American Vampire #12

Skinner Sweet may be a mean and deadly vampire but check out what he does in this self-contained issue. 
 

The Good 

Often "lost tales" stories can feel like filler compared to the main stories. With the character of Skinner Sweet, any time we can get a story from his past is a good thing. Maybe it's because the first issues were split between 1925 and 1880, this doesn't feel out of place.  
 
Scott Snyder is joined by Danijel Zezelj on art duties in this story set in between his days in the Old West and his move to California. Skinner Sweet isn't necessarily a bad guy...okay, maybe he really is. But when he causes death and destruction, there's a reason for it. Snyder has given us a character we can hate yet root for at the same time. He's a mean sonuvabitch but often you can't feel sorry for those dumb enough to get in his way. Zezelj's art captures the mood of the story perfectly. When a vampire goes into savage mode, it can be a tricky thing to convey their ferocity without making them look too much like a caricature. Seeing Skinner on the attack was great as was seeing how he could use other means to kill those that get in his way. 
 

The Bad 

When I first heard we were getting a self contained story, I was a little excited. It might just be that I've gotten used to the longer stories and after reading this, I did want more. It gave us another look into Skinner's past but the lack of some of the other characters we've seen, in both time periods, made it feel like something was missing. 
 

The Verdict 

It's hard to believe we've only had twelve issues of American Vampire. I was ready to be finished with vampire stories but Scott Snyder has proven that there is still (undead) life left to the concept. In this self-contained, story from the past, we learn a little more about the main character, Skinner Sweet as this story bridges the gap between the past stories we had set in the late 1800s and in the early 1900s. Do yourself a favor and check out this book.