Scan barcode
A review by mackle13
American Vampire, Vol. 4 by Scott Snyder
3.0
The volume has three stories in it: 'The Beast in the Cave', 'Death Race' (from which the cover picture comes), and 'The Nocturnes'.
*** possible minor spoilers***
'Beast in the Cave' was by far the worst. For one, I felt the new backstory of Skinner and Book felt kind of ret-conny, and I'm not sure it really added anything to their relationship - though I suppose more might come from it.
Speaking of ret-con, the whole thing about Mimiteh being this other breed of American Vampire, long before the turning of Skinner, sort of belies the whole "omg, new kind of vampire!" thing - though I suppose you could explain that with her holing up in a cave most of the time.
Which brings us to the real downside of the story - this chick hides out in a cave, without feeding, for years and years, without feeding - but when dudemar goes into the cave she's all pert and nubile and, of course, naked.
Yeah - the whole point of this story is for hot naked chick. Boo.
Luckily it's not that long of a story...
'Death Race', conversely, was the best of the lot. It introduces us to vampire hunter Travis, a greaser type, hunting the vampire responsible for the deaths of his family.
This was a really good story and I liked Travis a lot, and hope to see him more in future installments. With the way the story ended, with Travis finding out who was responsible but not being able to get his revenge - and with the Vassals trying to recruit him - I'm sure this won't be the last we see of him.
'The Nocturnes' was an ok story, where we see more of Calvin Poole from the Pacific Theater. We get a little backstory for him, and, through him, experience some of the racial tension of the 50s.
This story mostly serves to set up future installments, with a brief but pivotal glimpse of Pearl and Henry.
*** possible minor spoilers***
'Beast in the Cave' was by far the worst. For one, I felt the new backstory of Skinner and Book felt kind of ret-conny, and I'm not sure it really added anything to their relationship - though I suppose more might come from it.
Speaking of ret-con, the whole thing about Mimiteh being this other breed of American Vampire, long before the turning of Skinner, sort of belies the whole "omg, new kind of vampire!" thing - though I suppose you could explain that with her holing up in a cave most of the time.
Which brings us to the real downside of the story - this chick hides out in a cave, without feeding, for years and years, without feeding - but when dudemar goes into the cave she's all pert and nubile and, of course, naked.
Yeah - the whole point of this story is for hot naked chick. Boo.
Luckily it's not that long of a story...
'Death Race', conversely, was the best of the lot. It introduces us to vampire hunter Travis, a greaser type, hunting the vampire responsible for the deaths of his family.
This was a really good story and I liked Travis a lot, and hope to see him more in future installments. With the way the story ended, with Travis finding out who was responsible but not being able to get his revenge - and with the Vassals trying to recruit him - I'm sure this won't be the last we see of him.
'The Nocturnes' was an ok story, where we see more of Calvin Poole from the Pacific Theater. We get a little backstory for him, and, through him, experience some of the racial tension of the 50s.
This story mostly serves to set up future installments, with a brief but pivotal glimpse of Pearl and Henry.