American Vampire #9

 Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Rafael Albuquerque and Mateus Santolouco

With this issue, the second story arc, 'Devil in the Sand' comes to its conclusion, and Snyder continues to give us a very interesting story.  This arc has been centred on Cashel, the sheriff of Las Vegas at the time of the construction of the Hoover Dam.  He's been promoted after the death of his father, and is presiding over a town that has been unable to keep up with the pace of its own progress.  There were problems even before the vampires started showing up.

This issue explains everything that has been going on, as we learn that the vampires who were underwriting the Dam project were lured there by Skinner Sweet and another vampire with a connection to Cashel.  These revelations come together in a dramatic and interesting scene in a cave.  I really like where Snyder is taking this comic, with its different races of vampire, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

As always (it's become such a routine statement), Albuquerque's artwork is incredible.  This is such a great looking book, that it becomes easy to overlook how well written it is too.