American Vampire #15 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Rafael Albuquerque (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Pat Brosseau (letters), Joe Hughes (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)

The Story: Henry’s gang of vampire hunter/soldiers runs for their lives on the Japanese island of Taipan in WWII.

What’s Good: Fun and exciting story?  Check!  A sense of mystery?  Check!  Great art?  Check!  I feel like I say those things every month about American Vampire and it is truly one of the most consistently excellent books on the market.  Seriously, if you haven’t been reading, get the first two hardcovers and catch up.

The first couple of issues of this story arc had a lot of ground to cover to establish this story: Henry joining the U.S. military and being sent with a team of secret vampire-killer commandos to deal with possible vampires on the Japanese held island of Taipan and keep the vampires from interfering with U.S. forces landing on the island.  All of this is set against the backdrop of Henry and Pearl’s strained relationship as he ages and she doesn’t and whatever schemes Skinner Sweet and the secret society of vampire hunters back at Pearl Harbor have going.  What’s great about all the plotting and scheming is the reader never gets the feeling that says, “I know what’s going to happen next!”  Life is too short to read predictable stories and given how inundated a modern reader is with “story” in all forms of media, it is a real testament to Snyder & Albuquerque that they can keep us guessing about what’s next.

This is also a mostly all-action, run-for-your-fucking-life kinda of story as these weird feral vampires descend upon our band of soldiers.  One thing stands out in this action further drives home what a gifted writer Snyder is.  At one point, one of the soldiers is rapidly transformed into a feral vampire and comes after the good guys.  Snyder proceeds to show us the scene where the other characters pause to discuss how their vampiric buddy [paraphrasing] “didn’t even know who we were.  he just came after us”.  That scene can be pretty cliché because we’ve all seen it countless times in vampire/zombie movies, but Snyder is able to power through the cliché by wrapping it with a discussion of the nature of these new vampires (and probably a little bit of accumulated good will from the entirety of the series).  It just goes to show that some writers can pull off a challenging scene when other folks would struggle.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Rocketeer Adventures #1 – And…I’m not even a Rocketeer fan.  But, I do love seeing three anthology stories with art by John Cassaday, Mike Allred and Michael Kaluta.  That’s some hot art, right there.  The stories are fine, but with art like this the stories really don’t matter.  Dave Stevens, the creator of the Rocketeer has been dead for ~3 years and it’s nice to see that top-notch creators still have a passion for his character.  I’m not in favor of seeing Rocketeer be launched as an ongoing series with some C-list talent, but if IDW can keep bringing this level of creator to the table, they can publish Rocketeer stories for as long as they want.  Runner-up: Li’l Depressed Boy #4

Most Anticipated: Strange Adventures #1 – I’m a complete sucker for anthology series because you always have the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle.  Featuring work by Scott Snyder, Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Jeff Lemire and others this should be pretty hot.  It is also really nice to see Vertigo launching something new as they haven’t put out a new piece of intellectual property since I Zombie last summer.

Other Picks: American Vampire #15, Detective Comics #877, Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #3, The Walking Dead #85, Hack/Slash #4

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: DMZ #65 – It was a bit of a breather last week as far as the number of books went, but that doesn’t mean there was a lack in quality.  DMZ #65 took it this week, for me, showcasing everything that has made the series such a success for Vertigo. Everything you’ve ever liked about Wood’s DMZ was right here.  Good stuff.

Most Anticipated: Strange Adventures – I don’t think I can remember the last time I had such a huge stack with one book so clearly ahead of the rest of the pack as my most anticipated.  The concept for Strange Adventures excites me so much.  A big anthology of retro sci-fi, with creators like Paul Cornell, Jeff Lemire, and Peter Milligan?  The first chapter of the new comic by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso?  The first comics work of science fiction author, Lauren Beukes (whose two novels, Zoo City and Moxyland, you should really check out)?   There’s even a cool Paul Pope cover.  What more could you ask for?If there was ever a comic I really want to succeed, it’s this one.  $7.99 is a high price, but a bargain for an unbelievable package like this.

Other Picks: Action Comics #901, Detective Comics #877, Green Lantern Corps #60, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10, Green Lantern #66, American Vampire #15, Amazing Spider-Man #662, Captain America #618, FF #4, Iron Man 2.0 #5, Mighty Thor #2, Secret Avengers #13, Secret Warriors #27, Venom #3, Wolverine #9