American Vampire: Death Race (1 of 4)

[espanolbot]

Travis is playing a game of chicken with another car, rushing towards a cliff for reasons that will be explained shortly.

Earlier that morning, Travis is making out with another teenager, a girl by the name of Piper. She's worried that her foster parents might see Travis, as every other boy she's been with has been scared off by them. She admits to him that she hates them, but he tells them that they probably don't mean anything by it, they're just old is all.

Predictably, the Francises, Piper's folks see them and start yelling, but surprisingly Travis actually wants to meet them. Reasoning that he and Piper had been going steady for weeks now, so it's only proper that he meet her parents. So they invite him in, and abruptly start shoving him around while yelling abuse at Piper, saying that she was humiliating them by making out with a greaser right outside their own house.

Travis, seemingly trying to disarm the situation, says that Piper's folks are being too quick to judge him, and that he should at least make his case first. And by that he means shoot them both in the face. This, understandably, horrifies Piper despite Travis' claims that he did it to set her free, though it's really more due to her knowing that they'll just stand up again afterwards.





A little later, Piper is thanking Travis for saying her, explaining that they'd been using her to take random boys back to their house to eat by night while having to guard them by day. She's still amazed that Travis was prepared, who explains that he'd been watching the Francises and several other families around the block for months now, and that while the sun's up he's going to go and clear them out too.

He's just about to leave Piper (who was kidnapped and raised by the Francises to be their human servant so long ago she doesn't know anything else) in the dust with just a "Yup, you're free now. Enjoy life!" when he notices an elderly Englishman in his car. This is Agent Hobbes, a member of a vampire/monster hunting organisation called the Vassals of the Morning Star, who has some history with Travis.

The VMS are kind of like a secular version of the Hellsing Organisation, or the Watcher's Council from Buffy if they weren't so pretentious and bureaucratic.

They go to get a milkshake.




Travis starts... what I guess should be called a dinerfight with some letterman jacket-wearing doofus, and in the chaos nicks the file from Hobbes, who despite himself seems impressed.

Later that day, we're back to the beginning of the story, and Travis has managed to track down the vampire that killed his family, when he manages to bump open the trunk of his car... revealling Piper, bound and gagged inside. Changing the situation from a "I'm fine with dying as long as I take you with me!" situation, to a "Oh no, I have to save Piper instead!" one.

This leads to our cliffhanger, with both cars flying off the cliff, having run out of road to drive on...

Comments

[lissa_quon]

I really need to get back into this series.

Also - I have to say - nice choice of music you got there.

[zapbiffpow]

Best AmVamp arc ever. Like fifties Jason Todd, this guy.

[md84]

I recently read a bunch of American Vampire comics. Am I the only one who thinks Skinner Sweet is a lot like Dio Brando from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? Especially considering issues 18~20 reveal that Skinner was the adopted brother of his original archenemy James Book, not unlike the relationship between Dio Brando and Jonathan Joestar.