V-Wars: God Of Death #1 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS: GOD OF DEATH No. 1, April 2019

Unsurprisingly printed so as to tie in with the “upcoming web television series on Netflix… which stars Ian Somerhalder”, Jonathan Maberry’s script for this “V-Wars” one-shot both builds upon the established storyline of the short-lived “IDW Publishing” comic book series from 2014, as well as rather delightfully develops Michael Fayne’s fanatically self-righteous Red Empire into a decidedly devious ‘fresh’ threat to the current truce between Bloods and Beats. Indeed, the conclusion to this twenty-four page periodical rather dramatically turns the entire world of Luther Swann’s supposedly government-sanctioned military squad upside down, with the good doctor’s gun-toting soldiers inadvertently assisting the machinations of the vampiric one-time “barista in Manhattan” rather than preventing a Holy War which “I don’t think we can win…”

Dishearteningly however, in order to achieve such a radical change in fortune for the world’s most “foremost expert on the folklore and beliefs on vampires”, the five-time Bram Stoker award-winning author absolutely roars through his story-telling, transforming the former meek and mild anthropologist overnight into a hard as nails, merciless maniac with a decidedly dislikeable penchant for gunning down any and all blood-drinkers who happen to be so foolish as to stand between his automatic rifle and the book nerd’s mission objective. Admittedly, this distinct change to the character’s entire outlook upon life certainly ramps up the kill rate, with all manner of Bloods and Beats being torn asunder by an almost endless torrent of mutilating bullets. But such cold-hearted behaviour seems to have been far more in keeping with the perspective of Victor Eight’s commander, Big Dog, than the pacifist who against all the bigoted odds of Mankind incredibly “negotiated a peace with the V-Cells.”

Perhaps this publication’s biggest disappointment though, is Alex Milne’s somewhat coarse-looking interior artwork which, whilst undeniably dynamic when used to depict Maberry’s monumental gun-fights and all their incumbent gratuitous violence, appears to become increasingly more crudely-drawn and angular as the comic’s end approaches. In fact, as the plot to “V-Wars: God Of Death” pulse-poundingly progresses, there is arguably quite a noticeable decline in some of the Canadian’s pencilled panels, such as Swann’s awful realisation that he’s been duped into chasing after a fake patient zero, and resultantly many readers may well feel that at some point the well-known “Transformers” illustrator probably started rushing so as to finish before the magazine's deadline…

Written by: Jonathan Maberry, Art by: Alex Milne, and Colors by: Brittany Peer

V-Wars #7 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 7, November 2014

Containing so much dialogue that arguably some of this book’s audience probably felt they were wading through one of the author’s prose novels rather than enjoying a comic book which “chronicles the first Vampire War”, Issue Seven of “V-Wars” still somehow managed to provide its readers with plenty of action-packed thrills and spills on account of Victor Eight’s fierce firefights. Indeed, as pulse-pounding plots go, Jonathan Maberry’s narrative for “Staring Into The Abyss” is as brutally bloody and deeply disturbing as any fan of the “multiple Bram Stoker Award winner” could debatably want.

For starters, the Federal Response Team is soon shown to be facing more than just “a new species of genetically enhanced vampire super-soldier”, as Joe Ledger, Luther Swann and Big Dog discover when the trio are ambushed inside the secret underground genetic laboratory they’ve recently discovered by “a variation of the Chinese hopping vampire”, whilst the rest of their Vampire Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism party are forced to blaze away at a unit of Red Knights from Iran within the confines of a dilapidated cavern system. Both sequences provide plenty of gore and gratuitous violence, especially when the “special ops gunslinger from one of those we’re so secret if I told you our name I’d have to kill you agencies” dispatches his pale-skinned Korean adversary with a blade to the brain, yet also help move the ongoing series’ overall plot forward as Taurus Harper is ‘forced’ to reveal himself to be an undercover agent of the Crimson Queen in order to save Lashonda from some “vampire assassins.”

