Graphic Novel Review - American Vampire Vol. 1

For today's post I picked American Vampire Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder and Stephen King...yes, you read correctly, Stephen King. 

This is the first collection of the recent (2010) comic book series, American Vampire. I bought it on Amazon for about $12 and it was worth every penny. I'm not typically a huge vampire fan, (True Blood was good until maybe the third season and has been pretty much dog shit since then) but this story interested me because it takes place in a Western setting and has great writers. Scott Snyder has done work on the Batman series "Detective Comics" and the recent reboot of Swamp Thing. Stephen King is of course a renowned horror writer and this is his first time writing a story for a comic book. 

To allow for two great writers to expand their own ideas in the same storyline and world, the book is broken up into sections written separately by Snyder and King. The first book will start with a Snyder story and be followed by a King one, and it alternates like that throughout the collection. This actually breaks up the book perfectly where it never feels like any one segment drags on for too long and it makes you want to keep reading to find out how the different authors' stories play out.

Vampires are really blowin' up these days.

The Brazilian artist Rafael Albuquerque really makes the amazing writing shine through with his stunning visual accompaniment in American Vampire. Not only does he do amazing work on the pages (see Skinner Sweet above lighting dynamite) but he does some really cool looking covers as well (see top image). This comic is nothing short of gorgeous and even without the great stories by Snyder/King it would stand alone on it's artistic merit. I'd like to check out some of Albuquerque's other work on the Blue Beetle series.

The style of an old Western classic.

Without spoiling too much, the book tells the tale of (American) vampire, Skinner Sweet and his bloody fight through the West against "old-school" pale, sun-fearing vampires. There are of course some twists and turns, but the writing is excellent and develop some great scenes. The book is very cinematic at points and you feel as if you're watching an old classic Western movie unfold until some vampire starts tearing someone apart (this book does have its bloody moments, but hey, it's a vampire comic).

Personally, I liked the Stephen King half of the book the best, but the whole thing is solid and I just ordered the 2nd and 3rd volumes of the series even though Stephen King didn't write on them. From what I've gathered, Scott Snyder continues the excitement and good storytelling on without the help of King. I'll find out for myself soon.

All images and characters depicted in this aritcle are copyright of their respective owners.

App Review - Gunman Clive

Gunman Clive is a side scrolling Western-style shooter where the player controls a little cowboy gun-fighting his way through dusty towns and plains. It is reviewed here for iPhone and is available on Steam, Nintendo 3DS, and Android platforms as well.

The first thing that hit me about this game was its old timey art style. The perpetually moving grainy pencil art that the world is drawn in looks pretty cool. The gameplay and sound effects are very retro - like something out of Space Invaders.

 

 Bust shots at Big Ben like we got time to kill.

The "zap!" sounds of the weapons and simple shooter gameplay is nothing extraordinary, but is still addictive and fun on the iPhone. The controls work fairly responsively though crouching can be a pain at times (like when you're trying to shoot knee-level ducks...don't ask what they're doing outside of a Saloon, but apparently they don't take kindly).

The game is fairly difficult and unforgiving from the get-go (it probably took me a dozen tries to get past the first level and get a hang of the game) but it's fun and the difficulty makes it more satisfying when you get through a level. The basic idea of the game is to run through a town trying to kill everything in your path while staying alive (see: how to describe every video game ever made). The only controls are a directional pad with which to run around, crouch, and climb ladders, and two buttons for shooting and jumping, respectively.

Your enemies in the game range from other Clive-like gunslingers to bunny rabbits to huge bosses with Gatling guns. When you take down an enemy, they may give up items such as a weapon upgrade or medicine to recover your health bar. Weapon upgrades are temporary and you lose them as soon as you take damage which makes things challenging. The standard gun shoots one bullet at a time as fast as your thumb can tap that SHOOT button. An upgrade allows it to shoot 3 at a time in a burst spread like a shotgun. There are other upgrades is the game goes on.

Gunman Clive is a unique blend of cowboy shootouts, 80's sound effects, and Super Mario-esque platforming. It can be frustrating at times, but that is a part of many great games (I'm surprised I never broke a Gameboy playing Street Fighter) and the challenge of this game is way more fun and addictive then playing something where you breeze through the levels. Once you get the hang of it it's a good time. One thing that annoys me a little is the D-pad control. Sometimes I couldn't get out of the way of something in time because of it being a little sketchy. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update, for now though you have the option in the menu to change the size of the D-pad or to choose if you want it in a fixed location or to appear wherever you put your left thumb down.

Though this game came out in 2013, it's still worth a look. Also stay tuned for a review of Gunman Clive 2 on Nintendo 3DS.