Review: American Vampire 1976 #8
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist:Â Rafael Albuquerque
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Steve Wands
Reviewer: Tony Farina
Summary
Cut to their core by an act of unspeakable betrayal, the team must think fast to regroup and recover – but with two of their lives hanging by a thread and a third taken captive to be sacrificed to the Beast, hope and practical solutions are in short supply. As a demon army prepares to rise from the earth on the eve of America’s bicentennial celebration, an old friend of the VMS steps in to assist and Gus gets a chance to rewrite his grim fate. In the end, their efforts will all hinge on Skinner Sweet’s final decision to either retreat and preserve what’s left of his limited life, or to face his fear of death and risk it all for Pearl and the future of humanity.
Positives
American Vampire 1976 #8 once again, as always features the art of Rafael Albuquerque and thus, we are all rewarded. There are a lot of pages where Skinner talks and just looks at other folks throughout this book. Sounds pretty boring right? Well in the hands of a lesser artist, it would be. Not here. This is one of those special books where it could be totally void of words and the reader could figure most things out. Sure, Snyder is telling a great story and we want the words, but this is a visual extravaganza. Just in case you wondered if it was all just people standing around. The answer is no. Look below:
Negatives
American Vampire 1976 #8 is pretty OK. As a stand alone issue, it is great, but should issue 8 also feel like issue 1? I know that part of why this series works is that it ends on a cliffhanger each time, but that also is wearing me out.
Verdict
American Vampire 1976 #8 feels like a middle. I hate to keep bringing this up, but at first, I though this was going to be six issues and I worried that it would feel overstuffed. Now, that I know it is a longer series, I worry that there is too much filler. There are some amazing twists and turns in this issue and I enjoyed being surprised, but I just don’t know how I feel with how I got here. Does it need to be this long? I am simply not sure. I shall persist because it is compelling, it is beautiful and it is haunting.
