Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Mateus Santolouco1936 – American Vampire Pearl Jones and her husband Henry Preston have tried to live a quiet life ever since their showdown with a coven of vicious Hollywood vampires. But when a chance encounter brings them face-to-face with old enemies, they’ll learn the hard way that sometimes, the fight comes to you. . . with a vengeance. Catch up with your favorite vampire-killing husband-and-wife team in this 2-part tale of booze, bullets and bloodlines.
With the end of the latest arc of “American Vampire,” series artist Rafael Albuquerque steps out and his Brazilian BFF Mateus Santolouco steps in for a two issue arc centered around Pearl and some ghosts from both her and her husband Henry’s past.
Find out my thoughts after the jump.
I’m not going to lie – the prospect of Rafael Albuquerque leaving “American Vampire” even for two issues was not an appetizing one for me. As a complete and utter fanboy of his work, I was bummed at the idea.
Thankfully, the powers that be placed his “Mondo Urbano” collaborator Mateus Santolouco on this book for these two issues, and it works pretty damn well in terms of being a seamless transition of art styles. In “Urbano,” the two exacted rather differing styles, but when the cards are on the table Santolouco was able to morph his style into something that often looks like an uncanny Albuquerque impersonation while maintaining his own style. His style is a bit looser, a bit more heavily defined, but really nice looking work that makes me want to see more of his work in American comics.
My only complaints about the book visually are in two regards: some of the scenes in the Jazz bar that Pearl and Henry go to feel a bit cluttered, and the design on the last three pages is a bit confusing. Those last pages should have been standout moments, but I kept having to flip back to figure out certain things. That’s not entirely Santolouco’s fault, I think that the idea behind the last three pages might have been a slight reach from a logic standpoint overall, but I accept it because the rest of the issue was very, very solid.
Scott Snyder has rapidly risen in comics after the launch of this book and his “Detective Comics” run because of something very basic that he understands about the craft of comics. If you get the characters, the rest will start to fall into place. This issue is, for the most part, a slow burn character study that juxtaposes the current situations of former best friends Pearl and Hattie, and through internal dialog and nuanced character beats, Snyder encapsulates those two characters and their fundamental differences in exquisite fashion.
In a lot of ways, this issue reminded me of my favorite issue of my favorite series – Scalped #35 – in that it explained the subtleties of Pearl and Henry’s relationship with well crafted internal dialog. I love the idea that this couple is thinking the same things but not sharing them. That’s an important touchstone on human relationships, and Snyder does a superb job of expanding on that relationship and bolstering the value of it (as realistically, it’s been 10 years comic time since we’ve gotten significant time with them).
I love that the first three quarters of the book though are just pure character driven funnels to the plotting turn at the end. You know that in the next issue Hattie and Pearl’s worlds are going to come screaming together, and these two American vampires are either going to have it out or team up (odds in Vegas are weighed heavily towards the former).
The point is, Snyder understands that when you push a book’s plot through natural character beats, the plot and everything else will work together naturally. This is another issue filled with that understanding, and another example of why this is one of the most consistently solid books out there.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
