An American Vampire

[bwhahahabeck]

Celebrated short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque will launch a new monthly comic book series from Vertigo in March 2010 with a unique contribution from New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen King. The new ongoing series, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, will introduce readers to a new breed of vampire—a more muscular and vicious species of vampire with distinctly American characteristics. The series’ first story arc, to be told over the course of five issues, will feature two different stories, one written by Snyder, the other by King.



Snyder’s storyline is one of decadence and deception and Jazz Age glamour. Pearl is an ambitious modern woman with starlet dreams. She frequents Hollywood’s speakeasies and dance-halls searching for her first big break, only to find something far more sinister waiting for her.

King’s story provides the origin of the very first American vampire: Skinner Sweet, a bank robbing, murdering cowboy of the 1880s. Skinner is stronger and faster than previous vampires; he has rattlesnake fangs and is powered by…. the sun?



(source)

There's been a stigma against vampire lore lately, because of young adult novels/movies/shows like Twilight and True Blood that cast vampires in a very romantic and frankly ~whimsical light. I've noticed the obvious trend in vampire stories lately with the woman falling head over heels for the poor and misunderstood vampire hottie. As a vampire fan (since my child hood), these stories make me feel sick. When I saw some teaser art for American Vampire by Rafael Albuquerque on deviantart, I was both intrigued and a little wary. I began fishing for more information and seeing this being written by Stephen King and the era in which this will take place--I'm sold. I'm definitely going to be checking this out in March and thought this series could use some pimping. Holla'.

tags
creator: stephen king
creator: scott snyder
creator: rafael albuquerque
publisher: vertigo/dc comics
title: american vampire

Comments

[northstarfan]

After years of trying different Stephen King books and wondering what the attraction was supposed to be, "Different Seasons" made me decide that King is a fantastic short story writer, and it's a shame that he bloats so many of them out to novel length.

[darkknightjrk]

He does have some awesome short story collections. His recent one, "Just After Sunset" had some good ones. One of the best being, "N," if I remember correctly, which is a sort-of modern-day Lovecraft tale.

[piratewade37]

Not to be nit-picky but the four stories in "Different Seasons" are novellas and not short stories. He follows the same structure with "Four Past Midnight", which I would recommend. I agree that he is fantastic at writing short stories and supports the form.

[northstarfan]

Yes, point -- I think he even makes specific mention of how hard it is to sell a novella in the introduction to "Different Seasons", so I should have remembered the distinction. But I have read some of his other short story collections (including "Four Past Midnight") and maintained the same opinion on his shorter works as compared to his novels.

[piratewade37]

Fair enough.