American Vampire

Summary

American Vampire is an American comic book series created by writer Scott Snyder[1] and drawn by artist Rafael Albuquerque. It was published by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint. American Vampire continued under the newly-created DC Black Label imprint after Vertigo was closed in January 2020.[2] The series imagines vampires as a population made up of many different secret species, and charts moments of vampire evolution and inter-species conflict throughout history. The focus of the series is a new American bloodline of vampires, born in the American West in the late 19th century. The first of this new species is a notorious outlaw named Skinner Sweet, who wakes from death, after being infected, to find he has become a new kind of vampire, something stronger and faster than what came before, impervious to sunlight, with a new set of strengths and weaknesses. The series goes on to track his movements through various decades of American history—along with the movements of his first and only known progeny: Pearl Jones, a young woman working as a struggling actress in the 1920s silent film industry when she is attacked by a coven of European vampires hiding in Hollywood. Sweet saves her (uncharacteristically) by giving her his blood, thereby turning her into an American vampire like him, at which point she seeks revenge on the classic vampires who attacked her in life. The complicated and charged relationship Jones has with Sweet is another focus of the series. The first five issues featured two stories—one by Snyder and the other by Stephen King, both drawn by Rafael Albuquerque.[3][4] With the sixth issue, Scott Snyder took over as sole writer.[5] The original series ran from 2010–2013 and lasted 34 issues. A second series called American Vampire: Second Cycle ran from 2014–2015 and lasted 11 issues and the third and final series called American Vampire: 1976 ran from December 2020 – October 2021 and lasted 10 issues.

American Vampire
Cover of American Vampire #1
Publication information
PublisherVertigo (DC Comics)
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
GenreGothic Western, Weird West
Publication dateMarch 2010
No. of issues34 (First Cycle)
11 (Second Cycle)
10 (1976)
Also 13 issues in mini-series, one-shots, and anthologies
Main character(s)Pearl Jones
Skinner Sweet
Creative team
Created byScott Snyder
Rafael Albuquerque
Written byScott Snyder
Stephen King (#1–5)
Artist(s)Rafael Albuquerque
Mateus Santolouco
Colorist(s)Dave McCaig
Collected editions
HardcoverISBN 978-1-4012-2830-9

American Vampire spun off two mini-series. The first, "Survival of the Fittest", illustrated by Sean Murphy focuses on the cases files of the V.M.S., the vampire hunting organization of the series. The second, "Lord of Nightmares", illustrated by Dustin Nguyen further focuses on the mythology presented by "Survival of the Fittest". A one shot co-written by Snyder and Albuquerque (who also illustrates the 64-page issue), entitled "Long Road to Hell" which features vampire hunter Travis Kidd, was released in June 2013. Two American Vampire anthologies have also been released, the first in 2013 and the second in 2016.

Plot edit

The series explores notions of vampire evolution and traces the bloodline of a new kind of vampire,[6] an American species, with new powers and characteristics, through various decades of American history.[7]

The first story arc (issues #1–5) features two story arcs. The first takes place in 1925 from the point of view of an aspiring actress in L.A. who becomes the second American Vampire and works to get her revenge on those who turned her. The second is of a writer at a book conference due to the reediting of his book, Bad Blood. Here, the author claims that his work – which has been long considered a fictional western/terror story – is actually based on true events which he has either witnessed or has collected reliable information on.

Publication history edit

This series publication began on March 17, 2010,[8][9] with the release of American Vampire #1. This is the first comic which features original Stephen King scripting who was contracted to the initial five issues.

