Carmilla Volume 2: The Last Vampire Hunter

Carmilla #2

by Amy Chu, Soo Lee (illustrator), Sal Cipriano (Letterer)

Before Dracula, before Nosferatu, there was...CARMILLA.In the second volume of this feminist tale of murder, monsters, and mystery layered with dark Chinese folklore, social worker turned vampire hunter Athena Lo has just lost everyone she loves—and it's all her fault.Hoping to put her life back together, Athena travels to San Francisco’s Chinatown on a quest to uncover the secrets of her mysterious family history. But her journey escalates into a nightmare when she‘s violently introduced to a new, ruthless gang of Asian American vampires and its unlikely leader, who hold shocking truths. As she navigates this dangerous territory, Athena can't escape the ghost of Carmilla...and neither can the vampires. Athena must decide—whose side is she on?Inspired by the gothic novel that started the vampire genre, this queer, feminist murder mystery graphic novel is a tale of identity, obsession and fateful family secrets. Praise for The First “Part of the challenge when writing about the Asian-American experience is attempting to define something that feels so amorphous. Chu and Lee ingeniously meld one of Western horror's oldest icons with the touchstones of the East.”—Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian, Infidel)“A sophisticated and modern reimagination of one of the great classics of the horror genre, Chu and Lee have crafted a Vampire story you do not want to miss.”—James Tynion IV (Something Is Killing The Children, The Department of Truth)“Carmilla is an itch in the back of your head, the horror of knowing something’s right behind you, whether it be a creature, a nightmare, or a terrible love. Amy Chu and Soo Lee weave a beautiful tale full of mystery in an unsettling New York. I highly recommend it.”—Chip Zdarsky (Batman, Sex Criminals)

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Vampires, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer

112 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 2024

About the author

Winner Bram Stoker Award, Gold Anthem Award. Writer for DC, Vertigo, Marvel, IDW and more, including: Poison Ivy, Ant-Man, Deadpool, Red Sonja, Green Hornet, Sensation Comics Wonder Woman, X-Files. KISS and DMC Comics. Cofounded Alpha Girl Comics, publisher of Girls Night Out and other comics. Frequent comic-con panel speaker and moderator.

Follow me on amychu.bluesky.social, @theamychu tiktok, @amy_chu instagram

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brushing off the ashes of her old life, Athena Lo is off to find the mysteries of the past and her family in the second volume of Carmilla: The Last Vampire Hunter from creative team Amy Chu and Soo Lee. Set immediately after the fallout of the first volume, Athena leads us on a quest through Asian monster lore for a fast-paced and thrilling little ride inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic novel Carmilla. While the fast-pace is fun it does move at such a quick clip as to feel rushed, but the artwork is delightful and it makes for a rather charming queer story and makes for a rather unique addition to the robust world of vampires with the focus on Chinese mythology. Plus, who doesn’t want to see some weird and wild monsters?

This second volume continues the story in a fairly exciting way, though I did miss the Carmilla aspects of the first one that tied it in to the original tale. We are off on our own original story here though and it is quite fascinating. Things happen rather quickly and nothing really has the chance to sink in, though the love story is really cute and it does have a rather upbeat and satisfying conclusion. Soo Lee’s artwork is incredible here as well:

Carmilla: The Last Vampire Hunter has been a great little series and while I wasn’t blown away I will certainly be back for more.

3.5/5

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't the biggest fan of the first volume in this series - I thought it had pacing problems, and the main characters (including the titular Carmilla) felt severely underwritten.

That main character, Athena Lo, finds out she comes from a long lineage of vampire hunters at the end of the first volume, so I was interested to see how the second volume would pick up that story. And in the beginning that is the aspect that is mostly focused on, and it feels fresh . And then it quickly goes off the rails.

Athena as a character feels like a ghost; she's barely there. I couldn't tell you one thing about her, outside of the new things she finds out about her family lineage - it is the only thing that defines her. She has almost zero agency in the story. Everything falls into her lap, she only has to react to what happens. There are some ridiculous narrative coincidences that Chu tries to wave away with some talk about fate, which feels like it's never built up sufficiently as a running theme.

One thing that has carried over from volume one is that Athena barely reacts to the things happening around her. Ghostly versions of characters from the previous volume appear (and yes, Athena still barely reacts to one of them being her murdered girlfriend, Morgan), and I thought they were going to have more of a guiding influence, but no, they're gone again at the end of the page.

So yes, this book also has weird pacing issues - Chu tries to do too much in four chapters/issues, new characters and enemies are added too quickly, it all feels underwritten and rushed. The ending in this book also feels rushed and unsatisfying, like in the first volume.

