Torture, Romance & And All That Jazz
The Good
Santolouco's art deserves special mention. Filling in for Rafael Alburquerque is no enviable task, but Santolouco does it with aplomb. His art isn't quite as refined as Alburquerque's is, but he does an excellent job maintaining the specific style of American Vampire. He's asked to communicate a wide variety of emotions here, and his biggest accomplishment is in communicating the love tempered with underlying fear in Pear and Henry. Pearl and Henry get the spotlight shown back on them, and it's certainly welcome. Their moments together are, until the suspenseful end of the issue, quiet and romantic. You really get a strong sense of them as a couple. It's quite heartwarming really, especially in a series as dark and violent as this one. Not that this issue doesn't deliver in the darkness and violence, courtesy of a returning character from the first story arc. I don't know if this two issue arc will be self contained, if the two story lines will converge, or if it's set up for future stories, but I'm loving it no matter what. After 10 issues, American Vampire is batting 1.000, every issue in the series has been great.
The Bad
Skinner Sweet was perhaps the most enjoyable character created in 2010. Everything about him screams cool, smart, ruthless, and insane. In a world full of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, Skinner is the coolest thing with fangs since Wesley Snipes put on sunglasses. Any issue without the character is worse for it.
Overall 4.5/5
This is a series you should be reading. It doesn't get much better than this, but I really need my monthly fix of Skinner Sweet.
Santolouco's art deserves special mention. Filling in for Rafael Alburquerque is no enviable task, but Santolouco does it with aplomb. His art isn't quite as refined as Alburquerque's is, but he does an excellent job maintaining the specific style of American Vampire. He's asked to communicate a wide variety of emotions here, and his biggest accomplishment is in communicating the love tempered with underlying fear in Pear and Henry. Pearl and Henry get the spotlight shown back on them, and it's certainly welcome. Their moments together are, until the suspenseful end of the issue, quiet and romantic. You really get a strong sense of them as a couple. It's quite heartwarming really, especially in a series as dark and violent as this one. Not that this issue doesn't deliver in the darkness and violence, courtesy of a returning character from the first story arc. I don't know if this two issue arc will be self contained, if the two story lines will converge, or if it's set up for future stories, but I'm loving it no matter what. After 10 issues, American Vampire is batting 1.000, every issue in the series has been great.
The Bad
Skinner Sweet was perhaps the most enjoyable character created in 2010. Everything about him screams cool, smart, ruthless, and insane. In a world full of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, Skinner is the coolest thing with fangs since Wesley Snipes put on sunglasses. Any issue without the character is worse for it.
Overall 4.5/5
This is a series you should be reading. It doesn't get much better than this, but I really need my monthly fix of Skinner Sweet.
