American Vampire roared back for a new volume on DC Black Label as American Vampire 1976, with the series' original creative team reuniting to bring their long-running horror comic book to a climactic finish.
One individual absent from the proceedings is author Stephen King, who co-wrote the back-up stories with co-creator Scott Snyder for the title's inaugural story arc. Snyder expressed his hopes for King to return to the world of the comic book series in some capacity, potentially for stories beyond the finale of the main narrative arc as it moves to present-day.
"I'd love him to! My hope is he'd come back to do something with us; he's always really responsive whenever I write him," Snyder told CBR. "But it was more a matter of wanting to make sure we did [the ending] our way rather than having him come in and do something because, as a finale, Rafael and I have made such a home of this series for ourselves that we didn't want to get somebody in and then force them to do something so the story all makes sense. The first time he [worked on the series], he was so excited that he moved past the constraints of the story. It was fun to watch him do that, but, here at the end, everything's interlocking a little bit, so it'd be a little hard. But my hope is to get him back for one of those specials I was talking about, totally."
1976 closes out the main storyline following Skinner Sweet, the original American vampire, as he teams with the Vassals of the Morning Star to face the threat of the Gray Trader as he unites ancient vampire clans. The tiltle marks the 10th anniversary of the original series.
American Vampire 1976 #1, by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, is on sale now from DC.