Scott Snyder’s new nightmare continues in the second issue of his new mini-series, brought to life by Dustin Nguyen. Read onwards to discover what new horror this team has unveiled in the already dark corners of the “American Vampire” universe.
Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Dustin NguyenFelicia Book reluctantly rejoins the vampire hunting agency known as the Vassals of the Morning Star. They have to track down the deadliest vampire of all time — but it’s not an easy task, because Felicia is plagued by her own past, Agent Hobbes is haunted by an old enemy, and young Gus is beginning to have horrible nightmares!
The solicit hardly does this issue justice. With only thirty two pages this team fits in everything the paragraph above promised, plus a whole lot more! Cold War Russians! History! Mysterious journals! This mini’s second installment takes one of the original and most overused characters of vampire fiction and grafts the concept seamlessly into the roots of the main title’s slowly unfolding history and ongoing story.
Dracula. What shopping malls are to zombie stories, Dracula is to almost every vampire story out there. Whether he is the main character, the eventual cause of everything, or just a fleeting reference in a painting or backhanded comment, Dracula eventually rears his Magyar mug in vampire-centric stories. What is impressive is how Snyder incorporates Drac and the lore of the original Stoker novel without it seeming as though Snyder told Vertigo he’d write another mini-series and then thought, “Crap. I ran out of ideas. I know! Dracula.” No, everything herein is a fresh spin on an old tale.
What else can be said about Snyder’s writing that hasn’t already been mentioned? The story builds at a slow and steady pace. Heck, this issue is almost a chronological standstill, as the entire thing takes place in Ms. Book’s apartment in Paris. Yet, the sheer amount of information that passes between Agent Hobbes and Former Agent Book is massive. Characterization is also dead center. It has been a while since “American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest,” and the readers’ last encounter with Felicia Book; new readers might not know her at all. Yet, her motivations and desires are simply and succinctly stated. Hobbes remains as brusk as ever, yet his rising terror at this whole debacle is hard to miss. To make a character who is as much of a hard-case as Hobbes as apologetic and scared as he is in this issue is hard, and makes him a much more sympathetic character than he has appeared thus far.
Speaking of sympathy and characterization, the reviewer of the previous issue was dead on about Mr. Glass. All we have so far is a creepily cheery demeanor and a dead rat, and yet by the end of the issue, one gets the feeling that Mr. Glass might be a character you love to hate ranked up there with the Governor from “The Walking Dead.” Also, try to read his dialogue and not hear him as Bruce Timm voicing The Creeper. It isn’t easy. Considering that Dracula is a creature of Old Europe, and Glass is quite clearly the annoying American tourist stereotype, it makes one wonder how the two paired up, and thirsty for the history between the two. If this tale doesn’t come to light during this mini, then pretty please a Mr. Glass one-shot in the near future, Mr. Synder?
Dustin Nguyen is no stranger to some of the darker landscapes of comics. Every panel has a murky, smokey feel to it that evokes a feeling of dying sunlight and misty moors. Many of the layouts are superb, and go way beyond simple panel setups. Without giving anything away, just look at pages two and three of this issue for some very non-traditional comic book eye-candy. This reviewer honestly cannot wait to see what this team’s vision of ‘Dracula’ ends up looking like.
The issue wraps up with a little Cold War intrigue and much spooky foreshadowing. Cap it all off with a cliffhanger ending, and already you are wishing it was this time next month. If the next three issue can hold up to the standard the first two have set, “American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares” could be in the running for one of the best mini-series of 2012.
Final Verdict: 9.0- Buy It!
