What do you think?
Rate this book
American Vampire #7
American Vampire, Vol. 7
Writer Scott Snyder (BATMAN, SWAMP THING) and artist Rafael Albuquerque bring together even more threads to the complex tapestry that is the world of AMERICAN VAMPIRE. When we last saw Pearl in the 1950s, she had lost her love Henry in an attack on the vampire hunting organization, V.M.S., by a coven of Hollywood vampires that nearly wiped the organization off the face of the planet. Devastated and alone, Pearl is determained to leave California and all its painful memories behind. When we meet Pearl again, it is in 1960s Kansas, an era fraught with fear of nuclear war, angry demonstrations, and vast social change. What has changed in the years since the V.M.S. attack and where is Skinner Sweet? Collects AMERICAN VAMPIRE CYCLE TWO #1-5.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2015
54 people are currently reading
1081 people want to read
About the author
Scott Snyder
1,780 books5,119 followersScott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
September 1, 2022
After a disappointing volume 6, it seems as though things are back on track for Snyder's American Vampire.
Pearl and Skinner are back, along with a lot of the other characters that we've met along the way.
This time around, it's all hands on deck to fight the entity known as The Grey Trader.
Who and what is this demonesque character is all about, is still up for grabs.
This one starts with Pearl using her family's old farm as an underground railroad of sorts. Her goal is to save as many vampires (lots of them children) from the dark forces that are hunting them down. But when everything goes sideways, Pearl has to decide if she wants to continue to sit by the sidelines, or if she wants to get back in the game and fight.
Recommended.
Pearl and Skinner are back, along with a lot of the other characters that we've met along the way.
This time around, it's all hands on deck to fight the entity known as The Grey Trader.
Who and what is this demonesque character is all about, is still up for grabs.
This one starts with Pearl using her family's old farm as an underground railroad of sorts. Her goal is to save as many vampires (lots of them children) from the dark forces that are hunting them down. But when everything goes sideways, Pearl has to decide if she wants to continue to sit by the sidelines, or if she wants to get back in the game and fight.
Recommended.
November 12, 2022
One more volume until I finish my re-read of American Vampire. (I just finished 1976 not long ago.) The Second Cycle begins as we head into the 60's. Pearl is back on her family farm operating an underground railroad for vampires. Everyone is running from the Grey Trader (who we get more info about.) Skinner shows up to help her out of a terrible pickle when one of the kids gets bitten. This is mainly setup for what's to come.
July 19, 2020
The American Vampire Second Cycle #1-5 pretty much gives up the walk through American History co-theme as it becomes a pure horror book, as Skinner, Pearl, Calvin and their shrinking group of allies find themselves involved with the Grey Trader. 7 out of 12
February 5, 2019
Gasp! New bad guy.
So... I always enjoy Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones on the same team but the writers are trying too hard with this new über bad guy.
Our last apex baddie was Dracula, and that made sense. This storyline felt clumsy and labored.
But the art was consistently above average so 3 stars.
January 17, 2018
Not too shabby.
November 29, 2015
ARC provided through Net Galley
SO happy I didn't have to wait long to read this! I should really stop reading this series until all of the issues are out because I have so much trouble containing my excitement both before reading each volume and immediately afterwards when I have to wait for the next one.
American Vampire is one of those series that just hits all the right spots and endlessly leaves you wanting more. Volume 7 is no exception and I’m possibly more excited for the upcoming volumes than I was for the previous ones. In this volume, Pearl and Skinner have parted ways after their uneasy truce at the end of Volume 5. Pearl has made a life for herself at her old Kansas home rescuing runaways on the run from predators while Skinner has been preying on drug dealers and smugglers along the Mexican border. Both get dragged into the emerging fight with a creature known as the Grey Trader whose 150 year old plans are finally being set into motion. The Grey Trader looks to be a very interesting villain and there’s a dark connection between him and the other vampires, including Pearl and Skinner. Pearl and Skinner are some of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever grown attached to and Skinner continues to surprise me. He’s such a piece of crap and yet…somehow ends up doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons. I’m clearly just a sucker for the anti-hero/part-time villain characters.
