by side stories that tell the death and times of the American-made vampire, Skinner Sweet. Cover art, sample script pages, and a foreward by King and afterword by Snyder are also included.

I was surprised to see how concise Scott Snyder and Stephen King's script pages are. Comprised mostly of dialog, they leave ample room for Alburquerque's interpretive embellishments with visual characterization to imbue emotional energy into each panel. Snyder's story begins in 1925 Los Angeles where Pearl and Hattie, two yearning-for-stardom actors in Hollywood, become intimately acquainted with the blood-thirsty--thirstier than usual, anyway--movie moguls running the studio. Stephen King's story begins in the 1800s to tell how Sweet's taste for sweet candy turns to the sour-sweet taste for warm blood.

King's writing stands out for its cussing, brutal killings as Sweet takes revenge on lawman Jim Book, and for narrator Will Bunting, a newsman who was there at the time. Bunting wrote a dime novel about it called Bad Blood. We meet him when he's promoting the reprinting of his book at the Sagebrush Bookstore. Three people are in attendance--two are awake--as he recounts the truth behind his "fictional" tale.

Old World European vampires running the rails, tired of Sweet's train robberies, run afoul of Sweet's ill-temperament and newly- acquired abilities, which include walking in sunlight, long razor sharp claws with the strength to wield them, and an expanding jaw with pointy fangs. Compared to the Euro-vamps, Sweet is a wolf to their sheep.

And he knows it.

Between the Wild West and the Roaring Twenties, Sweet does turn sweeter. Or so it seems. He helps Pearl deal with the Old World European vampires running the studio and then mosy's on his way. Hints to his main weakness and unfinished business he's hankering to tidy up are left with us to roll our own on until we meet up with him again along Snyder and King's revitalizing vampire series trail.

I've got dibs on Brad Pitt playing Sweet in the big screen version.

Sweet is Alive and Thirsty!

American Vampire

I picked up this first volume for several reasons. Stephen King and Scott Snyder! King as anyone knows has written many mystery and horror novels, 50 plus. Snyder has written several takes on Lex Luthor, Batman and Superman. Before that, he wrote the American Vampire series.

This volume one is a compilation of the DC Comics series, issues 1-5.

It's a good time to be alive in the American West. The European vampires are slowly taking over, wanting money as well as blood. The most dastardly is a vampire gang run by Old Man Percy. They prey on young girls but one of them got infected and lived. And so did Sweet, a robber and thief. They both became American vampires.

Fascinating premise and somewhat different that the current vampire craze. Rather than sparkle, they can walk in the sun but are at their weakest during a new moon and at that time can be killed. They can see their reflections in a mirror but it's distorted. Crucifixes and stakes are old hat to these guys, as few as they are.

I cannot help but root for Sweet - he's a bad guy for sure but he is also a man who has carried out a decades-long revenge on the men who killed him originally. One of these is Jim Book.

The feud between them is really fun to read. The panels full of blood and death but done tastefully. Still, not for kids.

The novel's running narrative is by a guy who wrote "Bad Blood", a novel that talked of what happened that day when Sweet became an Am

The feud between them is really fun to read. The panels full of blood and death but done tastefully. Still, not for kids.

The novel's running narrative is by a guy who wrote "Bad Blood", a novel that talked of what happened that day when Sweet became an American vampire.

Bottom Line: Scott Snyder writes fast and develops his characters well. Stephen King, especially in "Suck on This!" is a master of his craft. Art by Rafael Albuquerque is done in a penciled, old-fashioned style that is attractive and during the death scenes, horrific. A nice piece of entertainment. Recommended.

This is a book of sheer terror. The artwork brings to life the nightmares that are The American Vampire. I got startled by the imagery quite a few times. The artwork is phenomenal. The storyline is chilling. It grabs you by the guts and sinks you into the fantastical world of vampires. If you are a fan of Stephen King and horror, please give this work a chance!

A comic book of this quality is a treasure anyone should have in their libraries. I am speaking of the beauty of the pictures and colors. The story itself is probably less creative than it pretends. But let's look at it.

The vampire of the twenty-first century will be able to walk in the daytime and under the sun and it will be totally normal as for his own life even if he or she has to supplement his or her diet with some human blood.