This particular disclosure is superbly penned by the “New York Times best-seller” with the ferociously-fanged, blood-drenched corporal forcibly having to regain control over his bestial savagery just in time to recognise his wounded team-mate for who she is and “get you out of here.” Admittedly, in the grand scheme of things it seems somewhat wasteful for the American playwright to expose the soldier’s ghoulish lineage to his horrified comrade-in-arms so soon after introducing the character to this comic’s cast. But it does provide this twenty-page periodical with one of its most heart-stopping moments as the shell-shocked V-8 markswoman is pencilled by “guest-artist” Marco Turini placing her automatic weapon’s barrel squarely upon the vampiric marine’s forehead and threatens to squeeze the trigger; “You do what you have to do.”

Writer: Jonathan Maberry, Artist: Marco Turini, and Colors: Jay Fotos

V-Wars #6 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 6, October 2014

Clearly designed to be a supposed “perfect jump-on point” by “IDW Publishing”, this ‘revamped’ Issue Six of “V-Wars” seemingly ‘parks’ the franchise’s prior ‘obsession’ with the duplicitous delicacies of diplomacy, and instead provides an initially forthright fiction about a mass-murdering blood drinker who simply needs to be tracked down to his lair by Big Dog and receive “a bullet in their brain pan” before the fanged psychopath can kill any more hapless diners. Such a straight-forward story set within Jonathan Maberry’s ordinarily complicated “escalating battle with vampire terrorists” must have made a refreshingly enthralling read for this book’s insubstantial audience in October 2014, and certainly contains plenty of hackle-raising horror as Victor Eight deploys “to a research facility near an old mine” only to discover the location’s “small team of geeks here to study the environmental impact of using old copper mines as dumpsites for toxic waste” have been brutally beheaded. Indeed, the New York Times best-selling author’s narrative creates a palpable taste of terror in the mouth as his pens the so-called “top gunslingers” apprehensively scouring the cave system’s catacombs, and finding little more than blood trails, dismembered corpses, as well as half a dozen reasons for the heavily-armed military unit to foolishly split up.

Admittedly, the American anthology editor eventually imbues his script with a substantial element of political intrigue in the shape of “about a million dollars-worth of airlock” incongruously buried deep underground, as well as a heavily-financed computer-driven scientific research laboratory which immediately convinces Professor Swann that his party is well out of their depth. But by this point, any perusing bibliophile who may have inadvertently picked up this twenty-page periodical was probably as likely to return the book to its spinner rack as the Vampire Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism Field Team’s commander was of getting a radio transmission signal “upstairs” so as to “call this in.”; “Maybe it’s iron ore in the rock blocking the signal, or maybe we’re being jammed.”

Sadly, this opening instalment to “All Of Us Monsters” is arguably somewhat let down by Marco Turini’s rather messy-looking story-boards, especially those pencilled by the Italian artist once the foul-mouthed Big Dog starts scrapping for his life at close quarters against the formidably-powerful Nelapsi he’s been searching for. Undeniably dynamically-driven, and packed full of the frantic-pace one who expect from the veteran soldier’s desperate, breathless attempts to stay off “the lunch menu”, the Pulp Factory Award-winner’s scratchy sketching style still jarringly strikes as being far less attractive to the eye than this comic title’s rested regular illustrator, Alan Robinson.

Writer: Jonathan Maberry, Artist: Marco Turini, and Colors: Jay Fotos

V-Wars #5 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 5, August 2014

Despite containing a phenomenally explosive beginning which sees the likes of Miss Peabody’s Country Day School, the Veterans Administration Hospital and even Mount Rushmore literally blown to smithereens, Jonathan Maberry’s script for Issue Five of “V-Wars” is arguably a rather anaemic affair which focuses far too much upon Professor Swann’s anxious audience with the Crimson Queen rather than the nationwide retaliation sought against “every extremist blood cell [who] phoned in to take credit” for the horrendous bombings. Indeed, with the exception of a truly shocking scene depicting a haunted-looking Luther baring his neck so as to seemingly sate his baby daughter’s insane blood lust, very little actually appears to occur within this twenty-page periodical except talk, flashbacks, arguments and more talk…

Fortunately however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that “The Court Of The Crimson Queen” was unable to hold the attention of its audience, as the Presidential advisor’s increasingly confrontational dialogue with the metal-masked monarch provides a conspicuously captivating reading experience which simply unwaveringly holds the attention as successfully as the vampire queen’s reach is boastfully long; “We have more. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Luther. We have more. Many more. We are everywhere. We have eyes everywhere.” It does though require any perusing bibliophile to wade through a seemingly unending array of lime-coloured text boxes, which only stop towards the comic’s end when Martyn shocking unleashes a rabid, satanically-eyed Jenny upon her truly mortified father and Swann is subsequently handed an evidential dossier on one of the genuine bombers.