After the last pages in this volume, I’m scared for both Skinner and Pearl but cannot wait to see them go up against this Grey Trader. The ending felt like such a tease because it’s setting up for the building confrontation so I’m now unbearably excited and also depressed at the thought of waiting for the next volume. If you like horror and graphic novels, there are few series as good as American Vampire and this was another volume I’d highly recommend!
SO happy I didn't have to wait long to read this! I should really stop reading this series until all of the issues are out because I have so much trouble containing my excitement both before reading each volume and immediately afterwards when I have to wait for the next one.
American Vampire is one of those series that just hits all the right spots and endlessly leaves you wanting more. Volume 7 is no exception and I’m possibly more excited for the upcoming volumes than I was for the previous ones. In this volume, Pearl and Skinner have parted ways after their uneasy truce at the end of Volume 5. Pearl has made a life for herself at her old Kansas home rescuing runaways on the run from predators while Skinner has been preying on drug dealers and smugglers along the Mexican border. Both get dragged into the emerging fight with a creature known as the Grey Trader whose 150 year old plans are finally being set into motion. The Grey Trader looks to be a very interesting villain and there’s a dark connection between him and the other vampires, including Pearl and Skinner. Pearl and Skinner are some of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever grown attached to and Skinner continues to surprise me. He’s such a piece of crap and yet…somehow ends up doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons. I’m clearly just a sucker for the anti-hero/part-time villain characters.
After the last pages in this volume, I’m scared for both Skinner and Pearl but cannot wait to see them go up against this Grey Trader. The ending felt like such a tease because it’s setting up for the building confrontation so I’m now unbearably excited and also depressed at the thought of waiting for the next volume. If you like horror and graphic novels, there are few series as good as American Vampire and this was another volume I’d highly recommend!
July 31, 2015
The American Vampire legends continue.
In this installment we witness vampires in hiding similar to the Underground Railway to get slaves out of slave states in America back in the day and tales of something deep underground which might hint to the origins of vampires yet is arguably too horrible to contemplate.
Vibrant, shadowy and bloody artwork as usual.
OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
In this installment we witness vampires in hiding similar to the Underground Railway to get slaves out of slave states in America back in the day and tales of something deep underground which might hint to the origins of vampires yet is arguably too horrible to contemplate.
Vibrant, shadowy and bloody artwork as usual.
OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
April 21, 2019
5 Stars
The evolving vampires and the thing they evolved from. What is it's true face?? The gray man?? May? What happened at that mine?? What did that woman give birth to??
I love the direction this series is going. We have been slowly going there since the first book; but now, things are ramping up.
The evolving vampires and the thing they evolved from. What is it's true face?? The gray man?? May? What happened at that mine?? What did that woman give birth to??
I love the direction this series is going. We have been slowly going there since the first book; but now, things are ramping up.
August 25, 2017
First, I feel like I should have wrapped up this series awhile ago. Mea culpa on dragging my feet. This is a series that I enjoy a good deal, but like Bill Willingham's Fables there were times when the series dragged for me.
This volume was a bit of walking through mud to finish. I nearly two starred this review, I even thought about a one star, but I started volume eight last night and so far the problems I have with this volume seem to be resolved come the second half of the story (so far anyway).
I feel I have to mention the above because the whole concept and use of the Gray Trader was not working for me, especially as big bad. In fact, I think one of the pluses of this title has been the lack of a big bad. I though Snyder wasn't giving me a reason to be invested in the Gray Trader.
A technical issue for me was the excerpts from a book the VMS had located. Reading those portions on the tablet was a strain on my eyes, and while important story information is revealed, I couldn't wait to complete those pages.
For regular readers we do catch up on events with Skinner and Pearl (one of my favorite characters in the series).
So i really think you need to read this to enjoy the next volume, but I don't think that most will enjoy this as much as prior volumes.
This volume was a bit of walking through mud to finish. I nearly two starred this review, I even thought about a one star, but I started volume eight last night and so far the problems I have with this volume seem to be resolved come the second half of the story (so far anyway).
I feel I have to mention the above because the whole concept and use of the Gray Trader was not working for me, especially as big bad. In fact, I think one of the pluses of this title has been the lack of a big bad. I though Snyder wasn't giving me a reason to be invested in the Gray Trader.