There's a forced romance, where Athena suddenly jumps into a new relationship with a person she has barely met. Athena even indicates that she doesn't feel ready for this, and the other person weirdly bulldozes over her concerns. It felt very off to me.

I did enjoy seeing all the various vampires from different cultures, and I kind of wish those had been more part of the story, that Athena would've had more of a relationship with them. It feels like a missed chance.

And then we have Carmilla. Her appearance has almost no function, and what she does do for the narrative could've easily been done by another character. It feels like she's only there because, well, her name is on the cover. It's actually kind of incredible (and sad) how you can have this ur-vampire, this deathless immortal, and make her so dull.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)

[akacya ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 reads: 120/300

in this sequel to carmilla: the first vampire, athena travels to san francisco’s chinatown in attempt to uncover her family history. things quickly go south when she runs into a group of vampires led by an unbelievable leader. through all this, she can’t get carmilla out of her head. this was a satisfying sequel; so much more was explored here that we didn’t see in the first volume. in addition to athena’s family history, we learn about other types of vampires from non-european cultures. i’d recommend this to any vampire lovers!

[Lillian Poulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this one! Definitely not as good as the first one, but I still enjoyed getting more of Carmilla’s and of Athena’s stories. The artwork was beautiful and I loved the “happy ending” of sorts. I could see them making another, but this is also a good ending.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read vol I & II back to back. I do like Amy Chu's heartfelt book dedication- "To all the restless souls, the countless and nameless miners, railroad workers and other laborers who died away from home. I hope you found peace in the end." As she acknowledges in the afterward, she found herself more and more immersed in the story of these Asian overseas laborers who died in a foreign land without their families due to xenophobic laws. Not only were their enormous contributions to building America ignored, the Chinese were then barred from entry through the Chinese Exclusion Act. This is the heartbreaking story of Tak, who left a wife and son back in China.

I found there were too many things happening- the war between the European vampires vs the Asian ones, the internal dissent within the K-22 gang, the unveiling of Athena's family background and secrets, a new love interest for Athena, showcasing of SF Chinatown, midway swing to focus on the Asian overseas laborers etc. Where is the titular 🧛‍♀️ Carmilla in all this? Read to find out....
In any case, it felt rather messy and vol II had more action based scenes ka-pow style. I don't read action comics (or comics in general) but it's what I imagine those Marvel comics to be like.

I did watch HK TVB vampire shows growing up (eg Raymond Wong's Happy Ghost series) so those kinds of vampires which jump with their hands outstretched and can't detect living humans if they hold their breath are what come to mind when the word vampire/geung si is mentioned. This volume had a plethora of different vampires from all over Asia, it was really interesting.

Amy Chu, Soo Lee and Sal Capriano are to be applauded for creating such a unique concept.

[Dawn "MASSIVE TBR" Allsun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading and seeing vampire myths from other cultures.

[Emily Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 ⭐️ Enjoyed this more than volume one.

I feel like the story found its footing more in this issue. We were given more backstory to a lot of the plot in the first volume and the characters were better fleshed out.

It’s an interesting crime/retelling spin on Carmilla in a way so vastly removed from the original whilst still holding nods to it.

I also appreciate the history portions at the end of the novel which really add to the context of other historical references and events within the comic.

I still feel a bit mixed on the art style, but it does fit the gothic crime vibe.

Rep// Chinese American Sapphic MC, Sapphic SCs.

Set in// USA

TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want vague spoilers.




TW// fire, gore, racism, homophobia.

[Aquila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the inclusion of monster lore from so many different cultures! Beautiful art again but the story didn't quite sell me on this second volume.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually liked this volume better than the first one.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Yet9F2YZoW...

Enjoy!

[Christina Pfeiffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Athena has lost everything and so travels to San Francisco, specifically Chinatown, attempting to hunt down more about her past. Along the way she finds her past is full of ghosts… and vampires. Finding her past, new friends, and a visit from Carmilla makes things a bit more complicated.

I REALLY liked the first 70% of this one and it would have been a 5 star but the last 30% just didn’t work at all for me. It was waaaaay too fast and the events that happened felt thrown together at the last minute. BUT! The story telling is much better and much less convoluted than the first one and I still enjoyed the second volume.

I would still recommend this to anyone who likes vampires, queer storytelling, or cultural mythology. 3.5/5.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 2 focuses on Athena trying to find out more about her past after the loss of Carmilla in Vol 1. Or was she truly lost? Really enjoyed Vol 2 and I hold out hope that there might be a Vol 3 in the future. I bought Vol 1 from Amy Chu at New York Comic Con when I went to have her sign a comic book. I just enjoy pointing that out.