Issues edit

First Cycle edit

Issue Date Arc Story Art Color Cover
#1 March 17, 2010 Big Break Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Jim Lee (variant)
Bad Blood Stephen King
#2 April 21, 2010 Morning Star Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
Bernie Wrightson & Dave McCaig (variant)
Deep Water Stephen King
#3 May 19, 2010 Rough Cut Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson (variant)
Blood Vengeance Stephen King
#4 June 23, 2010 Double Exposure Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
J.H. Williams III (variant)
One Drop of Blood Stephen King
#5 July 28, 2010 Curtain Call Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
Paul Pope (variant)
If Thy Right Hand Offend Thee, Cut It Off Stephen King
#6 September 9, 2010 The Devil in the Sand Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Rafael Grampá (variant)
#7 October 6, 2010 Rafael Albuquerque
#8 November 10, 2010
#9 December 2, 2010 Rafael Albuquerque
Mateus Santolouco
#10 December 22, 2010 The Way Out Mateus Santolouco Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#11 January 26, 2011
#12 February 23, 2011 Strange Frontier Danijel Zezelj Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#13 March 30, 2011 Ghost War Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Sean Gordon Murphy (variant)
#14 April 27, 2011 Rafael Albuquerque
#15 May 25, 2011
#16 June 29, 2011
#17 July 27, 2011
#18 August 24, 2011
#19 September 28, 2011 The Beast in the Cave Jordi Bernet Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#20 November 2, 2011
#21 December 14, 2011
#22 December 28, 2011 Death Race Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#23 January 25, 2012
#24 February 22, 2012
#25 March 28, 2012
#26 April 25, 2012 The Nocturnes Roger Cruz Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#27 May 30, 2012 Riccardo Burchielli
#28 June 27, 2012 The Blacklist Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Greg Capullo & Fco Plascencia (variant)
#29 July 25, 2012 Rafael Albuquerque
Dave Johnson (variant)
#30 August 29, 2012 Rafael Albuquerque
Francesco Francavilla (variant)
#31 September 26, 2012 Rafael Albuquerque
Jock (variant)
#32 October 31, 2012 Rafael Albuquerque
Dustin Nguyen (variant)
#33 November 28, 2012 Rafael Albuquerque
#34 January 2, 2013 The Gray Trader Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque

Second Cycle edit

Issue Date Arc Story Art Color Cover
#1 March 19, 2014 Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Jae Lee (variant)
#2 April 16, 2014 Rafael Albuquerque
#3 May 21, 2014
#4 July 9, 2014
#5 October 1, 2014 The Miner's Journal Matias Bergara Rafael Albuquerque
#6 February 4, 2015 Dark Moon Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
#7 April 15, 2015
#8 July 1, 2015
#9 August 5, 2015
#10 September 30, 2015
#11 November 25, 2015
1976 edit
Issue Date Arc Story Art Color Cover
#1 October 6th, 2020 Don't look behind you! Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Dustin Nguyen (variant)
#2 November 10th, 2020 The Stuff of Legends Rafael Albuquerque
Francesco Francavilla (variant)
#3 December 8th, 2020 Beneath the Greenhouse... Rafael Albuquerque
Mirka Andolfo (variant)
#4 January 12th, 2021 Beneath the Greenhouse... Rafael Albuquerque
Mirka Andolfo (variant)
#5 February 9th, 2021 The Big Lie Rafael Albuquerque
Tula Lotay (variant)
#6 March 9th, 2021 Fire and Flame Rafael Albuquerque
Jorge Fornés (variant)
#7 April 13th, 2021 Interlude "Family Trees" Tula Lotay (Root)
Francesco Francavilla (Trunk)
Ricardo López Ortiz (Limb)
Tula Lotay (Root)
Francesco Francavilla(Trunk)
Dave McCaig (Limb)
Rafael Albuquerque
Dani (variant)
#8 May 11th,2021 Death Mask Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
#9 June 8th, 2021 Farewell Rafael Albuquerque
Jorge Fornés (variant)
#10 August 3rd, 2021 Rafael Albuquerque
Mateus Santolouco (variant)


