Vampire fiction... it can still be worthwhile.

Been a rough week. Will do two updates today. Maybe three. I cast three roles and that is good. Still working on some others.

First is a recommendation on a new comic book. Before I go into that, I should say works of vampire fiction of late have been better as a whole maybe than they ever have been. I know what most of you are thinking (the sane ones, that is)... but D, there is a this big, awful beast of a thing that has made the fiction look ridiculous.

You are right. But in its shadow are some really great works. Written fiction like The Strain from Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan, Baltimore from Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden. 30 Day of Night (Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith) from several years back that jump started an entire genre in the comics industry. The movie side of things has fared even better. Chan Wook Park's Thirst. The truly great Let the Right One In.



Those examples are simply meant to illustrate that stories about vampires will always be fertile ground for a good storyteller and will always appeal to people. The whys would be a much longer post than this, but you hopefully see the point. I left off many examples from recent years. Now why people will settle for sub par works in this field when greatness abounds, I'll never know. Anyways, on to the recommendation.

A new Vertigo Comics series by the name of American Vampire. Vertigo has tried to cash in on the vampire trend in the past and failed (Bite Club, ugh). So, under normal circumstances I would not have given this a chance. However, this is not a normal circumstance... you see, this has original just for comics work by Stephen King (a first, I think).

Let's take a look at the first issue's classy cover.



The series was created by Scott Snyder. I am glad this book introduced me to him, as he is a talented writer. The book has two loosely related stories (these first two stories will run the first five issues, I believe). The first story is written by Snyder with the second being written by King. Both are of high quality. One is set in 1920's Hollywood and one in the 1880's Wild West. Good stuff. Both stories are illustrated by someone else who is mostly new to my eyes. Rafael Albuquerque does a great job bringing these tales to life. His art fits the book perfectly and really brings the package together. Each storyline also has distinct visual feel, this is in large part to colorist Dave McCaig (who does a bang up job).

I am completely on board with this book and looking forward to where it will go in the future. Many other decades throughout America's history are promised to be grounds that will be traveled. The two starting points (Wild West and 20's Hollywood) are an amazing way to kick things off. I have a sneaking suspicion that this book will be pretty big. I also would not be surprised if a TV series came about soon (since vampires are the vogue thing, and we already have True Blood and Vampire Diaries). This is one of the few comic series I can recommend to ANYONE (the Unwritten being another recent one). So, get on board.

You could also get the FIRST TRADE... in October.

PS - Justified on FX was great. I am sure they will be replaying the first episode. I would watch it and start tuning in on Tuesdays.