A technical issue for me was the excerpts from a book the VMS had located. Reading those portions on the tablet was a strain on my eyes, and while important story information is revealed, I couldn't wait to complete those pages.
For regular readers we do catch up on events with Skinner and Pearl (one of my favorite characters in the series).
So i really think you need to read this to enjoy the next volume, but I don't think that most will enjoy this as much as prior volumes.
August 22, 2021
We’ve entered the ‘60s in Scott Snyder’s graphic novel series American Vampire. Volume 7 is, technically, part one of the series’ Second Cycle, but that just sounds confusing, so I will just call it Volume 7.
In this volume: Pearl Jones is in charge of a half-way house for young vampires in Kansas; she just brought in a girl named May who appears to be an older breed of vampire; the girl has bites on her back from a breed of vampire that Pearl has never seen; Skinner’s a biker who stumbles upon a horrible secret about vampires; rumors are spreading in the vampire community about a mysterious entity called the Gray Trader; May’s bite seems to have infected her with something that makes her super-powerful and super-vicious; the Gray Trader, it turns out, pre-dates Dracula and even some of the earliest known vampires to walk the Earth and it may even be the First One…
In this volume: Pearl Jones is in charge of a half-way house for young vampires in Kansas; she just brought in a girl named May who appears to be an older breed of vampire; the girl has bites on her back from a breed of vampire that Pearl has never seen; Skinner’s a biker who stumbles upon a horrible secret about vampires; rumors are spreading in the vampire community about a mysterious entity called the Gray Trader; May’s bite seems to have infected her with something that makes her super-powerful and super-vicious; the Gray Trader, it turns out, pre-dates Dracula and even some of the earliest known vampires to walk the Earth and it may even be the First One…
January 27, 2015
It's baaaaack.
After a volume of random anthologies, AmVamp is back and firing on all cylinders. This story picks up 10 years after the end of volume 5, with Skinner and Pearl trying to get along with their lives, only to find themselves in the crosshairs of the Gray Trader and his evil plans to resurrect...something horrible, no doubt. The mythos is getting even more interesting, but Snyder keeps Pearl and Skinner (as well as some other fan favourite characters) front and centre as the mystery deepens, and the Trader makes himself known.
Alberquerque's artwork is as impressive as always, and the fill-in work from Matias Bergara on issue 5 is very fitting for the ye olde story that he tells, and compliments Scott Snyder's prose (something you don't see in comics very often, fairly obviously, so it's a big deal when it does pop up) very well.
More, dammit, more!
After a volume of random anthologies, AmVamp is back and firing on all cylinders. This story picks up 10 years after the end of volume 5, with Skinner and Pearl trying to get along with their lives, only to find themselves in the crosshairs of the Gray Trader and his evil plans to resurrect...something horrible, no doubt. The mythos is getting even more interesting, but Snyder keeps Pearl and Skinner (as well as some other fan favourite characters) front and centre as the mystery deepens, and the Trader makes himself known.
Alberquerque's artwork is as impressive as always, and the fill-in work from Matias Bergara on issue 5 is very fitting for the ye olde story that he tells, and compliments Scott Snyder's prose (something you don't see in comics very often, fairly obviously, so it's a big deal when it does pop up) very well.
More, dammit, more!
April 27, 2015
Mixed feelings. On one hand, this volume does introduce a new foe, one that's both imaginative, suited for Snyder's vampires, and a convincing threat. I still like his vampires, incidentally. But this particular volume doesn't feel like a complete story so much as a prologue. And I miss the sense that the story is set in a particular time period. This volume felt much more timeless. But for me, part of the appeal of the series was watching the vampires through the decades. Very cool use of old school country rhinestones, though.
February 12, 2016
Ehhhhhhh.
So compared to the previous volumes, it's lost a substantial amount of momentum. And it was rather thin. Probably the second thinnest of the volumes. It was still good, but definitely not great.
I'm sure I'll stick with this series. But the tagline for the next one is "American Vampires venture to the deadliest of frontiers: space!" I'm just not sure I can handle that because it sounds gut-wrenchingly tacky. But we will have to wait and see.