Undoubtedly less graphic than some of Alan Robinson’s pulse-poundingly pencilled panels, but equally as surprising is the suspense author’s major revelation at the conclusion of this publication’s narrative. For vast portions of this book it erroneously appears plausible that Yuki Nitobe is the Crimson Queen, and like Field Team V-8’s Corporal Taurus Harper, she is actually an undercover vampiric agent who has been working for the Bloods all along. This flawed thinking seems especially convincing once the “foremost expert on the myths and legends of vampires” is reminded of his failure to stop the “deranged killer” Fayne from “doing more harm” and is drawn comforting the female journalist in a flashback. Yet when the magazine’s final scene is ‘shot’ the reporter is unexpectedly shown to be one of the ruler’s closest confidents rather than being the enigmatic sovereign herself…

The regular cover art of "V-WARS" No. 5 by Ryan Brown

V-Wars #4 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 4, July 2014

Firmly focusing upon the tragic events at Pepper Grove, where scores of Beats and Bloods massacred one another with stakes and teeth, Jonathan Maberry’s disturbingly thoughtful plot for Issue Five of “V-Wars” may genuinely have rattled some of its readers’ faith in Mankind’s decency towards those who look or believe differently to them. For whilst the American suspense author’s twenty-page periodical undeniably deals with the prejudices of humans, vampires and blood-drinking extremists, these people’s immoderate views towards one another’s right to life, freedom and basic dignity, are clearly simple replications of modern-day society’s bigotry, religious intolerance and inequality.

Fortunately however, “Red State” isn’t simply a piece exploited by the “New York Times bestselling author” to vilify any number of civil unrest cases across the world over the past fifty or so years, and is instead additionally used to shift this comic’s focus upon the leader of Victor Eight, Big Dog, and his highly unpalatable, intemperate views. Indeed, besides this book’s particularly unlikeable Army of the Vampire Nation, a gang of shade-wearing hoodlums who fervently believe that vampires “living in sin with Beats” are like shepherds “fornicating… with their sheep”, the story’s actual ‘villain’ is arguably the Vampire Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism Field Team’s commander himself; “Okay. You want the truth? Here it is. These Bloods -- These vampires – I think they’re evil. Actual evil. Like from Hell evil. I think they’re the Legions of the Beast. I think this is the Apocalypse and I’m scared the Devil’s going to win.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean Professor Swann’s ‘comrade-in-arms’ isn’t without his merits, as the foul-mouthed soldier proves when an elderly, unarmed female vampire is struck in the head by a rock, and he instantly orders his team to leap to her defence in the face of numerous “villagers with actual pitchforks and torches.” But the “American and a marine”, emotionally imbued by artist Alan Robinson's highly detailed pencilling, only seems to have been galvanised into action by his overriding sense of duty rather than any modicum of morality, and shockingly goes on to show he most certainly isn’t “one of the good guys” when towards the end of this book he’s offered a daisy by an infant vampire girl in thanks for stopping “the bad men” and, having venomously sworn at the child, angrily tells her to stay “away from me, you little parasite.”

Written by: Jonathan Maberry, Art by: Alan Robinson, and Colors by: Jay Fotos

V-Wars #3 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 3, June 2014

As the “War between Bloods (vampires) and Beasts (humans) continues to escalate” the plot to Issue Three of “V-Wars” most probably struck its dwindling 5,866 readership as a fairly run-of-the-mill tale which focused upon the “under-manned” Vampire Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism Field Team Victor Eight obtaining a new member in the form of twenty-five year-old Corporal Taurus Harper. Indeed, almost the entirety of Jonathan Maberry’s narrative for “A Puppy And A Picture Of His Kid” dwells upon the National Guardsman heroically fighting off all manner of vampires, whether they be gun-toting rioters at the Saint Thomas Housing Project in Brooklyn, or super-strong ghoulish “Middle-Eastern monsters”, in order for the “Newbie” to successfully become accepted by his team-mates; “We don’t have a learning curve. Genghis and Zman are going to kick your ass. Try not to let them. Show us you deserve to run with our pack.” The “New York Times bestselling author” even throws in a few sedentary barroom scenes between the “killer with a heart” and Luther Swann so as to help promote the “real soldier” to his audience and firmly establish that he isn’t simply “a gung-ho kind of guy.”