[Zivile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely better than the first book. I loved the idea of diversifying vampire lore!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I really liked this volume. It’s even better than the first one and I loved the various vampire iterations from different cultures. I also loved San Francisco history being built in and showing cycles of immigrant life. This was excellent! And I wonder if there’ll be more or if this is the end of Athena and Carmilla’s story.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really hope that somehow there will be a third to this comic series. I loved both of these! Very well written and kept me captivated!

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This takes place directly after the first volume and for me had a lot of the same pacing issues (again Chu might have her hands tied by what Dark Horse is willing to allow) but also there are some questionable story telling choices.

Athena, now that Carmilla is 'dead' has gone to San Francisco in search of her family and manages it in a shockingly short amount of time. Only what she finds is the truth about her grandfather Yeh Yeh and her 'big brother' who reminds me of Claudia, forever a child. Only Wing is the head of a gang of vampires and is pretty much psychotic.

Athena has a choice join her brother or destroy him. With the help of one of his men - the one who helped turn him - and the night clerk from her hostel (whom Athena has a mutual crush on), you can imagine which she choses.

So again, this is so rushed. Jess, the clerk, is barely developed nor is Wing really. Carmilla puts in an appearance which honestly doesn't do much other than set up the chance at volume three. Athena underreacts to just about everything around her and I really hope the ending had more of a time jump than it seemed to have in order to make it work.

What I did like a lot was the use of multiple non-eastern european vampire types. Almost every culture has some form of them and Chu uses multiples from Asian, naturally since this is a story, in part about Asian in America culture. I really liked that.

I also am a fan of what Chu was trying to do with Tak, her one ally in the vampire world. So much of the horrible things that were done to Asians in America is ignored by the history books. We know of course of the terrible things done to Africans, all the incredibly crappy things done to Native Americas; we learn about how the Irish and Italians 'need not apply' for jobs in the late 1800s early 1900s but how many of us learned that the only ethnic group to have official exclusion laws written about them like the Chinese had? So Chu's attempt to shine a light on this, especially given how the Chinese were exploited in the railroad and mining industries was welcome. I just wish both the story telling and the art were more even.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the whole trilogy, so I'm reviewing all 3 books but giving essentially the same review for the entire series. This was a very creative twist on the vampire narrative, and I really enjoyed the multicultural aspect along with the theme of identity. This trilogy is more of its own story though with new characters, and doesn't have to do much with the original Carmilla story, although that story is mentioned many times.

I also enjoyed how each book takes place mainly in a different location:
Book one is set in NYC, book two in San Francisco, and book three in London. The art was fantastic for all of them.

The only negative thing:

Like some other reviews said, the pacing is a bit strange to me, as some things are revealed very suddenly. I felt like each book in this trilogy should have been slightly longer to accommodate this. I understand sometimes conveying pacing in graphic novels is quite different than in a novel, but I've read many, and I felt that things were rushed throughout. For example, at the end of this one, something happy but very random happens and the third book doesn't even involve the same main characters, and jumps very far into the future.

I feel that the author is incredibly talented but was trying to talk about many different issues all in the same series/book.

Overall I'd recommend this to fans of graphic novels and the vampire genre, and I see why it won an award.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dang.

While I wasn't blown away by CARMILLA: THE FIRST VAMPIRE due to its somewhat rushed pace and character development, reading it got me interested in the alluded-to sequel. We travel with MC Athena Lo to San Francisco to search for answers about her family and get lots more than we all bargained for. Unfortunately, what could have been a compelling family with paranormal elements evolves into an infodump-heavy narrative that is rushed even more than the first book.

There are so many cool elements in CARMILLA: THE LAST VAMPIRE HUNTER: we see Asian vampires! HELL! YES! We get a back story to one of these vampires that made me wonder why the book wasn't about him. We see curses and magical weapons and we learn about Athena's past. And it's all presented so fast and with endless amounts of dialogue that left me wanting. There's also a Big Reveal that really doesn't add to the plot for me, only questions as to why is this happening. If this book had had more time to marinate its ideas, I would have been cheering. But everything is rushed and then it just ends.

There's yet another eluded-to sequel, but I'm not sure if I'll read it.

I think this book needed more time to develop.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend mentioned she was reading the first of this series so when I saw both books at the library, I decided to get this one and read after skimming Vol. 1 to make sure I knew the characters.

A return to the world of Athena Lo, one time social worker, who helped her grandfather slay a dragon - a vampire named Carmilla/Marcilla/Violet. Athena's grandfather died in the slaying but left behind a book and a photograph of somewhere in San Francisco's Chinatown, so Athena heads that way to find out what's going on - the photo shows her and her parents, but also a boy.