So compared to the previous volumes, it's lost a substantial amount of momentum. And it was rather thin. Probably the second thinnest of the volumes. It was still good, but definitely not great.
I'm sure I'll stick with this series. But the tagline for the next one is "American Vampires venture to the deadliest of frontiers: space!" I'm just not sure I can handle that because it sounds gut-wrenchingly tacky. But we will have to wait and see.
January 10, 2021
Last part was a bit weird but this volume was the best one since Volume 1, it rejuvenated my interest in the series
January 24, 2015
The delays and change of artist have me a little nervous about the future of this book. The writer and artist are both busy, and the plot is starting to feel less focused as we go on. This volume introduces an interesting new status quo for the '60s and a frightening new foe, but it feels like half a chapter of an unfinished story, rather than a volume in an ongoing series.. Lots to like here, but it's not a satisfying chunk of story and probably shouldn't have been published until there was more story to collect.
December 17, 2020
Love the artwork in this volume.
Great horror.
[image error]
Great horror.
[image error]
March 28, 2018
This volume finds us in the 60s with the familiar cast of Pearl and Skinner Sweet, but we are introduced to new villain known was "The Grey Trader." Still not entirely sure what he is, but it looks like its the very first vampire ever and it wants to infect all of the other vampires and turn them into his goblin like minions. This is more the set up for a story than the actual story, so I'm curious to see what happens next.
February 21, 2022
This is a neat volume of American Vampire because it deals with the deep history the vampires and a horror that's greater than anything seen before. Against that backdrop, the Vampires seem almost human and almost heroic. It's a nice twist and indeed something that's worthy of the phrase "New Cycle".
We also get a nice done-in-one in the fifth story, a story that generally feels horrific, even if it's dragged down by hard-to-read text pages (with a font that obscures rather than illuminating)
We also get a nice done-in-one in the fifth story, a story that generally feels horrific, even if it's dragged down by hard-to-read text pages (with a font that obscures rather than illuminating)
May 12, 2023
Not too much enthralled by this new volume and its cosmic threat. The gray Trader’s design is a killer though.
May 29, 2015
Fanfrakingtastic! This is why Snyder and Albuquerque are one of my favorite creative teams!
Amazing world building, beautiful art, crazy scenarios, this is just awesomeness:
World: The world of American Vampire is awesome cause it's so vast and spans so long. Every time I read an arc I'm transported to another era and another setting it's super fun. Also the world building this time around to prepare for the second cycle is stunningly good. Stuff does happen in this arc, but it's more a set up for the massive things that I know are coming down the road. Good stuff!
Story: The 5 issues found here are great, they are paced amazingly much like all Snyder work. The art is amazing as per Albuquerque and the panels and the story just come together so well. The story is fast paced and choked full of world building nuggets that are amazing. It is also done well to allow for new readers to springboard into the world. I don't want to spoil anything but new readers, please read this book, old readers, please read this book!
Characters: Pearl and Skinner and Calvin are back, they are just as awesome as ever and the time jump is really nice. I really like the splash pages for both Pearl and Skinner to give past readers a nod to the things that came in the past and offer new readers a teaser for them to go back and read. The new characters I have already grown fond of and the new baddie is straight out of Lovecraft (which is an awesome thing). Good stuff!
Amazing start to the second cycle! I can't wait, this series just keep getting better!
Onward to the next book!
Amazing world building, beautiful art, crazy scenarios, this is just awesomeness:
World: The world of American Vampire is awesome cause it's so vast and spans so long. Every time I read an arc I'm transported to another era and another setting it's super fun. Also the world building this time around to prepare for the second cycle is stunningly good. Stuff does happen in this arc, but it's more a set up for the massive things that I know are coming down the road. Good stuff!
Story: The 5 issues found here are great, they are paced amazingly much like all Snyder work. The art is amazing as per Albuquerque and the panels and the story just come together so well. The story is fast paced and choked full of world building nuggets that are amazing. It is also done well to allow for new readers to springboard into the world. I don't want to spoil anything but new readers, please read this book, old readers, please read this book!
