'American Vampire Volume 3' Graphic Novel Review

Vampire fans are a blessed bunch these days thanks to Scott Snyder and his creation "American Vampire." Vertigo released the latest graphic novel collection "American Vampire Volume 3" into bookstores for those of us who can't seem to keep up with as many monthly comic titles as we'd like to. Volume 3 collects issues #12 through #18 of the monthly series and issues #1 through #5 of the miniseries "Survival of the Fittest."

The book is split into three main storylines. The first one, "Strange Frontier," has Skinner Sweet catching up to old flame Kitty Banks as she stars in a Wild West show. The show exploits Sweet's capture at the hands of James Book and reveals to the vampire who double-crossed him.

Secondly, "Ghost War" takes us to Japan during World War II, where a squad of American soldiers is sent to take out a group of vampires. What they find when they get there is far more deadly and sinister than they expected.

The third story, "Survival of the Fittest," sends our heroes Felicia Book and Cash McCogan undercover to infiltrate Nazi-occupied Romania as they search for a cure for vampirism.

Snyder has once again succeeded in taking the world of vampires in a few different unique directions. He's never content keeping the action in one place for very long and does a great job of putting the heroes in interesting predicaments to get out of. How many vampire books can you think of that find a way to put the war on the undead in the Old West, Japan during World War II, and Romania during World War II as well? It's like a bizarre mix of "All-Star Western," "Sgt. Rock," and "30 Days of Night."

The art by Rafael Albuquerque, Sean Murphy, and Danijel Zezelj merges well together. There's a difference between the three styles they bring to the table, but nothing too distracting. The panels are wonderfully colored by Dave McCaig and Dave Stewart. They accentuate the penciled splashes of blood from the severed heads and other body parts freely being flung about in this book.

Fans who can't seem to keep up with a monthly comic should be celebrating. Vertigo continues to spoil the lazy with this latest collection to keep us addicted to "American Vampire." Fans of the series will want to pick this up immediately. Vampire enthusiasts who have yet to explore Scott Snyder's creation need to get on board before the blockbuster movie comes out and you look behind the times.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

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Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.