American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1

Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Sean Murphy

American Vampire is one of the finest titles that Vertigo has launched in the last couple of years (and really, that's putting it in some impressive company).  Scott Snyder (and series co-creator Stephen King) have put together a very interesting take on vampires, which spans decades of American history.  The original series is mostly focused on a few central characters; Pearl and Skinner Sweet being the most important.  Along the way though, a number of supporting characters have been introduced, as has a large vampire-hunting organization, known as the Vassals of the Morning Star.

This five-issue mini-series explores the Vassals further, as the story focuses on two minor characters from the mothership title.  Felicia Book is the daughter of Jim Book, the man who chased Skinner Sweet throughout the Stephen King-written part of the series's launch.  In this mini, set during the early days of the Second World War, she has become the best agent of the Vassals.  She is being sent on a mission to track down a possible cure for vampirism, which is believed to be in a castle in Nazi-occupied Romania.  Accompanying her will be Cash McCogan, the former sheriff of Las Vegas, who we met in the second arc of this series.

I like that Snyder is giving these characters more play, as they were pretty compelling when they first appeared.  He is joined on this book by Sean Murphy, the phenomenal artist of Joe the Barbarian and Hellblazer City of Demons.  Murphy continues to remind me of an early Chris Bachalo, which is a very good thing.  It's nice to see that Vertigo has another series that can work as a franchise, so long as the quality remains at this level.