(W) Matthew Rosenberg, James Tynion IV (A) Otto Schmidt
A new supernatural DC event from the creators of Hawkeye Freefall, with Tynion thrown in for good measure? Sign me up. Hopes were understandably high for this one, and I’m glad to say that it didn’t disappoint!
These are always great titles to enjoy for the simple fact that no-one is safe in these Elseworlds tales, as evidenced by the character deaths straight out of the gate in issue 1. There’s always something great about taking the safety blanket away in terms of knowing your heroes will always come out on top, and win in the end, surviving to see another day. Titles such as this, and DCEASED, take that feeling of safety away and replace it with a feeling of dread…
Bringing back Andrew Bennett, the protagonist from the absolutely brilliant and criminally underrated I, Vampire series from the New 52, is an inspired choice, as is suggesting that these plans for the undead to overthrow civilisation have been in the works for a while. This is no sudden occurrence, or change to the status quo brought about by an apocalyptic event. Vampires have always been there in the background, and you don’t know who they’ve got to, or which of the heroes we can trust.
This is always a great set up, similar to John Carpenter’s The Thing, one of my favourite movies, because it engulfs this horror tale with a mystery as well, and a large sense of distrust. We find out in issue 1 that a longtime legacy character is in league with Vampires, and it’s quite a shocking moment.
This was simply a fun ride, and a maxi-series of 12 issues seems the perfect length for this tale, in which there’s enough time to flesh out the story and characters, but that it won’t outstay its welcome.