I, Vampire #1

Aren't we as a society done with Vampires yet? Let another monster have its turn, Vampire! Maybe it's time for a sexy, dark romance starring The Blob! Or how about a Tween Story about a shy and virginal succubus that has a gigantic crush on an Angel only to find out he's gay when they finally end up naked together at the Purgatory Bed and Breakfast? It's possible the last Vampire story I read was The Tale of the Body Thief. I think I put that book down and said, "Vampires are over!"
I guess I was wrong!

I, Vampire tells two halves of one story concurrently. The first half revolves around a male Vampire (my guess is this is the title Vampire) in dialogue with a female vampire. The male vampire is different somehow. When he became a vampire, he was never touched by the evil or the demon that inhabits the person when they change. So he's kind of like Angel. He sired the female, Mary. Probably because he loved her and couldn't stand to grow away from her across time. This story has been told before and told well in Tale of the Body Thief. In that book, Lestat eventually gives in and makes the older man he's in love with (whose name I forget) a vampire. But upon making him a vampire, he loses the connection. He still loses the man he loved. It seems the same thing has happened here although the two Vampires seem to have kept it together for 400 years or so. But the female was tainted by the evil or the demon or whatever. And now she wants to rule the world.

Mary has been living on livestock for the sake of the male vampire. But it's not who she is or what she wants. Both vampires have been passing for the last 400 years but she has decided that tomorrow will be different. She and the other vampires will rise up and declare war on the human race. The male tries to talk her out of it but she won't budge. The time has come.

They spend one last night together and when the male wakes, he finds a note from Mary that the war has started. When he looks out his window, he sees bodies littering the streets of Boston. They were all humans but they've all been turned. At this point, the second half of the tale begins and if you were confused the first time reading the comic, now is the time to turn back to the start and read the series of pages concerned with the lone man killing vampires.

The male vampire walks among these bodies beheading the vampires. Vampires in the DC world do not die from the sun. They grow weak and lose their powers. It also seems that a stake through their heart merely immobilizes them. The head must be removed. At one point, the male vampire tells the vampire he's just staked, "I'm sorry. Normally, I'd lock you away somewhere until I could find your sire. But, well, y'know...." Sounds like if the sire is killed, any vampires created by that vampire may revert back to human. But these vampires were made by Mary. And Mary was made by him. So it's possible he needs to be killed to save these vampires. Or maybe just Mary does and he doesn't seem in a hurry to kill her either.

DC Vampires can also transform into wolves. They can fly and possibly turn into bats. The main vampire turns into a werewolfish beast at one point but I don't know if they can all manage that.
The story ends with a bunch of the vampires in Mary's army storming a subway train and feeding on the humans while the male Vampire watches. I'm sure we'll learn his name next issue. Or I can learn it now if he's in DC's Who's Who!

And here it is! The Who's Who Entry of I, Vampire.

His name is Andrew Bennett. Or it was! I don't know if the New 52 I, Vampire will be the same. His first appearance was in House of Mystery #290 (March, 1981). Damn, that series ran a long ass time. His occupation is Vampire. He's 6'3" and weighs 180 pounds. Here are some quotes:

"Bennett was in love with Mary Seward, the queen's personal handmaiden, and trusted her above all others. One night, Mary warned Andrew not to go riding, as she'd had a dark premonition about his fate, but he scoffed at her fears. Bennett went out--and was attacked and bitten by a vampire."

Oh noes! It goes on to say how he was able to resist the dark temptation and maintain a sense of humanity and morality. Mary's love was so great for him that she offered herself to him and he turned her. But she awoke evil and ruthless. So, pretty much what I gleaned from this first issue. That makes this a really well told first issue! And it had a little Mementoish vibe going through it with the two continuous halves of the story being told simultaneously.