I, Vampire #6

Last issue, I said I, Vampire has the best covers of the New 52. And this issue, they've dropped their style for a normal look.

Last issue ended with Batman, Andrew (the Vampire of I, Vampire!), Tig (the vampire hunter that wants to kill Andrew even before she knows Andrew killed her vampire father), and John (Andrew's long-time hippie friend) taking an elevator down to a basement filled with Vampires. Bloody Mary was also there and a whole lot of people were about to die (not Batman).

When did Judd Winick begin writing this comic?

Fighting for their lives in a basement packed wall to wall with vampires, Andrew Bennett won't allow any of his companions to kill any of the vampires. That's because they're brand new and if their sire is killed within 48 hours, the freshly prepared vampires will revert to human form. From comments John made earlier, it also seems that if a vampire is killed, all vampires sired by it that have become fully-fledged vampires will also die. Killing vampires is easy in the New DCU! The hard part is knowing which one to kill which will end up killing thousands at once!

I think killing Andrew Bennett will take care of this entire problem and end the series. Madame Xanadu said Andrew Bennett was dead at the end of Justice League Dark #6, but I'm pretty sure she had her facts wrong since the I in I, Vampire is Bennett. The title will have to change to Him, Vampire. Or You, Vampire. Or Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla, Vampire Hunter.

Batman suggests that they retreat in that special way that Batman suggests things where it actually sounds like he's commanding things. But Bennett figures he can find the sire and stop the whole mess. But when he locates the sire, he makes the mistake of using the words "kill" and "that boy" in front of The Batman. Dumb, Andrew! Just say "Vampire" or "Monster" or "Alien Threat" or "Inorganic Automaton" or else Batman is going to shut you the fuck down.

See?

After Andrew crashes to the ground amidst the self-satisfied smugness of Batman's holier than thou attitude, the little innocent boy Batman saved transforms into a talking wolf and tries to run away. It's about at this point that Batman probably realizes he really doesn't quite know what the fuck is going on and he allows Bennett to handle the problem his own way.

Batman doesn't seem to have a problem with people killing animals because he allows Bennett to shove a sword through the wolf's heart.

Killing this one small vampire instantly transforms the other vampires into confused frat boys and business men. Mary, Queen of Blood, is just the tiniest bit angry about this development. She orders the last of the vampires to kill everything living in the cellar. As for the vampires that don't revert back to normal, Bennett declares they are 'Full-Bloods' and that they can all be killed. But Batman won't even allow Bennett to kill vampires!

Is Batman some kind of Twilight fan?

Batman's plan is to subdue Mary and all of her vampire henchmen and then give them over to Zatanna to deal with. I think Batman just likes to shift responsibility. Crazy criminal? Oh, Arkham will handle it and I can pretend the threat is dealt with because we all know how well confinement works there. Supernatural creature? Oh, Zatanna can say some backwards shit and she'll figure out how to imprison these things or change them back to human or, you know, maybe kill them but Batman's washed his hands of it at that point.

Batman tries paralyze Mary with a Shocking Batarang but it doesn't work. Does Batman have anything of use against Vampires? Garlic Bat-neck? Batcross? Oh! I bet Robin would have some Holy Batwater, Batman!

But other members of the group don't have a problem with killing. One of those is Tig who has just learned from Andrew's actions that killing the main vampire releases or destroys hundreds or thousands of lesser vampires. Tig makes the bold move to fix a lot of pain and sorrow.

Whoops! Although, in an earlier issue, John (I believe) mentioned that a vampire as old as Andrew Bennett could not be killed unless he wills himself to die. So I'm guessing this is just a minor setback.

This event, the 'death' of Andrew Bennett, causes a flash of lightning to blast a hole in the ground where his body disappeared. From this hole crawls "Cain, the sire of them all." Cain says, "The end has come!" And that's that. Hopefully Batman has a few more tricks up his cape!

I, Vampire #6 Rating: +1 Ranking. I like that Andrew Bennett was killed in his own comic! I know, I know. The death won't take. But it was nice to turn the page and see his head flying from his shoulders. Hopefully this entire Rise of the Vampires story arc will be interesting and not just a dumb excuse for a big fight and a crossover.

I, Vampire #5

I, Vampire, may have the best covers of the New 52.

A train arrives in Gotham filled with leftovers from the Vampire Buffet. The vampires who probably did it have infiltrated the Gotham Police Department and turned a number of police into vampires themselves. Andrew and John and Tig notice about fifteen police cars zooming in the opposite direction as they enter Gotham City so they follow them to the train car and the scene of the murders. Andrew turns into mist and goes to investigate. As soon as he transforms back into dead flesh and coagulating blood, he meets DC's biggest star!