However, all of this multi-layered character development and exposition is shockingly spun upon its head with the turn of this publication’s final page, as the “magazine feature writer” stunningly has the “one-man wrecking crew” remove a set of fake teeth so as to expose pointed canines and his triumphant infiltration of Big Dog’s squad on behalf of the Crimson Queen. This revelation, which wonderfully comes completely out of the blue, genuinely makes this comic worth perusing a second time, if only to see just how very clever the Bloods have been in engineering the kill-team’s penetration and perhaps to reinterpret Taurus’ haunted looks at the dead Edimmu he recently killed as not being a man upset at senseless slaughter, but actually as a Vampire distraught at the slaying of his own brethren…

Of course in hindsight, Harper’s subterfuge could arguably be seen in Alan Robinson’s excellent pencilling. For whilst the vast majority of this book’s cast are healthily drawn, with square jaws, strong necks and well-filled clothing, the Chilean artist instead illustrates the man who has supposedly “acted in the best traditions of the National Guard” as a gaunt, overly thin figure, whose ill-fitting uniform consistently appears a few sizes too large, and yet still (inexplicably) appears to be more physically robust than his bigger comrades.

The regular cover art of "V-WARS" No. 3 by Ryan Brown

V-Wars #2 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 2, July 2014

“With the Vampire Wars burning hotter and bloodier with each new day”, Jonathan Maberry’s narrative for "Blood And Beats" engagingly shifts from predominantly focusing upon Presidential advisor Luther Swann and instead literally turns the camera upon reporter Yuki Nitobe in an attempt to identify just when she sold her soul so as to give her “the biggest ratings”. This harrowing self-reflection, initiated by the young Asian woman being “abducted and brought into the vampire underground”, is initially absolutely laced with menace and the implied threat of her being bloodily butchered if she fails to report “the whole truth.” However, such intimidation is soon withdrawn over a cup of tea with the polite, seemingly well-mannered Martyn, and the righteously indignant journalist quickly learns from Kyra Hanson, a Malaysian Jenglot, that the Bloods are being callously beaten, tortured and mutilated by the unaffected simply because “people are afraid of us, and they hate that they’re afraid.” A damning enough testimony which the bruised, broken and (cigarette) burnt daughter of an American Missionary makes all the more compelling when she reveals she won’t kill her attackers because as a Quaker “we don’t believe in any kind of violence.”

Fortunately for those readers within this comic’s 6,912 strong circulation who like their book’s more action-orientated, the Philadelphia-born suspense author also still manages to inject plenty of pulse-pounding proceedings into this twenty-page periodical’s plot, by depicting Yuki and Martyn witnessing a building of homeless, unarmed vampires being mercilessly gunned down by the Authorities under the pretence that the shabby, sharp-toothed vagrants are a dangerous terrorist cell; “These blood-Nazis hide among us. They want us to believe they’re helpless victims. Boo-Hoo.” This hard-hearted scene isn’t included just for the sake of pleasing part of the title’s demographic either, and sadly leads to Kyra being blown apart by a bomb just outside her home in retaliation for Nitobe’s newscast on the murderous Homeland Security raid.

Impressively, all of this character development, heart-searching and explosive shenanigans are wonderfully drawn by Alan Robinson, who really manages to imbue this publication’s cast with some highly emotionally-charged features. In fact, a lot of the story-telling inside Issue Two of "V-Wars" is very successfully told by the looks the Chilean artist bestows upon their animated faces and within their hauntingly realistic eyes.

Written by: Jonathan Maberry, Art by: Alan Robinson, and Colors by: Jay Fotos

V-Wars #1 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 1, June 2014

Any of the 10,460 collectors who bought this official ‘opening’ instalment of “V-Wars” in April 2014 thinking it was going to contain a slow steady exploration of the sudden overt (re)creation of vampires within modern-day society were most definitely in for a sharp sudden shock as a result of Jonathan Maberry’s brutally pacy narrative. For this issue dives straight in at the deep end, quickly continuing the dramatically bloody events of the title’s Free Comic Book Day edition and burying any opportunity for a peaceful solution to the epidemic within the space of a few pages.