The man who initiated this new line of vampires is Skinner Sweet, a bank robber turned vampire by an old fashioned one as a sort of punishment since the old fashioned one is a banker, and Sweet is buried deep under millions of cubic meters of water. But some curious people decide to dive deep under that water to bring the body back and they bring the vampire back. Good morning America.

He is violent and ruthless. Fine. All vampires are supposed to be that. He gives his vampiristic tendency to another man James Eldred Book, a lawyer, but this one is ashamed of it and he wants his girl friend to kill him. She accepts provided he gives her a child, and that will be a daughter. Sad end for the man, sad beginning for the daughter, sad life for the mother. Sadder than that you die.

The story ends with the mother and the daughter (of a vampire father, is she a vampire too?) watching Skinner Sweet after his second resurrection. He had been buried in a mine by the woman, Pearl Jones, as a vengeance for what he had done to Jim Book. But some adventurous dummies decide to get him out, which has the effect of reviving him and he snacks on the fresh meat of these rescuers.

The story spreads from 1880 to today, or at least a more recent period, via the 1920s. The traditional vampires are the tycoons who are building the railroads across America and their friends the bankers. I find the metaphors of the vampiristic capitalists slightly easy and particularly worn out, but we have to make do with it. That does not add any depth to the story. Count Dracula was a heroic champion of the fight against the Ottomans. To make vampires simple industrial entrepreneurs, that is passé, unjust and unfair with history and even the vampire myth itself. That cannot compete with Anne Rice's gentle vampires. That cannot compete with the sweet teenage vampires of a TV series dedicated to the night. And that will not even cast a shadow of shade on the monstrous vampires of Supernatural. Vampires are outcast and have to remain such, living on humanity as parasites and not as entrepreneurs building the future of humanity.

But, as I said at the beginning the colors and the pictures are marvellous and the dynamic drawing explodes on every single page or nearly, though it keeps within a single page frame. A book you have to have read.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

I have been reading quite a few graphic novels lately, in the last month I've read more than I have in my entire life. I've been going crazy. This one is my favorite so far. The story telling is excellent the art is really well done, though it took me a while to get used to. I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. The American vampire drawn reminds me so much of an anime I've seen, Claymore: The Complete Series [Blu-ray], but when the vamp first popped up that's the first thing I thought of. So according to Stephen King's intro this was the first comic he's written and it's been a long time since I've read any of his books. I thought his story flowed really well with Zack Snyder's story line. King gave the back story to the first American vamp, Skinner Sweet and Snyder wrote the story of our cover lady, Pearl, as she discovers Vamps and her story which crosses paths with Mr. Sweet. King went out of his way in the intro to diss Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and the wussey vamps of the young adult genre that would rather brood and sparkle. His goal was to make vamps what they're meant to be, scary bad asses that will give your children nightmares. Ok, it's not that scary, but it's a far cry from the Cullens these vamps are all about killing, power and revenge.

I have always been a Bram Stoker / Bela Lugosi vampire fan. The Twilight series is an unfortunate, pathetic scar on vampire lore. The American Vampire though, well it rights all wrongs and deepens vampire lore to a point I am so happy now exists. Scott Snyder has made vampires bite again. It is a violent, gory, predatory story that begins in the rough past of the west. I don't think there could possibly be a better starting point for the American Vamp. This comic book is brilliant for so many reasons. The back stabbing survival instincts found in the humans in this story is fitting and the coldness of the vampires is the perfect counterpoint. I fell in love with Mr. Snyder and Mr. Albuquerque's story. I can't thank them enough for bringing Skinner Sweet and the American Vampire to life, or afterlife.

This comic had so much potential. The writers are great. One of the artists is great. The concept is awesome.

The execution is just...okay.

First, the writing. It's hard to the writing in this book. It just seems off. For one, not a lot of the details in this make a ton of sense, historically speaking. The way the characters talk, the way they interact, and even some of the background art (this is a writing issue, as the writers usually tell the artists what to draw) is way out of the time period it's set in. Most of the time, it just seems like the people of today talking to each other and doing the kind of stuff people do today. And as for the art, there are a lot of things, like in the second issue, where there seems to be a selfie of two girls with big old smiles on their faces. I don't think this was a stylistic choice, either. Otherwise, why set the story up in these time periods? The stories themselves are not really dependent on the setting or time period. They are set in these time periods just to make it more interesting. I'm not saying that they should be super historically accurate, because that's no fun, but the way the book continually takes a proverbial dump all over the reader's suspension of belief is annoying.

