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A review by otherwyrld
American Vampire, Vol. 3 by Scott Snyder
4.0
Volume 3 of this series is absolutely massive - there are 12 or 13 single issues in this one volume (as opposed to the rather anaemic 5-6 issues most graphic novels consist of), and there's a lot to like in these stories.
First off, there's a nice prologue story set in 1919, where American vampire Skinner Sweet runs into a carnival showing a bowdlerised version of his life and "death". Needless to say, he reacts rather predictably to all this, but the real entertainment is when he runs into his old flame Kitty, who is reduced to putting herself on display for the entertainment of others. When she admits to being the one who betrayed Sweet to the law, he is about to tear her head off when she makes some rather cogent comments.
"It was all over. Everything. The world we knew. Paved over. Fenced in. Everyone saw what was coming, everyone except you." and later
"... the world we belonged to is gone. Except for you, baby. It was always in you. The West, it's wherever you go."
This is an interesting point to make which really struck me at the time. If you can see the series as an alternative view of American history, done from the point of it's first vampire, then Skinner Sweet represents a part of history that is both overly romanticised and quite definitely a part of the past the the USA has grown up from.
Ahem, being a bit long-winded about the smallest part of the book, so lets get to the rest. There are 2 separate stories in the rest. The first follows Henry Preston (who is married to second American vampire Pearl) as he fights a secret mission on a Japanese island. There he teams up with Skinner Sweet to take down a nest of vampires that are being experimented upon by the notorious Unit 731 of the Japanese army. Its brutal and gripping, and leads to.
The second story follows vampire hunters Felicia Book and Cash McCogan in an undercover mission to Nazi Germany in a bid to find a cure for vampirism. What they actually find are and there follows a hectic chase as the two of them try to escape. This story feels like it came from the pages of Hellboy, which is no bad thing, especially as the story ends with some uber-vampires being awakened from a long sleep. The cure they seek isn't exactly as advertised, but it may give a future to Cash's son, infected with vampirism in the womb.
4 stars is maybe a bit generous, but it was a lot of fun so lets called it 3 1/2 stars.
First off, there's a nice prologue story set in 1919, where American vampire Skinner Sweet runs into a carnival showing a bowdlerised version of his life and "death". Needless to say, he reacts rather predictably to all this, but the real entertainment is when he runs into his old flame Kitty, who is reduced to putting herself on display for the entertainment of others. When she admits to being the one who betrayed Sweet to the law, he is about to tear her head off when she makes some rather cogent comments.
"It was all over. Everything. The world we knew. Paved over. Fenced in. Everyone saw what was coming, everyone except you." and later
"... the world we belonged to is gone. Except for you, baby. It was always in you. The West, it's wherever you go."
This is an interesting point to make which really struck me at the time. If you can see the series as an alternative view of American history, done from the point of it's first vampire, then Skinner Sweet represents a part of history that is both overly romanticised and quite definitely a part of the past the the USA has grown up from.
Ahem, being a bit long-winded about the smallest part of the book, so lets get to the rest. There are 2 separate stories in the rest. The first follows Henry Preston (who is married to second American vampire Pearl) as he fights a secret mission on a Japanese island. There he teams up with Skinner Sweet to take down a nest of vampires that are being experimented upon by the notorious Unit 731 of the Japanese army. Its brutal and gripping, and leads to
Spoiler
the creation of the third American vampire, who accidentally gets a vial of Pearls blood broken on himThe second story follows vampire hunters Felicia Book and Cash McCogan in an undercover mission to Nazi Germany in a bid to find a cure for vampirism. What they actually find are
Spoiler
a whole battalion of Nazi Vampires4 stars is maybe a bit generous, but it was a lot of fun so lets called it 3 1/2 stars.