Others edit

Title Issue Date Story Art Color Cover
American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1 June 8, 2011 Scott Snyder Sean Murphy Dave Stewart Sean Murphy & Dave Stewart
Cliff Wu Chiang (variant)
#2 July 13, 2011 Sean Murphy & Dave Stewart
#3 August 10, 2011
#4 September 14, 2011
#5 October 12, 2011
American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #1 June 13, 2012 Scott Snyder Dustin Nguyen John Kalisz Dustin Nguyen
#2 July 11, 2012
#3 August 8, 2012
#4 September 12, 2012
#5 October 17, 2012
American Vampire:The Long Road to Hell #1 June 12, 2013 Scott Snyder
Rafael Albuquerque
Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Tony Moore (variant)
American Vampire Anthology #1 August 28, 2013 The Man Comes Around, Part 1 Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Lost Colony Jason Aaron Declan Shalvey Jordie Bellaire
Bleeding Kansas Rafael Albuquerque Ivo Milazzo
Canadian Vampire Jeff Lemire Ray Fawkes
Greed Becky Cloonan Jordie Bellaire
The Producers Francesco Francavilla
Essence of Life Gail Simone Tula Lotay
Last Night Fábio Moon
Gabriel Bá
Dave McCaig
Portland, 1940 Greg Rucka J.P. Leon
The Man Comes Around, Part 2 Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque
#2 September 7, 2016 Opening Shot Scott Snyder Rafael Albuquerque Dave McCaig Rafael Albuquerque
Teahouse Joelle Jones Cristopher Mitten Quinton Winter
Bride Marguerite Bennet Mirka Andolfo Arif Prianto
The Bleeding Nun Clay McLeon Chapman Richard Isanove
The Cut Steve Orlando Artyom Trakhanov Veronica Gandini
Traveling Companion Elliot Kalan Andrea Mutti Giulia Brusco
When The Cold Wind Blows Shawn Aldridge Szymon Kudranski
England's Dreaming Kieron Gillen Leila del Duca Trish Mulvihill
Devil's Own Luck Rafael Albuquerque Renato Guedes
Brother's Keeper Scott Snyder Afua Richardson Antonio Fabela

Collected editions edit

Volume Published Collects Pages ISBN
1 September 29, 2010 (HC)
October 5, 2011 (TPB)
  • American Vampire #1–5
200 HC: 9781401228309
TPB: 9781401229740
2 May 25, 2011 (HC)
May 2, 2012 (TPB)
  • American Vampire #6–11
160 HC: 9781401230692
TPB: 9781401230708
3 February 1, 2012 (HC)
September 26, 2012 (TPB)
  • American Vampire #12–18
  • American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1–5
288 HC: 9781781160251
TPB: 9781401233341
4 September 26, 2012 (HC)
September 4, 2013 (TPB)
  • American Vampire #19–27
208 HC: 9781401237189
TPB: 9781401237196
5 March 27, 2013 (HC)
March 26, 2014 (TPB)
  • American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #1–5
  • American Vampire #28–34
280 HC: 9781401237707
TPB: 9781401237714
6 March 26, 2014 (HC)
November 26, 2014 (TPB)
  • American Vampire: Long Road to Hell #1
  • American Vampire Anthology #1
144 HC: 9781401247089
TPB: 9781401249298
7 January 14, 2015 (HC)
November 11, 2015 (TPB)
  • American Vampire – Second Cycle #1–5
144 HC: 9781401248826
TPB: 9781401254322
8 February 17, 2016 (HC)
July 20, 2016 (TPB)
  • American Vampire – Second Cycle #6–11
144 HC: 9781401254339
TPB: 9781401262587
9 November 2, 2021
  • American Vampire: 1976 #1–10
264 HC: 9781779512673

Omnibus editions edit

Volume Published Collects Pages ISBN
1 October 31, 2018 (HC)
  • American Vampire #1–27
  • American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1–5
  • American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #1–5
984 HC: 9781401284831
2 October 11, 2022 (HC)
  • American Vampire #28–34
  • American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell #1
  • American Vampire: Anthology #1–2
  • American Vampire: Second Cycle #1–11
  • American Vampire: 1976 #1–10
928 HC: 9781779516886

