So far, I’ve been a broken record on B.P.R.D. Vampire. I found both the first and second had the same problem: great setup, but no payoff. For $7.00, I wasn’t sure I could give an unconditional recommendation until I could see the payoff was worth it. Well, I have good news for you: in B.P.R.D. Vampire #3, Mike Mignola, Gabriel Ba, and Fabio Moon have finally delivered on the promise of the series, and it’s totally amazing. Also, vampires! Actual vampires!
This is the issue in which we start to see payoff for all the great set-up that’s permeated the first two issues. After finding themselves stuck in the crypt, our protagonist, Anders, and his companion, Hana, try to find their way out. But while searching for the front door, Anders finds far more than he would have expected, and it becomes clear very quickly that things are not as clear cut as they originally appeared.
One of the things I love about this issue is the character development through action. Yes, action. That thing the first two issues sadly lacked (last time I mention this; I swear). Seeing Anders in tense situations, both in and out of combat, teaches the reader a lot more about his character than could be shown through dialogue and flashbacks. Yes, those tools can teach us a lot about a character, but when the pressure’s on, one’s true character is revealed, so to speak. It’s a balance all writers have to hit, and this issue strikes that balance beautifully. Anders has gone from a character to whom I held no emotional attachment to one for which I am actively rooting, and I’m definitely excited to see what happens next issue as a result.
My favourite part, however, was the way the issue balanced mystery and payoff. In every story, you need mystery to keep things interesting; no one likes knowing everything that’s going to happen before it happens. On the other hand, if you do nothing but shroud your story in mystery, you run the risk of alienating your audience. It’s a delicate balance, and this issue does it perfectly. We see more of what the characters introduced in the first issue truly are while also having Anders fight a vampire in a spectacularly handled fight scene. It’s beautiful payoff that makes me immediately feel justified in my previous investment to the story. But, in a move that only the best of comic writers know how to do well, Mignola, Ba, and Moon use that very same payoff to tease the next part of the mystery. Immediately, I’m sucked in by the very elements that were just used for payoff. It’s brilliant writing, really, and as a sign of what’s to come, I couldn’t be more excited.
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| Taken from http://www.darkhorse.com |
I don’t know what more I can say about this artistic team I haven’t already said in my previous reviews. They’re awesome. Dave Stewart continues his work as one of the best colourists in the business, and Moon and Ba team up for some of the best vampire design I’ve seen in some time. The art does a great job of conveying scale while still paying attention to detail, and both the locations and individuals are handled equally well. Without giving it away, this book contains one of my favourite panels I’ve seen in a while from a purely aesthetic basis. This is truly a great issue all around.
I had my trepidations about this series, but they’re long gone now. This issue achieves the potential I’ve seen in it for so long and then some. I could not recommend it more highly for the $3.50 cover price, and now recommend that you all go out and catch the previous issues if I’d scared you off before. This is something you need to be reading. Enough said.
Chase Wassenar, aka MaristPlayBoy, is the Lead Editor and Founder of the Red Shirt Crew. He is officially naming this his second favourite Dark Horse miniseries behind Amala’s Blade. You can read his other articles at ToyTMA, follow him on Twitter at @RedShirtCrew or email him at theredshirtcrew@gmail.com.
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