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Graphic Book Review: I, Vampire Vol. 2
Rise of the Vampires

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I vampire comic bookZombos Says: Good

I'm not a big fan of artists who draw people with the same facial features, slightly altered, for every non-masked character, and who fill panels with heavy dark lines and even darker spaces. Remember the big-head makeup artist on Face-Off? He bored the judges because his makeups kept reverting to big-headed sculpts, so they looked the same. I was bored with Admira Wijaya and Daniel Sampere's art in the same way: too dark, obscuring detail without lending depth to the scene, and everybody looks like a cousin to everyone else. Except for Batman and Batgirl; they have masks.

What they also have is the same tired fists-and- wisecracks response in the face of supernatural catastrophe. Even John Constantine seemed bored by it all. Peter Milligan's dialog and story flow was like every DC Comic issue where "real" superheroes hook up with the occult fringe: predictable encounters filled with quips from caped crusaders who are out of their element, and the eventual reliance on some astral zones-worth of cosmic assistance, given with a brief show of reluctance, leading to ambiguous results (you know, the cop-out ending).

Did I mention I'm pretty bored by all this nonsense by now? At this point I'm thinking What's all this "next comic to sink your teeth into" BS from IGN quoted on the cover? When I turned to Fialkov's and Andrea Sorrentino's issues contained in this second volume, I got it. My recommendation is to breeze through the  Justice League Dard issues, 7 and 8, and focus on the real deal, I, Vampire issues 7 through 12.

I reviewed the first issue of I, Vampire favorably because of Fialkov and Sorrentino's efforts, and these later issues headed by them show more maturity in the execution of characters, the panel-world around them, and the sticky situations they antagonize. After Cain works up all those vampires into a feeding, bleeding frenzy, shifting gears on them by moving them from Gotham City to Utah to go cold-turkey does provide enough tension to spill over into bedlam soon enough. The Van Helsings show up for a fight and they've got a nifty new tactic: resurrection. Andrew Bennett's shell-shocked sidekicks get in on the action, with the usual "more than they bargained for" portion of hurt. And even Mary, Queen of Blood, faces a new challenge.

This New 52 version of the House of Mystery's I…Vampire shifts the storyline to vampires who can stand in the sunlight, but are weaker for it, and have the ferocity of those blood-suckers in 30 Days of Night. Andrew Bennett is also much older, though youthful in appearance (as is everyone in the New 52 Universe). This series is ending in April with I, Vampire issue 19, so look for volume 3 soon thereafter.

A courtesy copy was provided for this review from the publisher.

Comic Book Review: I, Vampire 1

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I-VAMPIRE-1Zombos Says: Very Good

I wouldn't have picked this one up if DC hadn't sent it to me for review. I have a problem with the cover. It sucks. Okay. I know. You want more of a critical assessment than a fanboy kind of knee-jerk opinion. Here it is then: it sucks a lot. It's too yapping Twilight-y, and its composition panders more to stereotypical male herdy-nerdy readers with its voluptuous, booby and elf-y coy female posturing brazenly. I don't know what age range they thought they were aiming for with this one, but I'm not near it apparently. And it doesn't jive with the more sophisticated content, which I can tell you doesn't suck. 

Andrea Sorrentino's heavily dark boundaries and shadow-fused illustration would easily be at home in a black and white world, but Marcelo Maiolo's color dashes and toning brings emotional depth as well as objective and personal perspective through its variation across the pages.

This first issue re-establishes the centuries-old love-hate relationship between Mary and Andrew: she's intent on feasting and he's more of the fasting kind. Joshua Hale Fialkov interweaves their lovers' dialog between present and past, and in spite of his 400 years of vampire-killing savvy, she gets in the last word. Much bloody mayhem ensues

If Fialkov and Sorrentino can sustain the emotional intensity and visual flare started in this first issue, the series should have a long run. Their predominant use of wide-format panels gives ample room for telling the story with imagery and narrative, and red dialog boxes and discrete splashes of blood punctuate the lovers' quarrel, broadening it to apocalyptic proportions.

At 20 pages an issue, it's a tough call whether I want to wait for the trade paper or pick up each issue. I'm tempted toward the latter based on the promise shown here.

Is it me or is everything so apolcalyptic these days?

Comic Book Review: I, Zombie 3, The Dead of Night

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I Zombie comic vertigo Zombos Says: Good

I don't know, Diogenes. How can you be sure she's a bloodsucker?

Horatio–Do you think she'd be talking to a guy like that if she wasn't?

