Issue Description

Witness the birth of a brand new species of vampire in this new ongoing series that begins with five extra-sized issues featuring back-to-back stories by exciting new writer Scott Snyder and the master of horror himself, Stephen King! When notorious outlaw Skinner Sweet is attacked by an old enemy (who happens to be a member of the undead), the first American vampire is born... a vampire powered by the sun, stronger, fiercer, and meaner than anything that came before. Plus... Pearl Jones is a struggling young actress in 1920s Los Angeles. But when her big break brings her face-to-face with an ancient evil, her Hollywood dream quickly turns into a brutal, shocking nightmare.

“Big Break” July 1925. Thirty miles east of Los Angeles, an automobile containing numerous devoured bodies meets a hooded figure in the desert. The hooded figure casts the bodies into a ravine. One of the bodies is Pearl Jones, who is barely alive.

Three days earlier, aspiring actresses Pearl Jones and Hattie Hargrove return to their shared boarding room after a day of work on the set. They notice a man (Skinner Sweet) who has been hanging around for the last three days. Later, as Pearl heads from her night job to her morning job, musician Henry Preston meets Pearl and eventually gets her to agree to a date.

Back at her acting gig, Pearl gets to stand-in with movie star Chase Hamilton, who invites her to a party being thrown by big-time movie producer B. D. Bloch. On their way to the party, Pearl and Hattie are harassed by Sweet, who is sitting by the pool again. Sweet advises Pearl to skip Bloch’s party and says he’s in town to “finish a bit of business” with Bloch. At the party, Mr. Hamilton takes Pearl into a room and presents her to Bloch and his associates, all of whom are vampires. The story ends with Pearl being attacked by several vampires.

“Bad Blood” The second half of the comic is told from the perspective of Will Bunting, a writer living in 1925 and recounting events that occurred in 1880. A young Bunting is present as the outlaw Skinner Sweet is being taken by train to be hanged. Sweet and his associates, Ronnie Jeeks and the Blackmouth Twins, had robbed the bank of the sun-sensitive Mr. Percy, whom retained the Pinkerton Agency’s services to capture Sweet. Also on the train are: James Book, the Pinkerton agent who captured Sweet; Agent Finch, Book’s boss; and Felix Camillo, a young, nervous deputy whose father Hector had turned in Sweet.

After a daring train wreck and escape involving his gang and a peppermint stick, Sweet tells Book that he sent Book’s fiancée a “really nasty” vintage bottle of wine. Mr. Percy confronts Sweet and company who pepper him with gunfire to no effect. Percy, a vampire, bites Skinner, Skinner pushes him off, shoots him in the head, and in the process, a fateful drop of blood from Percy lands in Skinner’s eye. Shortly thereafter, Percy slashes Skinner’s throat with his razor-sharp fingers. The survivors leave Sweet for dead as a smile creeps across his face.

American Vampire (2010)

Publisher

Vertigo

Volume Description

Created by Scott Snyder with artist Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire launched from Vertigo as a creator-owned ongoing series in 2010. It was originally supposed to feature an introduction written by Stephen King, but King opted to instead script the origin story of Skinner Sweet, which ran as a backup feature in the first five issues of the series.

The series runs in a format where series co-creator and artist Rafael Albuquerque will illustrate the main story arcs, then after those are complete, he will take a short time off to rest/gain lead in for the next, while a guest artist will illustrate a supplementary story that either focuses on a supporting character, or is a flashback.

With the success of American Vampire, Snyder wrote a limited series in 2011 called American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest, with art by Sean Murphy, that ran concurrently with the main ongoing series. Later in June 2012, a second miniseries titled American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares launched with Dustin Nguyen illustrating.

The ongoing series won both the 2011 Eisner Award and Harvey Award for Best New Series.

At New York Comic Con 2012, Snyder announced that following the conclusion of the Blacklist arc, after December's issue #34, the title would go on a temporary hiatus. During the break, Snyder mentioned that he and Albuquerque would continue to collaborate together, but didn't specify any further than that. The title is planned to resume publication in late 2013. During the hiatus, a special one shot starring vampire hunter Travis Kidd titled American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell would be released, with the story being co-written by Albuquerque. Following The Long Road to Hell, Vertigo would release American Vampire Anthology, featuring "lost" stories told by creators such as Greg Rucka, Jeff Lemire, Gail Simone, Francesco Francavilla, Becky Cloonan and more.

A full year after the hiatus was announced, news came out of NYCC 2013 that American Vampire would return in March now called American Vampire: Second Cycle.

Plot Summary

There is such a thing as vampire evolution. As the curse is inflicted upon new peoples of new lands, new bloodlines of vampires rise with their own unique characteristics and abilities. In the 1880s, the sadistic outlaw Skinner Sweet becomes the first American Vampire. He wars against other vampires and humans alike throughout American history and only intentionally sires one other of his kind, Pearl Jones who Sweet turns into a vampire in the 1920s.

The series would later jump to a few years later to the mid 30s, and focus on a young Las Vegas police officer by the name of Cashel McCogan (who would later co-star in American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest) as he is thrust into the war that Skinner Sweet waged against the ancient vampire species. Cash would eventually join the Vassals of the Morning Star, a vampire hunting organization after Sweet infects his unborn son, Gus, with his vampiric blood.

The series would then jump forward to the 40s, once again focusing on Pearl Jones' story, more specifically that of her human husband Henry Preston, who due to his age is denied entry to serve on the front lines in Japan during WWII, but joins the Vassals of the Morning Star on a secret mission to investigate Japanese experimentation with the vampire species. Unbeknownst to all but Henry, who plays dumb to the subject, Skinner Sweet is able to infiltrate the Vassals unit in which Henry serves. The arc eventually leads to a fight to the death between Pearl and Skinner, with some surprising revelations.

Following a short arc detailing Skinner Sweet's past before turning into a Vampire, the series' main story will jump into the 1950s, and follow a young vampire hunter by the name of Travis Kidd, who uses a set of wooden fangs to "bite back" the vampires. After Kidd's stories, the book stays in the 1950s, transition back to Pearl, where she joins the VMS and Skinner Sweet to kill hidden vampire covens within Hollywood. This arc, titled "The Blacklist" would change the dynamic of the entire series moving forward.

Collected EditionsAmerican Vampire Vol. 1 (#1-5)American Vampire Vol. 2 (#6-11)American Vampire Vol. 3 (#12-18 & American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1-5)American Vampire Vol. 4 (#19-27)American Vampire Vol. 5 (#28-34 & American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #1-5)

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