REVIEW: Vampire The Masquerade - Winter’s Teeth #1
Vampire The Masquerade: Winter’s Teeth #1 is out August 5, 2020.
By Gabe Gonzalez — Within horror stories, perhaps no monster has reached the heights and become as commonplace around the world than the vampire. For centuries, vampires have stimulated the imaginations of billions, first appearing in Germanic poetry in the 1700s. From those earliest appearances, vampire stories have seeded a sexual nature and erotic proclivities into the fibers of the beast, helping the creatures to become steadily-appearing figures in the world’s gothic horror stories. Yes, vampires are common in video games, novels, films, and more. These denizens of the dark have transformed into literal staples of the pop culture lexicon. And, in 1991, Mark Rein-Hagen released Vampire: The Masquerade, a tabletop role-playing game that focused on the players becoming these titular neck-feasters, spawning a whole new stamp on the genre that itself spawned two video game tie-ins and now, all these years later, a comic!
That comic isVampire: The Masquerade #1, and in its panels we’re treated to the character of Cecily Brine, a courier by trade for the Twin Cities Camarilla. It’s truly exciting to see a vampire book that is female-focused with Cecily being the ultimate personification of the word badass. She is also the protector of her younger sister, who is afflicted with mental deterioration. The story gives you all of this and more in an excellent blood-spattered first issue.
The mythos of the book’s previously-established world is prevalent, and the use of a dark gothic palette really does justice to the “gothic punk” world Rein-Hagen originally envisioned for his “World Of Darkness” setting, but this issue is primarily character-focused and that makes it all the better. It’s a showcase of a dark and treacherous world but with small glimpses of hope through the interactions of Cecily and her sister, which craft a heart-wrenching dynamic. One sees the world for what it really is, while the other can only realize it in fragments. This difference only warms the heart more as it slowly helps us realize the type of person that Cecily really is in her best form. This is a debut issue that delivers us a three-dimensional vampiric superstar who I desperately hope will be long-remembered within the world of vampire-based media.
In terms of visual artistry and writing, this issue is really well-done, with the entire creative team’s strengths contributing to a fully-cohesive story that allows its fangs to shine. Colorist Addison Duke’s gothic palette mixed with artist Nathan Goodman and artist Devmalya Praminik’s pencils is something to be wowed by as the colors don’t murk together. The environments and violent interactions are to be witnessed and felt with dark blacks meeting greens and crimson splatter rummaging within the panel space. The three-person writing team is exquisite with each voice being unique, showing a love between two sisters effectively granted to the reading audience and the mentions of world mythology to further provide intrigue with lots of brutality in-between. This truly is the perfect first-issue, and it doesn’t hamper the experience if you didn’t know the original Masquerade mythos. Independent from any of that, this book provides its own unique story within the confines of what Rein-Hagen originally birthed.
Overall: Vampire: The Masquerade #1 is perfect for both newcomers and old fans alike, a blood-fueled and beautiful story with a sisterly dynamic that might even warm your heart. This book is one you should all search out. 10/10
REVIEW: Vampire The Masquerade - Winter’s Teeth #1
Vampire The Masquearde: Winter's Teeth #1
Writers: Tim Seeley, Blake Howard, and Tini Howard
Artists: Devmalya Pramanik and Nathan Gooden
Colorist: Addison Duke
Letterer: Andworld
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
From the internationally bestselling World of Darkness universe, Vault brings readers a brand-new VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE comic series, WINTER’S TEETH! When Cecily Baine, a courier for the Twin Cities Camarilla, takes a mysterious young vampire under her wing, she’s dragged into an insidious conspiracy. Will she be able to escape with her unlife and protect her aging, Alzheimer’s afflicted sister, or will she be yet another pawn sacrificed to the Masquerade? Meanwhile, an Anarch coterie investigates a vicious killing."
Release Date: August 5, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Vampire The Masquerade - Winter’s Teeth #1
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Gabe Gonzalez
