Newcomers are welcome as the rules of “American Vampire” appear to change in the lead up to a bloodbath for all manner of beings!
Written by Scott SnyderCover by Rafael Albuquerque
Illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque
Colored by Dave McCaig
Lettered by Steve WandsSkinner, Pearl and a surprising new ally team up to pull off their game-changing heist of the Freedom Train, but time is running out for a nation in crisis. The Beast’s plan for mass terror and world domination is finally revealed in sick detail, and as humanity spirals toward extinction, there’s a devastating twist. When an unexpected force returns to pick off the VMS’s top officials, Travis and Cal discover that the ultimate evil has competition—and the final battle will be more merciless than anyone imagined.
“American Vampire” has been a lot of things, gone to a lot of eras and visited many creatures. At a glance, it can be difficult to figure out what has gone on across the ongoing series as well as the various miniseries. Threats pop up and are destroyed with regularity, though many are one-time deals, recurring abominus subspecies notwithstanding. As such, for newcomers to the series, it might be a bit hard to just jump right in and read into “American Vampire 1976” for the apparent finale. Normally, most writers would make very little effort to accommodate a new audience, relying on them knowing at least the majority of what has been going on to drive down into the meat of the conclusion. However, Scott Snyder is not the average writer in this regard.
Instead of just throwing readers into what comes next, Snyder takes the time to explain, whether directly or indirectly, about the basics of major events around the roughly century-long core narrative of the saga. From the amusingly told (but overall accurate) explanation of a character’s survival by Skinner Sweet on one half of the story to nods toward the ‘Lord of Nightmares’ miniseries arc on the other, everything the audience needs to know is on full display, though it make take some imagination to explain how exactly the rules have apparently changed from when the series left off roughly four years ago. On top of those, he also makes a rather interesting and amusing sidelong reference to a conspiracy theory around the 1970’s, without drawing too much attention to it beyond a single sentence, showing faith in readers’ ability to pick up on the nod.
Of course, there could have been a little more time spent on what some of the terms mean after nearly half a decade away, but Snyder apparently relies upon the fact that most, though not all, of the relevant story beats were examined in a hardcover collection two years prior, and upon people seeking out those plots, as told in editor’s notes along the way. Even then, an unfortunately significant amount of details about the events of the approximately nine years skipped since before this ‘1976’ run are left to the imagination, including events that readers likely would have enjoyed actually seeing instead of being told across narration.
All across “American Vampire 1976” #2, the characters’ flaws and personalities more or less speak for themselves, their interactions highly entertaining whether they irritate or bolster one another. From Caleb and Travis to Pearl, Skinner, and their other partner, their animosity, friendship, or ambivalence shows what several arcs may have been needed to tell for others, giving the impression of years working together and the adventures they have had away from the viewer’s eye, and tells without dialogue the perils of losing one’s skills as they get older while your compatriots ceased to age. These very interactions make one villain’s role, mostly separate from the pack, all the more intriguing due to how lonely and terrified he is, how detached he is from anyone else to call upon for support as the proverbial end of days approaches.
Much like his work on Dark Horse Comics’s “Hidden Society” in the interim, Rafael Albuquerque shows that he is still very much capable of working his way around fantastical urban horror. His lines are distinct, but soft, creating a sense of realism throughout the piece that makes the violence hit all the harder. At the same time, the detail is not too intense, almost being calming in spite of the terror going on within the pages. Events like an arrival of a terrifying enemy from earlier in the plot work their way in almost casually, merging a relaxed air and disturbing circumstances into something truly horrifying in a way that encapsulates the insidious nature of the character himself. Meanwhile, that merger between distinct lines and soft touches works in another direction, becoming sharp and focused when vampires are ready to fight and bare their fangs in full so as to give a definite appearance of change from one status to the other, or to emphasize the anguish of what they and those around them go through over the years.
While Albuquerque’s artwork is already fantastic, it is Dave McCaig’s colors that truly make it rise above the rest. Much like the illustrator, his colors appear relatively soft, working well into the artwork to enhance the many emotions given by any scene or even individual panel. The sepia-like tones of a flashback seem to be almost blurry in contrast to the sharper present day, showing a sense of lost time over the decades. Meanwhile, the oranges, greens, and yellows, among other colors, show off the dirt and grime of the protagonists’ unsavory business, whilst emphasis on the Tongue have a far darker appearance than in the 2015 ‘Second Cycle’ run, nearly completely black aside from their gaping maws in an appearance not too far away from their strongest member, making them appear all the more inhuman on one hand while also perhaps detracting a bit from their uncannily disturbing monstrous appearance on the other hand..
Final Verdict: 8.0– Intense moments work together with seamless recaps to continue this story forward.
