Vatican City

Vatican City #1-3

by Mark Millar (Writer), Per Berg (Illustrator/Colorist/Letterer)

Mark Millar and Per Berg’s hit new horror comics series where the world has been destroyed by a billion vampires and the last humans alive are holed up in the only place they’re safe—behind the walls of Vatican City where no vampire dares to tread!

The world has been overrun by a vampire apocalypse, every man, woman and child dead except the two thousand tourists safe behind the walls and holy relics of Vatican City.

But as the vampires gather in their millions outside, how long can they hold out? Because the monsters can wait forever.

Collects Vatican City #1–#3.

For mature audiences.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

104 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2025

About the author

Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: As a tale, it's super-stale, and art's a Marmite deal: though seems a mess, expressiveness and verve add pulse-appeal.

*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Issue #1 ◦ Issue #2 ◦ Issue #3

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting concept, rushed through so quickly that it becomes all but pointless. A lot of interesting thoughts and ideas that really needed fleshing out, but writer/creator Mark Millar speeds through them so fast that it feels like he knocked the script for this out at lunchtime one day to satisfy his Netflix overlords. (Has anyone ever gotten less out of a creative deal that Netflix has gotten out of this Millar partnership? A handful of failed series that, as far as I can tell, no one has ever actually watched. I have never heard a human being utter a single peep about the Spanish (!!!) American Jesus series or Jupiter's Legacy...)

On the artistic side (He said with a smirk), Vatican City takes the prize for worst art I have ever seen in my 53 years of comic-book reading, bar none. This book, illustrated (He said with a smirk) by Per Berg, looks like it was drawn by a blind child with no hands and brain damage while they hung upside down. Fuck Millar and Dark Horse for not nixing him as soon as they saw the first completed page. Absolutely hideous.

And charging $19.99 for this three-issue pamphlet is ridiculous.

[Meachman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is an exciting one, and things start off strong with all the violence and intrigue I would expect from a Millar title. There was clearly some deep lore envisioned for this project, but the story quickly begins cutting corners and glossing over deeper concepts in an effort to wrap things up in time, with our reward being a pretty ho-hum resolution.

[Roberto Di Fazio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good premise
Poor execution and ending

[James Cameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great concept for a John Carpenteresque siege story doesn’t live up to its potential. It’s a quick, enjoyable fast-paced read, but the characters are under-developed, the plot is paper thin, and it all reads like a super-sketchy first draft of a tv series concept storybook, and considering the author’s connections, I suspect that is exactly what this is. The artwork is passable, but many panels, particularly those featuring fast-paced action are poorly drawn and confusing. Too many plot holes, unexplored subplots and an abrupt ending fail to satisfy. The scope and potential for this story far exceed the boundary of such a small project and I’d like to see the ideas fleshed out and given the space and attention the concept deserves.

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Mark Millar and this is honestly the first book of his that hasn't really done it for me. On paper this should be a no-brainer for me - Vampires attack the world and survivors hole up inside the Vatican - but the execution and visuals leave a ton to be desired. This one reads like Mark only had a half-baked idea and rushed through it to get to the end. The characters aren't fully developed, the vampire threat isn't fully developed, and neither is the plot. The artwork, by artist Per Berg, is also a massive letdown, as his style just doesn't suit the material. In my opinion, this is Millar's first miss, but I'll definitely be back for whatever he cooks up next.

[Shivesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where this would be a reasonably interesting premise in the hands of a lesser creator, it is doubly disappointing coming from the pen of Mark Millar. I liked the set up of the first issue, but this story required 6-10 issues to build the world and tell this tale properly. It seems like a movie script that was rejected into the comic bin for adaptation. For 6 bucks an issues, this was not worth it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent graphic novel. When I read the summary, I knew I just had to read this one. Vampires take over the world for the most part and a small group of people are holding out inside the Vatican. I htink it would be a good regular book too.

[Toonfactory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelmed entirely. What seemed like a terrific premise in the first act and an absolute mayhem in the third act, had an entirely Meh ending.