All this month I'll be reviewing different comic books by African-American creators, based on submissions from the actual creators of the comic books themselves. Check out the archive to see what books have been spotlighted so far.
I technically am finishing the month with Eating Vampires #1 by Regine Sawyer (writer) and Delia Gable (artist), but since it always irks me about Black History Month being so short, I'll be doing three bonus spotlights the next three days. But this is the "official" end of the month, since it is, you know, the actual end of the month.
Eating Vampires is a captivating introduction to a fascinating concept.
Like most great horror stories, the best aspect of Eating Vampires is how human they make the beings in the comic. The more you identify with them as people then the greater effect you get when you do freaky things with them. Sawyer and Gable follow that concept well, letting us get to know this traveling caravan of seemingly defenseless women, but we know that can't possibly be the case (or else this comic would be quite a short one)....
Gable really excels at making the horror appear almost casually, to the point where it is extra shocking. When someone's jaw just unhinges like it's no big thing, that is, in and of itself, a big thing.
The comic is about a group of women who are guarding the last of the "Purifiers," which in this instance is an eleven-year-old girl. The reveal of the eleven-year-old girl is the end of the issue and it is handled really well by Sawyer and Gable, as it is also like what I was mentioning about how the extraordinary has more effect when it comes out of seemingly ordinary events.
There is a lot of action in this first issue, but it is parceled out well, so it has a lot of impact when it happens.
This story pits vampires against the last of the Purifiers, with her guardians doing all they can to take down the vampires (including, as the title notes, eating them after they are defeated). It is a really strong read.
You can buy the first issue here.