Readers should definitely be sinking their teeth into I, Vampire Vol. 2: Rise Of The Vampires. Andrea Sorrentino’s illustrations brings to life a unique and horrifying vision that could only come from writer Joshua Hale Fialkov. Because of its clever writing and fantastic artwork, this is one of the best titles to have come out of the New 52.

WRITTEN BY: Joshua Hale Fialkov, Peter Milligan
ART BY: Andrea Sorrentino, Admira Wijaya, Daniel Sampere
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $14.99
RELEASE: March 13th, 2013

The immortal vampire Andrew Bennett dedicated his entire existence to protecting humanity from the evils of his own kind. Andrew’s ex-lover, Mary, Queen of Blood, has come back to his life to cause trouble. With Mary leading the charge, vampires have been attacking innocent lives and draining their blood. The killing spree is about to get worse as Cain, the grand sire of all the vampire brethren, attempts to destroy Gotham City. Though they do not trust them, the Justice League Dark needs Andrew and Mary’s help to stop the bloodsuckers, before anyone with a pulse is gone forever.

The first act begins with a crossover from the Justice League Dark. Writers Peter Milligan and Fialkov do a great job building the mythology of their characters. For Milligan, this is the beginning of a team that doesn’t know how to work together. For Fialkov, this is about Andrew attempting to understand the purpose of his destiny. I never got the feeling these two writers were trying to compete and steal the spotlight from each other. Instead, I have interests in both series and want to go back to collect previous issues of “Justice League Dark.”

Even after the Justice League Dark crossover is over, the storyline becomes better and more fast-faced. Fialkov presents to readers a terrific idea; the Order of the Van Helsings. In a clever spin from Bram Stoker’s novel, the Van Helsings are a military group with heavy artillery, attack aircrafts, and a real bad attitude. Andrew has to defend himself against zombie solders, who are dressed up like mummies. I had so much fun rereading this part of the story again and again.

When the Justice League Dark shows up, the pages are glossy and radiant because of the illustrations by Daniel Sampere. When the story switches over to Andrew and Mary, Sorrentino captures a gritty and bloody apocalypse. The pages are visually stunning from either artist, but I guess it depends on how readers like their horror. If you like the imagery to be flashy and colorful, then you’re going to enjoy Sampere’s artwork. Though Sorrentino is the opposite, there is such an epic feel of suspense and terror within his dark illustrations.

My favorite of Sorrentino’s illustrations is when Andrew and Mary depart to Utah. In an impressive two-pager, Sorrentino depicts the bright and sunny desert landscape. In his updated character design. Andrew is now wearing a pleather jacket and sunglasses to protect himself from the sun’s rays. In an unforgettable splash page, Andrew and Mary kiss under the moon as their bodies mutate into giant bat-wings.

Highly recommended, “I, Vampire Vol. 2: Rise of Vampires” just begs to be picked up by readers. Though the series will end with issue #19, Fialkov and Sorrentino have made such a indelible stamp on “I, Vampire.”

4.5/5 skulls

Reviewed by – Jorge Solis