[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Scott Godlewski
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
As the issue begins, Michael Emerson, his girlfriend Star, and his mother are at the police station to identify the body of his grandfather. Although the police believe it was a street gang that attacked and killed Grandpa and the S.C.H.U., it was actually vampires.
Meanwhile, Sam Emerson and Alan Frog review the security footage from the comic store. Sam recognized the mark left on Grandpa’s back by the vampires as being the same as a tattoo on the mysterious woman who he had encounter at the comic shop.
Unfortunately, the woman does not appear on the tape, which means she was a vampire. Sam realizes that he can’t pretend that vampires aren’t real.
Then Edgar Frog enters, decked out in vampire hunting gear, and informs Alan that the Frog Brothers are now the world’s greatest vampire hunters. Edgar asks if the mysterious girl gave any indication where the vampires might be found, and Sam recalls that she had mentioned something about a lost underground city.
Back at the Emersons’, Michael comforts his mother, when Star leaves. Michael follows, but she insists that she brought these events down on his family, and that she needs to leave to prevent him from dying. As he calls after her, Sam returns home and tells Michael that he’s afraid that it’s all happening again (the events of the movie) and that he’s afraid that this time Michael will die.
Meanwhile the Frog Brothers track the vampires to their lair and find themselves in an underground cave. They find David, the vampire villain from the movie, and a group of female vampires.
Edgar gets turned into a vampire, and Alan flees. He attempts to radio for help, managing to contact Sam. Unfortunately, David catches up with him and destroys the radio.
When the call is cut off, Sam and Michael fear the worst. Unfortunately, there are no more vampire hunters to turn to. At this moment, the police arrive with some of Grandpa’s things from the ruins of the S.C.H.U. headquarters.
Among the effects is the application to the Santa Carla Hunters Union. There is one remaining vampire hunter in town – Niko Petropolous, or as he calls himself, The Believer.
Positives
I like that this series is more than just a reunion of the characters from the movie, but is carrying the story forward. Thus, we don’t know for sure which characters might live, die, or become undead. We are not given a status quo that we can be sure that the characters will return to by the end of the series, which keeps the story from becoming predictable.
Also, the new character Niko is intriguing. I am interested to learn more about his back story and how effective he will prove as a vampire hunter. Is he a highly talented vampire hunter or a poseur?
Negatives
As I stated in last issue’s review, I haven’t seen the original movie, so I occasionally found myself a bit confused due to the story assuming familiarity with the movie. However, it was to a much lesser degree this issue than last, and an online summary of the movie was able to fill in most of the gaps.
Verdict
This is proving to be quite the enjoyable vampire tale and is prompting me want to seek out and watch the original movie.