Okay, I'll admit this is one of my guilty pleasures of comic book reading. Although Roberson and Allred keep Gwen and her odd friends squeaky clean for a brain-munching zombie, a ghost with Barbie's fashion sense, and a moonlight-afflicted hairsute friend that looks like Zombos' miniature schnauzer in a hooded sweat top, this horror-lite series is fresh and lively with color and character.

In this issue Gwen finally meets Mr. Amon, the mysterious guy in the big, spooky house, and Spot's body-hairdo gets mussed when he's outed by his nerdy friend. His other nerdy friend is in neck-deep trouble with a paintball vamp hookup, but Horatio and Diogenes, the white coat dressed pair of investigators, are close at hand to stop her blood-pecking.

Or were close at hand until Gwen falls head over heels for Horatio. Actually, Gwen was practically tossed his way by the vamp when she collided into Gwen in front of Dixie's Diner. But it looks like Gwen and Horatio's chance meeting may blossom into something more.

The vamp, by the way, is the one on the right of the cover. Vamps always dress sassy, like vamps, so they're easy to spot. I'm not sure why Gwen insists on wearing green, though; it doesn't go well with her purple skin pallor at all. Browns and earth tones are more apropos for a cute zombie like her.

Comic Book Review: I, Zombie 2, Working Stiffs

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i zombie issue 2 Zombos Says: Very Good

You'd be surprised, but sometimes it seems like there's more dead people above the ground than below it in any given cemetery.

For issue 2, iZombie gets a new-look title and picks up momentum with its art and story. Roberson brings us closer to Gwen's ghostly girlfriend Ellie, introduces Scott's pocket-protector inclined IT pals at work, and the vampire girls running the local Blood Sports Paintball attraction have a 'business' meeting. Mister Mummy, Fred's murderer, puts in a brief appearance, although what he's up to or what he might be after is not disclosed. His pet cheetah likes to eat juicy steaks on the couch, though, while watching television.

This issue doesn't add much to Gwen's investigation of Fred's death beyond her meeting his wife and son, awkwardly, in the cemetery, but it embellishes the people we met in the first issue. The two mysterious monster hunters are back, and they're on the trail of a rogue vampire. For a small town it certainly has an unusually high amount of supernatural citizens, much like Buffy's Sunnydale.

The simple, smooth lines of the characters are not effusive or overly energetic, but with a variety of page layouts for them to converse and act in, there's a Dylan Dog-ish quirkiness just itching to scratch through. Eye-candy pastel colors and zip-a-tone keep the story's tone light, but don't overshadow Gwen's moodiness. The difficult balance between art and word is just about perfect, making this series a pleasure to read as much as look at.

This issue was provided by Vertigo for review.

Comic Book Review: I, Zombie 1 Dead to the World

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I, Zombie Issue 1

Combine the two most horrible tastes you can imagine–like motor oil and someone else's vomit–and you won't even come close to this level of nasty. Yeah, I eat brains. (Gwen in I, Zombie, Issue 1)

Zombos Says: Good

I, Zombie from Vertigo is an urban fantasy set in Eugene, Oregon, a town very much like Archie Comics' Riverdale. Instead of Jughead, Betty, and Veronica, however, the grave-digging Gwendolyn Dylan has friends like  Ellie, a Go-Go Dancer ghost with a beehive hairdo, and Scott, a were-terrier boyfriend with puppy-love eyes. The gang likes to hang out at Dixie's Firehouse, the local malt shop and diner.

When not at Dixie's, Gwen digs graves at the Green Pastures Cemetery, which boasts their naturally wholesome methods of interment. Gwen's dirt-shoveling skills come in handy because she's a 20-something zombie who needs to chow down on a mass of gray cells every month to keep from turning into a less attractive and stinkier one. The catch is that when she eats a recently interred person's brain, she experiences the memories, pleasure, anguish, and desires the person left behind before shuffling off to points unknown. This time around, that shuffling off involves murder.

There's a lot of kitschy-cute weirdness crammed into this first issue: a mysterious corporation concerned about the surge in permanent residents at Green Pastures Cemetery; a former boyfriend Gwen anxiously avoids; the question of who murdered her latest dinner guest and why; and paintball vampires prowling around. Introductions are fast and brief in this ambitious issue, leaving me with anticipation for the next issue and hoping it doesn't fall flat under its own weighty cuteness. Michael Allred's artwork melds with the odd characters and their peculiar talents well enough to keep the tone balanced for the light and dark drama-kitsch writer Chris Roberson is aiming for.

DC Comics sent me a courtesy copy for this review.