The art of the issues written by Stephen King was great. However, the other art is just ugly in my opinion. Normally I like Rafael Albuquerque's art. But this looks hastily done. It's muddy and there's not much style in it. Also, the color palette is odd and too bright for the tone of the book.

My final and largest gripe with the book also pertains to writing but I saved this one for last because I felt like this one should go at the end. This book is really hard to read sometimes. There are weird transitions and a lot of times I thought I was missing pages because everything changed so abruptly. Nope, I checked, no pages missing. Another reason it's hard to read is the dialogue is confusing sometimes. They characters toss out names and most of the time, the characters weren't introduced beforehand so you don't know who's who. And the narration, jeez. Someone would start narrating when they hadn't been narrating before (this happened twice) and you're just supposed to, I don't know, figure it out as you go along I guess? But considering the narrators are part of the story, it's important to know who they are while they're talking. All of these issues alone would be fine, but put together, they make the book seem like a confusing mess a lot of the time.

Don't get me wrong, I still liked the book. There were cool characters and enjoyable scenes, and overall a good story. But there is almost as much bad as there is good, so 3/5 it is.

Vampires in the old west. Vampires in 1920s Hollywood. What more could a guy want? There are no sissy sparkly, sharing your emotions vampires in this graphic novel. No bad southern accent vampires either. If you want a great vampire story I say buy it and read it. If you like sparkly, whining vampires, don't. Snyder and King both did great jobs with their stories. The artwork reminded me of older generation of comics from when I was a kid. Now I just need to buy volume two.

Buy it or Skinner Sweet will suck you dry!

I finally read the first two volumes of American Vampire recently. This is certainly destined to become one of those classics that comics fans - and, I hope, horror fans - talk about for years to come. This first volume, which features a really interesting parallel storytelling technique split between the two writers, is a comics masterpiece. Both writers are bringing great characters to life in very interesting ways, and the art is simply perfect from beginning to end. Beautiful, entertaining work, and highly recommended!

Finally, a proper vampire story! None of those ridiculous sparkling vampires, or gooey-eyed love-lorn vampires...scary, evil vampires! This volume mixes the old west and mob-esque themes in with the horror that is Vampire. I loved it and really enjoyed the story. I look forward to reading more and seeing who the new victims are.

Scott Snyder and Stephen King work together perfectly. Of course, this is Scott Snyder's baby, but Stephen King adds a hell of a lot to the work as well. The pairing of the two separate but tightly connected storylines serves the main characters well, and really helps to flesh out this otherwise wide-ranging story. Highly recommended. I'll be picking up Volume 2 myself very soon.

Are you sick of humorous vampire policemen? Have you had enough of romantic vampires with Southern accents? If your answer is a whole-hearted "yes", then American Vampire is for you. American Vampire is about bad guy vampires, plain and simple. And revenge.
American Vampire is brought to us from the folks at Vertigo, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, and written by Scott Snyder and some guy named Stephen King.
A.V. is filled with great visuals and dialogue from the Old West and the 1920s.
The story is told in two parts. One is the origin story, written by King, of Kid Rock lookalike Skinner Sweet, a no-good, dirty, rotten bank robber with a sweet tooth who crosses an evil vampire banker and is killed and buried after a bit of vampire blood is mixed with his own. The town is even flooded by a dam just to make sure he stays buried. What fun would that be, though? Of course Sweet rises from his watery grave as one badass day-walking vampire, more powerful in the sun than the night-walkers who came before him, and, therefore, a threat to all the other vampires.
The other half of the story, written by Scott Snyder, is the story of Pearl Jones, a hard working Hollywoodland starlet wannabe who is tricked into becoming dinner for a group of vampires led by a powerful movie producer. Pearl is saved from death, however, by Sweet, still alive and well after all of these years. Oh my God, however, this is the part where the vampire and the girl would fall in love and buy a house in most stories, but not here. Skinner Sweet turns little Pearl into a day-walker like him and walks away, leaving her to exact her own revenge. He also leaves her a snack: the famous actor who gave her to the vampires in the first place.
American Vampire is not a romance story in the least but instead is full of action, drama, and horror. And blood, big teeth, and razor sharp talons. Skinner Sweet is not the vampire you'd want to have a romance with or have consoling talks with. He's a cold blooded killer...the way a vampire should be. There is a love story told here, however, between Pearl and some guy with a forgettable name but the romance is not heavy handed and full of beautiful, sweet, loving dialogue. The guy, a former marine, even helps Pearl bring down the vamps who fed on her, even the one who said she tasted like vanilla and berries. After she ripped into his throat she said he tasted like something much worse.
At its core, American Vampire is a horror-ific tale of revenge for Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones and they take revenge as only American Vampires could.
If you're looking for a great vampire read without all the romance, go to the graphic novel section of your favorite bookstore or website and get this book. The story is amazing and the visuals are top notch. I only wish to Hek that one day I get a chance to collaborate with any of these talented individuals.

