By: Scott Snyder (writer), Riccardo Burchielli (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: Redneck werewolves?
Review: The big take away from this issue was the presence of the “werewolves”. Last issue kinda hinted at fact that theses guys were “canine”, but didn’t come right out and say “werewolf”. However, Snyder is quick to instruct us that these are werewolves with a twist: all of these various strains of vampires, and now werewolves and zombies are just different types of what he’s calling “abominations.” That’s a good take on things, because these folks really wouldn’t know how these critters differed anyway. This is the 1950s after all and the technology didn’t exist. In the 1950s, genetics hadn’t really advanced past Gregor Mendel and his wrinkly/smooth peas and the crude concept of “dominant” and “recessive” genes that they still teach in school to ensure that Americans have stupid ideas about genetics.
Having the potential for all of these monsters in a single world opens up a lot of possibilities. Imagine what kinds of funky things will happen when Snyder and Company get to the Vietnam War era! Or think of what the Soviets and East German scientists are up to behind the Iron Curtain! What if he explored the United State’s activities in Central and South America or our meddling with Iran? Basically, Snyder can continue this series for as long as he wants because he’s made it 100% open ended.
When I first sat down to write this review, my instinct was that this issue was much more direct. And it is. But it isn’t direct in the way I was originally thinking. My first instinct was that Snyder was just doing a horror story in this issue with most of the American History allegory falling to the wayside. I mean, we have a basic werewolf infestation and they need killing, so the good guys make some silver bullets and shoot the bastards. My error was in not immediately seeing the historical relevance of a group of white guys in 1950s Alabama who would kidnap black guys and kill them out in the countryside. Basically, the werewolf pack is the Ku Klux Klan and I was missing it because Snyder is usually a little subtler. Duh…
The other big thing in this issue was the presence of Riccardo Burchielli on art. For those unfamiliar, Burchielli was the artist on much of DMZ’s 72-issue run, so he is squarely within the Vertigo fold. I loved Burchielli on DMZ, but – honestly – I’m not sure he’s the right fit for a series like AV. For one thing, it’s really hard for me to even see his art without looking for Matty Roth or Zee to show up, or Burchielli’s killer NYC landscapes. But, even in DMZ, I never though action was Burchielli’s biggest strength. And, when you’re drawing the same vampires that have been rendered so energetically by Rafa Albuquerque, Sean Murphy, Matheus Santolouco and (last month) Roger Cruz… Well, you’re in tough company. Now, Burchielli does do a very nice job with the non-action elements of the issue. The problem is that there is so much vampire-on-werewolf action in this issue that there aren’t many quiet scenes for Burchielli to do his thing with facial expression, architecture, etc. If I were to armchair quarterback the Vertigo editors, I would have had Burchielli do issue #26 and have Roger Cruz do this issue.
All that being said, the art is still very attractive, it just isn’t quiet as good as the series has been considering this is a series that typically has A+ art.
Conclusion: A nice capstone on a 2-issue story that introduces some new critters to the AV universe.
Grade: B+
-Dean Stell
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