B.P.R.D. Vampire #1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mike Mignola, Gabriel Ba, & Fabio Moon
Artists: Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon
Colors: Dave Stewart
For anyone out there who’s been doubting the praise that has been given to BPRD as of late, you’d better be ready to defend that opinion after reading this issue. The first few pages are nothing but pictures. The type that scare you without any words. Blood, a stream, a young woman. Once the words do appear, you get a sense that this young woman has now been transformed into one of the undead. She seems rather confused as to what has happened and who she even is, but then she’s told by a male vampire that her and her sister are now the servants of the evil goddess Hecate.
What a great beginning to this series! We did get to see a meeting between Professor Broom and Agent Anders that was very telling about where this series will be heading. You almost get a feeling of Blade stories. You know, him against an army of vampires and the like. The difference being that this issue had more substance than ten Blade comics combined. Not knocking Blade himself, mind you, but typically his solo books have been light on content. Back to this book. The early pages focused on the vampires themselves, and that was the creepy part. When Anders and the Professor conversed, there was a sense that Anders has some very deep, dark secret that might just be something neither man is expecting.
The artwork, by brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, was nothing short of frightening. Their previous work (BPRD 1947, Casanova, Serenity) is well documented, but this is their best work hands down! The panels without the text were the key to this entire issue. They set the tone from page one, and didn’t let up from there. The overall tone for the book was perfect and the pacing was even throughout. Not a single panel looked off or even slightly out of place. What an awesome cover, too! A perfect book that is hopefully the start of something even greater for the BPRD! Rating 5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