I get that it's Batman at night in Gotham City. But can we get some color in this thing somewhere?

I think the choice of color palette in this comic is so that when a vampire finally draws blood, the red of the blood will really stand out against the grays, blacks, and greys of the rest of the book.

Batman kicks Andrew's ass although I'm sure Andrew believed he was doing okay against him. But suddenly a light shines on Batman and Andrew just as Andrew is starting to have a dialogue with Batman. And before Andrew can warn Batman they need to leave and turn into mist, Batman has already disappeared. What a coward!

After a little more information, it turns out there were no bodies on the train. Literally! Everyone on the train had disappeared. The train arrived in the station and even the conductor was missing. Perhaps the Langoliers got them!

Andrew, being Mary's sire, can sense Mary's movements. He knows exactly where she and her vampire army are making camp: the old Gotham Courthouse. The infiltrate the courthouse to look around and end up face to face with Batman again. You just can't get rid of that guy! He should have called himself Bloodhoundman.

I really like the layout of this page and the facing page. And being that most of the New 52 are lucky to have four panels per page, this page has an above average number of panels!

Batman confronts Andrew again, determined to know what he is and why it is in his city. And Tig jumps all over Batman's side because that's the side that's going to win in any altercation!

Batman has a handle on the situation so he decides to work with Andrew for now since Andrew seems to know what's going on. Andrew tells Batman that in the first 48 hours, the transformation to Vampire can be reversed. Probably by killing the sire. Andrew also tells Batman he likes his cape. I think I sense another Romance about to blossom!

Batman and his crew take the elevator down into the basement of the courthouse where the old cells are. It's also where hundreds of vampires are! The elevator opens and the vampires begin to swarm in. But they're stopped by Mary's command.

I hope Batman has a plan!

And that's it for Vampires for another month. The pacing of this comic continues to be well done. The art works for the theme and genre and I really like some of the layouts of the pages. And five issues in, the story and characters have me convinced that this is one of the most solid titles of the New 52. It's well done and worth picking up alongside some super hero titles. Although I bet American Vampire is the vampire book I should be reading! I'll pick up the trades to that when I'm caught up with all of these dumb 52 books!

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.

52 at First Glance, Part Nine

33. Animal Man
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Pencils: Travel Foreman
Inks: Dan Green

First off, the big surprise: I don't recognize anybody in the Animal Man creative team.

Before Grant Morrison came in and revamped him, I think I only ever knew who he was because of DC's Who's Who comic, a sort of encyclopedia of all of their characters.



See? There he is! Right over Aquaman's right shoulder! He didn't seem like much but I guess DC acquired the property and wanted to squeeze some money out of him. So Grant Morrison turned him into something interesting.

It was never Animal Man's powers that made him interesting, though. So I'll see how Jeff Lemire handles Buddy Baker. I hope it's as entertaining as how Morrison, Milligan, and Delano dealt with him.

34. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Alberto Ponticelli

This is one of those WTF titles. The cover shows a mohawked Frankenstein with some kind of chain gun thing in one hand and a sword in the other. Behind him are a Japanese schoolgirl with a pistol and a four-armed green alien chick with guns. They seem to be fighting some creature that's outside the cover but it has claws and a tentacle.

This comic looks awesome!

35. I, Vampire
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

Sometime last year, my friend Ken was telling me I should watch True Blood. And I told him I'm never again reading or watching or listening to anything that has to do with Vampires. About a week after that, I went to go see Concrete Blonde on their Bloodletting 20 Years Later Reunion. So I blew that one right out of the gate. And now I'm going to read a Vampire comic book! I think. I mean, it has Vampire in the title. And the I part of that makes it seem like the narrator or main character is probably a Vampire. But I don't know anything about it.

The cover has a nearly naked woman and a half naked man with wings standing back to back. So I'm guessing that the era of Vampires are Sexy isn't quite over. I bet this comic makes me feel like a twelve year old school girl with her first crush! Eeeee!

36. Resurrection Man
Writer: Dan Abnett
Pencils: Andy Lanning
Inks: Fernando Dagnino

I don't know anything about this character or the creative team.

Is this anything like Deadman? Is Deadman jealous of Resurrection Man? Are they rivals? I wonder if there is an Insurrection Man! Or an Erection Man! For Your Protection Man?

The cover shows a white haired scowly fellow scrabbling out of a grave. Are these the new Horror Titles for DC? I'm getting scared! In a sexy way! Probably how you'd feel if a hot naked vampire lady were draining your blood. You'd be all, "Hee hee hee. *giggle gurgle gurgle die*"