Well, the boy finds her...and it turns out he's her older brother and a vampire as well.

Now her grandfather's teachings of how to hunt vampires might come into play, at least if Athena lives long enough for her to be able to use them.

A very interesting look at Asian vampires and the ongoing saga of Athena. I would like to read more of her stories.

[Ex Libris Animus · Rating 4 out of 5]

My feelings from the first to the second are pretty much the same. As far as the art and the story goes. I gave the first book three stars. I'm giving this one four stars because they evolved from some of the issues in the last book but I feel like they deserved a full extra star for the history of it. Which I'm glad was included at the end of the book since I wouldn't have caught on to that on my own and now would like to educate myself on that history a little bit more. I've read a book about the Chinese internment camps, but I've never really looked for one documenting the history of the Chinese immigrants and their role in the creation of the new America. I'd love it if you are reading this and know of a good one to drop any book recs in the comments. I also really liked the carmilla spin on this one.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Plot's extremely rushed, not a lot of exposition or grounded story-telling. I really wanted to like this, but I remember the first volume having the same issues and instead of progressing, the issues seemed to only be compounded. There was no transitional growth in the pacing or even world-building. Conceptually, I wanted to love it but its execution was disappointing.

Vampire hunter Athena Lo travels to San Francisco Chinatown to uncover her past and take down some more vampires. With recent tragedies haunting her still, can she find answers about herself or will she just gain more questions?

[Lio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel that shines brighter than the first installment is a rarity that should be cherished, so I shall cherish it with 5 stars.

I was worried this would turn into something gorier than I was in the mood for, but the gore was purposeful and metered. While some plot points may feel too "coincidental" for some readers, I don't think it's any better or worse than other graphic novels with similar pacing. The story stayed light on its feet, which I think was overall the right move to wrap up Athena's bittersweet journey.

My spoiler nitpick from the first book was gratefully resolved!

[Abigail Pankau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Agatha now knows that vampires exist. So she goes to San Fransisco looking for more answers and possibly the truth about her family. She finds a brother who’s been turned into a vampire, who wants her to join him in his war against other vampires. But she refuses to become one, and knows she must stop him instead. Will she be able to find a way to do it?

A graphic novel continuation of the “Carmilla” retelling, but goes in a very different direction. This one is not as good as the first, and is full of flat tropes and doesn’t quite make sense.

[Miranda Poswiatowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2 was much better than Volume 1, in my opinion. I adore Jess and the connection between her and Athena. Jess and Athena are so good together! I also really appreciated how Athena and Jess help Tak and finish off Wing. I was NOT expected Carmilla to return. I'm curious if there's another volume in the works. I'd love to read more from Carmilla's perspective after she changed her mindset from the first volume. Overall, it's a good, dark, and moody graphic novel.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn't realize this was volume two until i had already started, but proceeded to finish it anyway. high quality GN here. would have enjoyed more if i wasn't quite so lost. def rec reading these two volumes in order. will circle back to pick up vol. 1, and then likely reread volume 2. what are you gonna do? these works, btw, are not comics. they contain a decent amount of serious inquiry into the occult, spirituality, and philosophy.

[Hailey F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enticed enough by the first book to come back to the series. The second book has more twists and turns, and with a little back story added in, it could stand on its own as the first book of a longer series. The first book was very reminiscent of the original Carmilla. Fun short, graphic novel series with a modern day twist.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing sequel.
I really enjoyed the first one and loved the art. However, this second instalment had a rushed plot and too many massive reveals in such a short period of time. Also for a book with Carmilla in the title there was little-to-no Carmilla in the storyline which was disappointing.

[Se Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

big step down from the first book. doesnt actually delve into any of the really interesting stuff like how the brother's newly hybrid monster-ness could be a way to explore asian vs asian American. the Jess storyline is a cringe eye rolling deus ex machina.

especially since I just watched Sinners last night, the shallow way Carmilla engages with AA history feels dumb

[Sebya Sinona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Carmilla fan. I enjoy anything I can get from vampire graphic novels, especially queer Asian supernatural stories. I enjoyed the first volume a bit more, but that's only because this volume's ending felt a bit rushed. I would have loved more detail, more showing of the story and history.

[Wendopolis · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first half I liked this one better than the first, which was just ok, but this story turned sickly sweet and happily ever after. Not that I am opposed to such things, but it just didn't sit well with me.

[Evalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this - the introduction of the other types of vampires was awesome. The pacing just felt really off in this volume and the post reasoning a little weak. Still enjoyable though and I loved all the historical references.