By: Scott Snyder (writer), Dustin Nguyen (art), John Kalisz (colors), Steve Wands (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: A vampiric battle on the Black Sea.
Review (with minor SPOILERS): One thing I’ve loved about the American Vampire saga of late is how it has been an allegory for the birth and growth of the United States. I’m a history buff, so that stuff interests me a lot.
But I think it was a good thing for Snyder to put the allegory away for an issue and just tell an exciting vampire story in this finale. Snyder ultimately has to decide whether he is primarily telling an entertaining vampire story (with allegorical themes) or an allegory for the birth of the United States (with vampires). Allegories can get SO heavy-handed and predictable that it’s wise to keep the allegory as a flavoring and not the main course.
What made this issue special, was the return of some horror elements. Of course, AV comics always have vampires running around, but they tend to be so action packed that they remind me more of Aliens than of Alien. This issue was the reverse whether it was plucky little Gus being menaced by a really creepy Mr. Glass or Hobbs dealing with Dracula himself in the darkened hold of a ship on the Black Sea. It was just plain creepy.
Of course, Dustin Nguyen has a huge hand in both of those creepy scenes. If you remember back to issue #1, it was Nguyen’s drawing of Glass that made me say, “Nguyen draws the best smiles in comics.” Now he has transformed Mr. Glass into a frightening character with kinda elongated fingers who chases small children through the dark. Shiver… The Dracula scene was a start-turn for Nguyen too….he is so versatile how he mixes up his style as Dracula makes Hobbs see visions of his dead family as he takes him apart (literally). In a way, this art makes you appreciate how heroic Hobbs is/was. Would you want to run down into the dark of a ship’s hold when you know that Dracula is down there?
There are also some interesting developments from a big picture point of view. With Hobbs dead, Felecia Book is taking over the VMS leadership. That opens up a lot of interesting stories because now she’ll have to interact with Skinner again and I presume that is what the series will be about once it returns from it’s upcoming hiatus.
Conclusion: Very, very good issue. Action packed, creepy and full of splendid art.
Grade: A
– Dean Stell
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