Characters edit

  • Skinner Sweet – an outlaw who lived in the Wild West. He was turned into a vampire when the blood from Percy, a vampire banker, fell into his eye during a fight while he was escaping from being hanged. After being trapped into a coffin sunken sixty-six feet under water, he escaped and hunted the vampires who tried to kill him. In 1936, Sweet has relocated to Las Vegas, where he opened a brothel, using the name Jim Smoke. Later Skinner finds himself swept up into WWII as he hunts down a threat to his possible (?) with Pearl.
  • Pearl Jones – an aspiring actress in the 1920s who was ambushed by a group of vampires led by a vampire director named B.D. Bloch during one of his parties. She was left for dead at a pit in the desert, but was saved by Sweet when he dropped his blood on her eye, turning her into a vampire. She has relocated to Arrowhead, California, using the surname of her husband, Henry Preston, while she is hiding from the other vampires.
  • Hattie Hargrove – Hattie is Pearl's ambitious and slightly put upon roommate in Hollywood, sharing an apartment with the main character before Pearl is murdered by vampires and transformed by Skinner Sweet.
  • Henry Preston – Pearl Jones' husband, a World War 1 veteran who works as a jazz musician who decided to help Pearl to enact her revenge against the vampires who almost killed her. Prior to arriving in Hollywood and working as a resident guitarist at a speak easy where Pearl worked, Henry was a journeymen Guitar player. He isn't intimidated by Pearl's vampirism, but sometimes he feels some sadness by the fact that while he's getting older, Pearl isn't. Henry later dies stopping Hattie.
  • Mr. B.D. Bloch – a European vampire masquerading as a Hollywood Mogul.
  • James "Jim" Book – a detective who worked for Pinkerton Agency, he hunted and arrested Skinner Sweet, who turned him into a vampire in retaliation. Before being consumed by his vampiric instincts, he extracts a promise from Abilena, she is to kill him in exchange for fathering her child that same night.
  • Abilena Camillo/Book – daughter of Felix Camillo, her mother died at birth. She is James Book's god-daughter, though she professes an unrequited love for him once she grows up. After his death, she takes his surname and together with her daughter Felicia Book hunts Skinner Sweet for an organization called The Vassals of the Morning Star.
  • Felix Camillo – father of Abilena Camillo/Book Deputy to James Book, and Grandfather of Felicia.
  • Will Bunting – the writer of "Bad Blood" and witness to the birth of Skinner Sweet as the first documented American Vampire.
  • Percy – leader of a cabal of vampires taking advantage of western expansion, and the maker of Skinner Sweet.
  • Finch – human servant of Percy and the Vampire cabal and employer of James Book.
  • Mimiteh – a young Shoshone woman who was the first actual American vampire though her exploits were lost to history.
  • Felicia Book – fathered by James Book and his god-daughter Abilena on the night he dies. She is a member of The Vassals of the Morning Star, an organization which hunts vampires. She seems to have unique abilities due to her father's vampirism, though the extent of her abilities is yet to be seen.
  • Jack Straw – another member of the Vassals of the Morning Star, Straw was partnered with Felicia Book while investigating vampire activity in Las Vegas.
  • Cashel "Cash" McCogan – as Chief of the Las Vegas Police Department, Cash became involved with Jack Straw and Felicia Book while investigating the grisly murders of several persons responsible for the construction of the Hoover Dam (then called the Boulder Dam).
  • Calvin Poole – a soldier in World War 2 who served with Henry Preston during the "Ghost War" story arc. He was accidentally turned into a vampire after a bottle of Pearl's Blood broke and infected him.

Notes edit

  1. ^ McMillan, Graeme (November 10, 2009). "American Vampire's Snyder Introduces Our Secret Toothy Cousins". io9. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  2. ^ Snyder, Scott [@Ssnyder1835] (June 21, 2019). "I cannot express how proud I am to have been a tiny part of Vertigo. ..." (Tweet). Retrieved June 22, 2019 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "American Vampire Trailer; King and Snyder Talk Scary, Not Sparkly, Vamps". Dread Central. 14 August 2012.
  4. ^ Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The first five double-sized issues consisted of two stories, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque. Scott Snyder wrote each issue's lead feature, and Stephen King wrote the back-up tales.
  5. ^ Vaneta Rogers (29 June 2023). "Scott Snyder Prepares to Go it Alone on American Vampire". Newsarama.
  6. ^ Geddes, John (October 30, 2009). "Stephen King and Scott Snyder give Vampire an evolutionary twist". USA Today. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  7. ^ "Comics: I Don't Fucking Sparkle: Interview with Scott Snyder, Creator of American Vampire". Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  8. ^ Phegley, Kiel (October 26, 2009). "Scott Snyder & Stephen King Launch American Vampire". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  9. ^ Rogers, Vaneta (October 26, 2009). "Stephen King Brings an American Vampire Tale to Vertigo". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2009.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • American Vampire at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)