Indeed, although the storyline continues to closely follow the exploits of Presidential advisor Luther Swann, it does so in a world already ravaged by a violent vicious all-out battle between mankind and the blood-drinking “terrorists”. As such there simply is no room for the reader to breathe as events quickly carry the “official vampire expert” into a war zone along with the rest of his combat squad.

For the ‘Doc’ is now to “Saddle up with the troops”, “stop trying to find ways to prevent a war” and instead “help us find a weakness that will end it.” What then follows is an absolute bloodbath as Gunnery Sergeant Nestor ‘Big Dog’ Wilcox leads his team into some wonderfully ferocious and gory firefights, chock full of buckets of blood, gruesome mutilations and even the occasional profanity.

Thankfully this carousel of horror does momentarily let up when Swann discovers that the "Blood" responsible for ‘popping' the Speaker of the House and starting the planet-wide genocide, was actually a human who “was following orders” because “a lot of very important and very dangerous people wanted this war to happen.” Such an incredibly valuable secret however was never going to be revealed to the general populace so soon into this series and so unsurprisingly within the space of a single panel the hitman, along with his thumb drive of damning data, is torn asunder by a hail of bullets.

All of this captivating carnage and grandiose blood-letting is marvellously drawn by Alan Robinson. The Chilean artist not only taps into the various mythological species of vampires to help populate Maberry’s new-found fanged world. But also manages to incorporate into his illustrations many a nod to other popular sources of horror. Such as Swann’s murderous little girl’s face mask and mental institution cell both replicating those of the psychopathic killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 motion picture “The Silence Of The Lambs”.

The variant cover art of "V-WARS" No. 1 by Tony Vargas

V-Wars #0 - IDW Publishing

V-WARS No. 0, May 2014

Based upon Jonathan Maberry’s prose anthology of “a world where an ancient virus has brought the vampire population back”, this comic book adaption of “V-Wars” thoroughly warrants its “suggested for mature readers” cover warning. For the American author’s version of a Nosferatu is far more akin to one of the brain-hungry zombies conjured up by filmmaker George A. Romero than the civilised blood drinkers depicted by the likes of writer Anne Rice. Indeed these unnatural predators have seldom been shown as such aggressive and ferocious ‘creatures of the night’, throwing petrol bombs, blazing away with automatic weapons and ripping the limbs off of hapless victims all in order to momentarily abate their “unstoppable hunger.”

As introductory issues go therefore this "Free Comic Book Day" first printing is an action-packed gore-fest, even if it does disappointingly conclude after just twelve-pages. Straight from the start the multiple Bram Stoker Award-winner hurls the reader into the middle of a grotesquely ugly firefight between Special Operations field team Victor 8 and a truly fearsome horde of rioting vampires. Cars are casually overturned by the demonic creatures, assault rifles flatten the Undead with swathes of lead, and a Charlie Chu-Chu Chicken restaurant proves a deadly trap for at least one special forces soldier within the space of just a couple of heartbeats.

Besides giving it to any bibliophile with ‘both barrels’, Maberry’s storytelling technique of events following closely in the footsteps of Presidential advisor Luther Swann, Ph.D. is equally as inspired. The genuine horror captured within the man’s haunted eyes and the mild-mannered academic’s eventual breakdown into committing an unspeakably violent act himself, really helps drive home just how utterly terrifying a place the modern day world has become in just 212 days thanks to the triggering of long dormant genes found within our junk DNA.

Alan Robinson’s artwork stunningly captures all the tension and dynamic action of the plot with a detailed but clean style which proves infinitely more pleasing than that of cover artist Kevin Eastman. The Chilean illustrator appears especially adept at conveying his character’s thoughts on their troubled faces, and his wonderfully animated ghoulish-looking vampires hold more than a passing resemblance to the drawings of noted “Preacher” sketcher Steve Dillon.

Origin of Communication: Jonathan Maberry, and Visual Reference: Alan Robinson