[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writers: Scott Snyder, Joelle Jones, Marguerite Bennett, Clay McLead Chapman, Steve Orlando, Elliott Kalan, Shawn Aldridge, Kieron Gillen & Rafael Albuquerque
Artists: Rafael Albuquerque, Dave McCaig, Christopher Mitten, Quinton Mitten, Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, Richard Isanove, Artyom Trakhanov, Veronica Gandini, Andrea Mutti, Giulia Brusco, Szymon Kudranski, Leila del Duca, Trish Mulvihill, Renato Guedes, Afua Richardson & Antonio Fabela
Summary
This is a collection of short stories centered on vampires in various time periods and locations.
Positives
Anthologies are a lost art in comics so I am glad to see one here. It is fun to just have a bunch of short stories that, for the most part, can work entirely on their own. I also like seeing the various styles in both the writing and art. It’s interesting to me that this book is set all over the world and all over time. That gives this another unique spin that I enjoyed. Comparing Japanese vampires to Nazi vampires is simply neat. The idea that there are vampire cultures that are as different as human cultures is interesting. This idea has not been done that often. Typically, vampires are all the same. It’s cool to see different kinds.
The art is great throughout. There is an insane list of great talent. My favorite art is probably in “Opening Shot,” which is drawn by Rafael Albuquerque and colored by Dave McCaig. I really like McCaig’s use of color. He conveys the winter setting really well which is always creepy for some reason.
Negatives
While I like some of the concepts, most of the stories did not do much for me. I was kind of bored by most of them. I don’t think any of them are bad or not well written. The writing is actually quite good. Most of it just doesn’t engage me. A couple of the stories do work for me. “Bride” is probably my favorite.
Verdict
I think this is okay. I like the concept and the various art styles are great. However, I found it to be dull for the most part. There is a lot of good in the book; I just don’t think it’s great.