Robert Ford knows a lot about wishes as he is the author of the wishes with an evil twist series, The World of Hek, Book One: Forever and Christlike. Both are available wherever fine books are sold and available for your Kindle or Nook at a new, lower price.

Six words which will make you want to read this: "Original Stephen King comic. With VAMPIRES."

In actuality, this is a two-part comic -- one part is by King, while the other is by a guy I had never heard of named Scott Snyder. But both halves of "American Vampire Volume 1" are united by a common theme -- vintage Americana is mingled with some gruesome, bloodthirsty vampires, in the 1920s and the Wild West. And it is AWESOME.

Snyder follows a young starlet named Pearl, who is invited to a party thrown by a film producer. The next day, she is found covered in bites in the desert and dying of blood loss. But then she wakes up to find vampiric cowboy Skinner Sweet next to her, and he informs her that she's now a vampire.

But she's not the same kind of vampire as the ones who attacked her -- like him, she's a newly evolved "American vampire" with claws, monstrous teeth and immunity to the sun. Now Pearl is out for revenge against the "old-style" vampires who killed her -- and along with her new love interest Henry, she's got some bloody revenge, treachery and a brewing war to deal with.

King's story goes further back in time to the late 1800s, and shows us the original "American Vampire" -- the infamous Skinner Sweet, an outlaw who runs afoul of a vampire in the desert. When a flood washes out the town where he's buried, the newly undead Sweet returns to the world... and he's more dangerous than ever before.

"American Vampire" is a pretty unique kind of comic book -- two brilliant writers (one famous and one unknown) writing two intertwined story arcs about vampires from long ago. Even better, both King and Snyder manage to do something unique and special with the vampire mythos that doesn't involve pale, wangsty aristocrats.

And while the stories are closely connected, King and Snyder have very distinct styles. King's is faster, brasher and earthier, adding sudden splatters of horror to a seemingly simple Wild West story. Snyder's is a slower, more refined story that suddenly bursts into a bloody revenge tale. And there's a clever undercurrent to his story -- predatory Hollywood bloodsuckers as REAL bloodsuckers? Not bad.

Snyder also has a knack for creating likable characters -- Pearl is a thoroughly likable protagonist, a strong young lady who has to make the best of being transformed into a bloodsucker. King's characters are less endearing, but no less vibrant -- his depiction of Skinner is of a ruthless, grinning cowboy covered in dust and stubble ("I want candy!").

And Rafael Albuquerque is well suited to both stories -- he relies heavily on shadows, black profiles and dark figures, but also suffuses the daytime parts with strong desert light. He also does some brilliant things with color -- our first glimpse of the vampires takes place in a room filled with bloody background, and the train battles take place against a slow-burning sky that fades into the color of flames.

"American Vampire 1" is an excellent start to a promising new series -- and Snyder and King are quite a formidable storytelling team. Vibrant, creepy and wonderfully bloody.

Great writing, great art style. The writing is great, the art style is great, I love the use of flash backs as well. The pacing is very well done as well. No complaints, only praise! I will definitely be buying Vol 2 and pre-ordering Vol. 3.

My wife and I had been searching for vampire comic that we could both enjoy...and now we are both addicted to this series. The story is original, it has western action for me and the vampire aspect appeals to my wife. Just a good story with really good characters. If you are a couple who is looking for a comic to enjoy together, try this one out.