DC vs. Vampires: Hunters #1 – Matthew Rosenberg, Writer; Neil Googe, Artist; Antonio Fabela, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: The main DC vs. Vampires series is going on a hiatus to allow the creative team to get ahead, but they’ll be filling the gap with a collection of one-shots and miniseries. The first is this one-shot, which flashes forward in time to a world where Dick Grayson’s vampire army has taken over much of the world and controls his empire from Gotham. Only a small group of resistance fighters holds out, and they live in fear of one hunter in particular—a vampirized Damian Wayne, who was turned by Dick in the last issue and now hungers for blood. Damian wants to meet with his now-demonic brother personally, but Dick is protected with layers of security—for good reason. The big twist of this issue comes early, when we find out that Damian is a double agent, working with Martian Manhunter and Alfred to keep the few remaining heroes safe and keeping his vampirism in check with pigs’ blood.
It’s an interesting hook for the series, with Damian as a conflicted antihero and Alfred—once again—as the voice of sanity amid the chaos. I like how even in the various DC dystopias, Alfred is almost always alive. Dick, meanwhile, makes for an absolutely terrifying vampire king. There is always just enough of the original hero there to make it haunting and impossible to ignore, but there is very little humanity left and certainly no scruples when it comes to turning on his own. Neil Googe’s art seems much more cartoonish than Otto Schmidt’s usual fare on the book, but the action scenes are wonderfully kinetic. A unique splash page where Damian is falling from a building in pursuit of some heroes in danger is incredible. This issue is a pretty major jump from the last installment, which makes me wonder if the main series will pick up from here as well. I don’t think it has quite as much depth as DCeased yet, but it’s overall strong so far.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
