Post by blackdragon on May 24, 2009 21:13:33 GMT -8
The following is a bunch of comics that have attempted to cover our kind. It’s not a complete list, but should keep you busy for a little while. Before I start, just let it be known that Cassidy from Preacher is hands down the best vampire to ever appear in comics. More than likely it is just because of the particular comic (Preacher) that he appeared in.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8
While there have been other Buffy comics, this one is considered what the humans call canon, since Joss Whedon himself has declared it to be “season 8”, picking up shortly after where the television series ended. If you were a fan of the television show, then I would recommend it simply for the writing because 1) many of the shows writers have done work on the comic and it still has that Whedonesque humor that made the show so appealing and 2) because the artwork is horrendous. The interior art is ok for modern comic standards, but when they base some big reveals on the art and you can’t tell who is who, then that leads to confusion. Especially when they have Jo Chen creating some of the most gorgeous covers in print today. Joss could have easily got a better artist on board. I will mention that Angel has also done this, but the artwork there is even worse that I can’t recommend reading it if you happened to find it on a human victim that you just drained of blood.
Fray
If you are looking for a Buffy-verse comic to read and only want to sign up for a few issues, then check out Fray. This came out back in 2001 and ran for eight issues, which were all written by Joss Whedon. It came out around the same time as the Buffy television show was ending and introduced a weapon used by Buffy (the scythe that is not a scythe) before it aired on the show. It takes place in the future and has some really great artwork by Karl Moline.
I am legion
This is an ongoing comic from Devil’s Due (Go Chicago!) which contains amazing artwork by John Cassaday, but is 3 issues into a 6 issue series and has yet to impress me with its storytelling. But who knows, the last 3 may surprise me.
The Complete Dracula
This is a 5 part miniseries which has just begun that is going to attempt to cover Stoker’s novel as well as including “Dracula’s Guest.” My recommendation is to skip it and read the original novel or pick up the collected versions of this next title.
Tomb of Dracula
This is a classic Marvel series from the 70s that had its fair share of good writing and great artwork. Most current readers have been drawn to it because of the appearance of the character Blade who originated within its pages.
Hellsing
You know…I really want to like Hellsing, I really do. I love manga. It has great artwork. It’s got a kickass vampire in it by the name of Alucard (spell it backwards…*gasps*). It’s got good writing and great action, but I just can’t. It’s certainly popular. The manga still continues to go strong. The anime sells well. They even redid the anime and have now called it “original video animation” or OVA so that they can basically resell the anime with a few extra changes back to the original source material. And hell…look around this damn city. You can barely go 5 blocks without running into somebody with Alucard in their name. I just can’t put my finger on it though…it just doesn’t make me want to read it, but to each their own.
Blood and Water
This was a 5 issues series that came out back in 2003 and is actually one that I would recommend reading. It was written by Judd Winick for you old Real World fans out there. It deals with the consequences of changing somebody into a vampire because, as we all know, it’s not all fun and games once one is changed. This is an interesting spin on vampires and the subculture that exists in the human world.
Crimson
This one goes back to 1998 and was a fun read. If you happen across it, I would say give it a shot, but I don’t know if it is worth digging around for. The artwork by Humberto Ramos works well here, but his exaggerated style doesn’t really fit with other titles, even though he is still a sought after artist today. But here it does work. There is some cliché storytelling like the main character being a chosen one and so on, but that seems to be common in this genre.
30 Days of Night
I never saw the movie, but the comic was rather good. The premise is simple. The story takes place in Barrow, Alaska where the sun sets and does not rise for about 30 days. So a group of vampires converge on the small town and the fun begins. I hate, hate, HATE Ben Templesmith’s artwork, but again, it works for this story. Everywhere else it should be burned.
Bite Club
Bite Club was a 6 issue miniseries back in 2004 and was as if the characters in the Sopranos were vampires, with a little twist of Scarface in there. It was semi-amusing, but not something I would go out of my way to read.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8
While there have been other Buffy comics, this one is considered what the humans call canon, since Joss Whedon himself has declared it to be “season 8”, picking up shortly after where the television series ended. If you were a fan of the television show, then I would recommend it simply for the writing because 1) many of the shows writers have done work on the comic and it still has that Whedonesque humor that made the show so appealing and 2) because the artwork is horrendous. The interior art is ok for modern comic standards, but when they base some big reveals on the art and you can’t tell who is who, then that leads to confusion. Especially when they have Jo Chen creating some of the most gorgeous covers in print today. Joss could have easily got a better artist on board. I will mention that Angel has also done this, but the artwork there is even worse that I can’t recommend reading it if you happened to find it on a human victim that you just drained of blood.
Fray
If you are looking for a Buffy-verse comic to read and only want to sign up for a few issues, then check out Fray. This came out back in 2001 and ran for eight issues, which were all written by Joss Whedon. It came out around the same time as the Buffy television show was ending and introduced a weapon used by Buffy (the scythe that is not a scythe) before it aired on the show. It takes place in the future and has some really great artwork by Karl Moline.
I am legion
This is an ongoing comic from Devil’s Due (Go Chicago!) which contains amazing artwork by John Cassaday, but is 3 issues into a 6 issue series and has yet to impress me with its storytelling. But who knows, the last 3 may surprise me.
The Complete Dracula
This is a 5 part miniseries which has just begun that is going to attempt to cover Stoker’s novel as well as including “Dracula’s Guest.” My recommendation is to skip it and read the original novel or pick up the collected versions of this next title.
Tomb of Dracula
This is a classic Marvel series from the 70s that had its fair share of good writing and great artwork. Most current readers have been drawn to it because of the appearance of the character Blade who originated within its pages.
Hellsing
You know…I really want to like Hellsing, I really do. I love manga. It has great artwork. It’s got a kickass vampire in it by the name of Alucard (spell it backwards…*gasps*). It’s got good writing and great action, but I just can’t. It’s certainly popular. The manga still continues to go strong. The anime sells well. They even redid the anime and have now called it “original video animation” or OVA so that they can basically resell the anime with a few extra changes back to the original source material. And hell…look around this damn city. You can barely go 5 blocks without running into somebody with Alucard in their name. I just can’t put my finger on it though…it just doesn’t make me want to read it, but to each their own.
Blood and Water
This was a 5 issues series that came out back in 2003 and is actually one that I would recommend reading. It was written by Judd Winick for you old Real World fans out there. It deals with the consequences of changing somebody into a vampire because, as we all know, it’s not all fun and games once one is changed. This is an interesting spin on vampires and the subculture that exists in the human world.
Crimson
This one goes back to 1998 and was a fun read. If you happen across it, I would say give it a shot, but I don’t know if it is worth digging around for. The artwork by Humberto Ramos works well here, but his exaggerated style doesn’t really fit with other titles, even though he is still a sought after artist today. But here it does work. There is some cliché storytelling like the main character being a chosen one and so on, but that seems to be common in this genre.
30 Days of Night
I never saw the movie, but the comic was rather good. The premise is simple. The story takes place in Barrow, Alaska where the sun sets and does not rise for about 30 days. So a group of vampires converge on the small town and the fun begins. I hate, hate, HATE Ben Templesmith’s artwork, but again, it works for this story. Everywhere else it should be burned.
Bite Club
Bite Club was a 6 issue miniseries back in 2004 and was as if the characters in the Sopranos were vampires, with a little twist of Scarface in there. It was semi-amusing, but not something I would go out of my way to read.
