Review:
George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream #1

Vampires and The Undead seem to be invading comic books left and right these days. What with everything from hard science fiction titles launching the bloodsuckers into outer space to tales of troubled anti-heros pitying the living dead against the forces of ultimate evil. It's hard to believe that this craze all started with a couple of young adult romance novels.

Of course, die-hard fans of horror have long felt the appeal of the eternally damned in the sequential art medium, with indy titles like Last Blood and Pinocchio: Vampire Hunter drawing in legions of fans. Personally, I'm more of a fan of vampire's being “slayed” rather than being the ones doing the “slaying” but that is neither here nor there.

Avatar Press, one of the largest independent comic book publishers out there, perhaps best known for Alan Moore's Light of Thy Countenance and Warren Ellis's Freakangels, recently decided to do something a little different: George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream. Does the first issue measure up? Lets take a look.

For those unfamiliar with George R.R. Martin, you have really been missing out. Granted his foray's into comics are few and far between. However with the recent announcement by HBO to adapt his epic fantasy series  A Song of Ice and Fire into a full fledged series chances are you'll be hearing his name more often in the near future. He's also one of the masterminds behind the Wild Card's mosaic novel series, a must read for superhero fans.

Fevre Dream was originally written as a novel and published in 1982, back when vampires really were creatures of the night, and not the subject of slumber party gossip. This comic book adaption was scripted by Daniel Abraham, another “Wild Card” writer, with art by Rafa Lopez of Spain, and between the two them this first issue is really something special.

Granted, vampires aren't new by any stretch of the imagination, yet there is something decidedly refreshing about this first issue. Martin's story reminds readers just how gruesome vampires really are, and that their very lifestyle revolves around doing things that are frowned upon in polite society today. This issue opens on the banks of the might Mississippi river circa 1857, harking to Anne Rice's classic novel Interview with a Vampire in many ways.