American Vampire vol. 7
Yesterday, I talked about the latest volume in a series that comes out on an irregular basis because it appears that its creators can’t get their act together. Meanwhile, writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque put “American Vampire” on hiatus for a year so that they could work on other projects and eventually bring it back for an uninterrupted run of issues together. Half of that plan worked out quite well for them. Unfortunately it’s the half that allowed Snyder to deliver “Batman” on a monthly basis, win an Eisner for “The Wake,” and launch “Wytches” at Image with Jock, and for Albuquerque to take on the final issues of “Animal Man,” give us an “American Vampire” story he scripted himself, and presumably bank a few issues of his forthcoming creator-owned series “Ei8ht” from Dark Horse. “American Vampire” itself continues on when its creators have time for it, with issues being re-solicited as necessary. This volume isn’t as bad as my buildup will likely make it sound, but there are some uncomfortable bumps as it starts the run-up to the end of the series.
It was safe to assume that after surviving a vampire attack on the headquarters of the Vassals of the Morning Star and having the love of her life die in her arms, Pearl Jones was ready for a life less exciting than the one she was currently living. That’s why she moved back home, told the locals that she was her own daughter, and started a safe haven for runaway vampire kids. The locals may not be the most open-minded sort, but after pulling a shotgun on the group chasing a little black girl onto her property it’s clear Pearl has more fun dealing with their sort than, say, the group of full-grown Carpathians that turned her. Problem is that this little girl, May, has brought more than simple human trouble into Pearl’s life. The Gray Trader has finally made its presence known and it has plans for all vampires, including Skinner Sweet.
This is very much a “coming out of retirement” moment for Pearl as her confrontation with the Gray Trader makes it clear that this thing is a force that must be stopped. We get to see that through what his influence/infection does to May and it makes for an intermittently rousing bit of storytelling. That’s mainly due to the fact that you can almost see Snyder ticking off all of the boxes for the conventions of this kind of story. Hey, Pearl has a good life. Oh, she meets up with an old friend who heralds bad tidings. Wow, that’s one nasty monster! Alright, it’s time to plan for how to beat the bad guy.
That’s not to say that this kind of story isn’t entertaining. Snyder is good with creating memorable details that make conventional stories entertaining, Albuquerque has a good design sense for monsters, and both know how to deliver an action-packed story. The opening scene with the Native Americans is a good example of all these things, as is the fight against the Gray Trader and its servants on Pearl’s homestead. You’ve also got bits like Skinner getting angry at some thugs for insulting his bike, Cal and Hope’s last-minute rescue, the kids bonding by showing their vampire faces, and Skinner’s description of Hell strewn throughout the main story that make for an entertaining read overall.
Where the creators start to lose me is in the buildup to what looks like the end of the series. The end of Pearl’s self-imposed retirement is one indication, we also get told about a prophecy involving seven vampire species to close the cycle and a reference to the Native American Vampire from back in vol. 4 is thrown in for good measure. Though the Gray Trader makes a good case for himself as the series’ “big bad” here, I’m concerned about Snyder’s ultimate purpose for the character. We’re told that the Gray Trader is not only the first vampire, but the actual Devil and Skinner has the story of Hell to go along with it. The thing even has his own cadre of (fallen?) angels to do his dirty work here. Not only does this feel like a threat that is far too big for what has been a street-level take on vampires up to this point, I’m afraid that we’re going to get the origin of Heaven and Hell, and maybe some other biblical concepts, Scott Snyder-style. After he gave us the very silly and rushed origin of life on Earth in “The Wake,” I’m not sure I can take much more of the writer’s brand of creationism and still keep a straight face.
Oh yeah, while Skinner remains the best character in the series we find out something about him at the end of the main story that shows him to have wound up in a horror movie cliche. Which one? Well, Weird Al pointed out that not telling anyone about it is just plain “Tacky.” I just hope Snyder has a clever way to subvert this cliche in mind because it doesn’t seem to be a particularly interesting development here.
There’s also a single-issue story featuring art from Matias Bergara here to round out the collection. It involves a bookkeeper for the Vassals of the Morning Star going into the New Mexico desert after he finds a diary from a 19th century miner who found himself mixed up in some very disturbing vampire business. You can probably guess how it goes for him. What keeps the story interesting is the division of the narrative between the bookkeeper’s exploits in the present day and the pages detailing what the miner wrote in his diary. If you can get past the fact that the diary pages don’t feel like they’re written by someone keeping a diary (more like they’re written as someone trying very much to) then you’ll be able to get caught up in the story’s creepiness and suspenseful climax. Bergara does a good job with the suspense, particularly the mad dash at the end.
I’ve come this far, so I’m not about to abandon this title as it begins its endgame. There’s still plenty of stuff to enjoy in this particular volume, leading me to expect I’ll be suitably entertained up through the end. I just remember reading the second volume and looking forward to getting the secret history of America with vampires instead of a run-through involving its most notable genres. Then again, I’d rather it stay that way than be served up some more silly creationism if the Gray Trader does lead us to explain how we got Heaven and Hell. I want to be optimistic about how that will turn out, but it’s hard…