American Vampire, Volume 2

The second volume of American Vampire picks up about 10 years after the events in volume one. I won't go into to many details about the plot, I'd rather not give anything away.

Brief plot summary-

Skinner Sweet has moved to a booming Las Vegas to make his fortune, and we get introduced to a new character, the police chief of Las Vegas, Cash McCogan. Sweet fits in perfectly in Sin City, and the contrast of character between the do good police chief and the outlaw vampire providers a great story. We also get a new villain and learn more about the vampires in American Vampire.

The other part of the story finds Pearl Jones and her husband trying to lead a normal life together, well at least as normal as it can be anyway. I think this part of the story was used more as a vehicle to set up future volumes. While I did enjoy it, it was not as interesting as the Las Vegas section, it did a good job of what I think it was intended to do and helped set up the next volume in the series, while giving us some good back story as well.

The two plots mix together nicely, playing off each other in a few areas and advancing the overall story. Fans of the first volume might be a little upset that Skinner is not a point of view character in this volume, but he is worked into the story in a fashion that we have come to expect form the outlaw. Skinner is still Skinner, and I was glad that the author has not tried to make him into a nice guy.

This volume advances the world of American Vampire, introducing us to things hinted at in volume one, and also does a good job setting us up for the next addition to this great series.

This is what Vampires are suppose to be, you will find no sparkling emo heart throbs in these pages, so if are the type that thinks vampire should be sweet, sexy, and nice you will be disappointed. These vampires are killers, and they remind us that real vampires don't sparkle!

American Vampire is a fun, fast read, the art work is great and if you haven't given this awesome new series a try I recommend that you do so.

If you haven't heard the news yet, American Vampire is still awesome. After Stephen King's contributions to the beginning chapter in the series, many fans/critics worried how Scott Snyder would handle the story on his own. I can assure you, those worries can be safely put to rest.

Volume 2 collects two story arcs, 'Devil in the Sand', issues 6-9 and 'The Way Out', issues 10 & 11. It also continues the top-notch hardcover collection of what is one of Vertigo's instant classics. The story is definitely worth re-reading and sharing with friends, and these books are built to endure, not just last. The dust-jacket is unusually thick, and the same can be said about the fan-preferred glossy pages.

'Devil in the Sand' takes place 11 years after the first chapter ended. Snyder takes the series to even darker territory, and he also reigns in the action for some old western cop-drama. It manages to be about the main characters Pearl & Skinner, while focusing more on Chief McCogan's story as well. 'Devil in the Sand' concludes in a tragic yet totally awesome way.

In 'The Way Out', a few over-arching concerns catch up with Pearl and Henry such as Pearl's old friend, Hattie and Henry's continued aging. It's probably the most personal chapter in American Vampire so far, as it gives a raw and fresh perspective on love between an immortal vampire and a mortal human.

I love Rafael Albuqueregue's artwork. He shows an almost uncanny command for the building blocks of the comic medium. It's like he just pulls mastered techniques out of his ugh.. thinking cap. 'Devil in the Sand's look has a grittier feel to it, mostly due to beautifully done ink-washing and effective shadowing.

I'd like to point out that guest talent Mateus Santolouco, pencils issues 10 & 11. He does a pretty bang-up job of working with the established design and style for the artwork. Much like Albuquereque, I think Santolouco owes a lot to comic series from the 80's like Grimjack or Swamp Thing.

American Vampire is not a re-vamp(haha.. get it?) of the vampire genre. If anything it's taking the genre back to many of its roots. Skinner has claws and fangs; he's not going to get glitter on your wood stake. (Did I mention it's not for kids?) The series works within vampire lore, and also as a western. The story itself spans across decades of American history. To say it's well written is an understatement. Scott Snyder is a booming talent in the comic industry right now, and this is definitely his first masterpiece. I really can't say much more about Albuquereque, other than he's definitely a name I'm going to follow from now on.

Buy This !!

Comics collections usually try to sell each brand-spanking new volume as something exciting, special and unique -- and not simply as a piece of a larger story -- so I'm surprised to see that this second installment of the DC/Vertigo American Vampire series is credited simply as VOLUME TWO.

It's doubly odd to see that, since AMERICAN VAMPIRE is clearly "written for the trade" -- the practice generally disliked by the every-Wednesday-at-the-comics-shop audience -- with this book reprinting two discrete stories, one three issues long and the other one only two. (A more novelistic telling would avoid such things, treating every issue as something like a chapter -- here, the essential story-telling unit is, ironically, neither the single issue nor the collection, but pieces in between them in size.)

Both of those stories -- "Devil in the Sand," in which Las Vegas police chief Cash McCogan deals with vampires, series central character Skinner Sweet, FBI anti-vampire agents, and the in-process Boulder Dam in 1936; and "The Way Out," in which the past begins to catch up with Pearl Jones, slightly later that same year -- are written by series creator Scott Snyder. (As expected, Stephen King just scripted his piece of the first story and then went back to his own work.) Rafael Albuquerque, who drew the first storyline, comes back for "Devil," and Mateus Santolouco draws "Way Out" in a very similar style. (They're both basically in the modern-horror tradition defined by Guy Davis on B.P.R.D. over the past decade -- slightly smearier than a precise realism, but with a careful eye for markers of time and place and a willingness to go almost Paul Pope-ishly expressive in action sequences.)

Both of those stories are engrossing enough while they're going on, but they end up being entirely middle in retrospect -- "Devil" sets up Cash (and his FBI pals) as potentially important characters for later stories, but doesn't do much with Sweet, and "Way Out" is entirely an extended fake-out, serving only to show what Jones has been doing for the past decade and getting her moving again. Again, if AMERICAN VAMPIRE were just telling a longer story to begin with, this wouldn't be a problem, but it tries to pretend that these are two individual stories, when they really aren't: they're both prologues to things Snyder will (one hopes) get to sometime later.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE is stylish and professional, in the usual Vertigo style -- lots of nudity, blood, danger, explosions and moral conundrums, to make it all as "adult" in the HBO vein as possible. But this is the rare trade that might actually read better as individual issues: if you're just getting a piece of the story anyway, it might be better to get those pieces more regularly.

I'm obsessed with the American Vampire series.
This issue showed up in perfect condition, can't wait to read it.

Said "Like New" but, the dust jacket was torn about 3 inches down both sides on the back!!!!!!

Great series with my favorite artist.

good overall. only it didnt came with the cover

The second volume of an amazing series, I was very happy to have finally bought and read it.

The story continues with Skinner Sweet and the people he has...met...in his long life.

There is a new kind of vampire and they aren't scared of the sun.

great series

This continued story had me hooked from the first page and the story has a lot of depth that maked me want to read more.