Characters: Pearl and Skinner and Calvin are back, they are just as awesome as ever and the time jump is really nice. I really like the splash pages for both Pearl and Skinner to give past readers a nod to the things that came in the past and offer new readers a teaser for them to go back and read. The new characters I have already grown fond of and the new baddie is straight out of Lovecraft (which is an awesome thing). Good stuff!
Amazing start to the second cycle! I can't wait, this series just keep getting better!
Onward to the next book!
December 13, 2014
I was hooked on the American Vampire series from the word go. I love the dangerous, scary, vampires who are not, I repeat not, pining away romantically for anyone. (With one non-obnoxious exception.) I love the savage artwork. I love the new take on vampire mythology, and the progression of the story through recognizable history. It's all awesome. But I have to admit that the last couple of collected volumes have been wanting something. They were still good, but that sparkle had diminished a little. I was worried. I'll admit it. But with volume 7, American Vampire is back. With a vengeance.
Details are sketchy, but there's a new vampire in town, and he's the biggest, scariest species around. The rules are changing, and once again we get to see Pearl and Skinner team up. (Always a favorite.) I can't wait to see what's next.
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
Details are sketchy, but there's a new vampire in town, and he's the biggest, scariest species around. The rules are changing, and once again we get to see Pearl and Skinner team up. (Always a favorite.) I can't wait to see what's next.
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
December 26, 2014
Good to have this series back again. Things pick up again in 1965. Pearl has returned to her Kansas farm and is posing as her daughter, Henrietta, while she establishes a safehouse for vampires on the run, working to place them with others of their kind. Skinner Sweet is hijacking trucks on the US/Mexico border. But there's something big and dangerous out there--The Grey Trader, one of the original vampires, if not THE original, and it's coming for Pearl and everyone she cares about. This was an effective start to a new storyline, although issue #5, which has large parts presented as diary entries from a worn manuscript, was almost impossible to read on my iPad--that's going to have to be cleaned and sharpened up before it goes to print. Glad to be back onboard and ready to see where this train goes next...
February 7, 2015
Graphic novels are hard to do when you have to wait for the next installment. I love this series but I felt like not much happened in this one. This was a 3.5 stars for me.
It is 1965 and Pearl is now living in Kansas under the name of Henrietta Jones, pretending to be her own child. She has issues with the neighbors who oppose to her taking in refugees and hiding them out on her property. Except these are not refugees of the normal kind. Skinner comes in search of Pearl after being attacked by the Gray Man and finds that Pearl has also been attacked. Together they try to fight him off and save the refugees. It turns out that this story probably goes back a long way and clues of what happened can be found in an old miner’s journal.
It is 1965 and Pearl is now living in Kansas under the name of Henrietta Jones, pretending to be her own child. She has issues with the neighbors who oppose to her taking in refugees and hiding them out on her property. Except these are not refugees of the normal kind. Skinner comes in search of Pearl after being attacked by the Gray Man and finds that Pearl has also been attacked. Together they try to fight him off and save the refugees. It turns out that this story probably goes back a long way and clues of what happened can be found in an old miner’s journal.
February 2, 2019
I didn't know what to expect from the second cycle. But I kind of like it. The story changed a bit, maybe culminated over the time to some finale. I can't decide if the change in art is a good or bad thing, but it still looks like Vertigo-ish, dark, saturated colours, but not bright. The colouring looks little splashy and with rough fast strokes, but it that way it very well captures movement and dynamic (and chaos). Overall, I can say I enjoyed it, both the "current" events and the historic flashback (and that was some creepy shit) and in conclusion, only one thing that annoyed is the short length. Even if there was quite a lot reading, I strolled through pages in no time and in the end I felt there should be more. I hope this will not happen with next, final book.
July 26, 2022
Skinner and Pearl, together again! Picking up ten years after the fifth volume, we find Pearl taking in young vampires and Skinner roaming the Wild West. Before you can settle in with a nice cup of tea, the Gray Trader arrives with his invisible flying vampires and otherworldly abilities. It's nice when American Vampire has a big bad that everyone can team up against.
I appreciated the dose of mythos suggesting that the Gray Trader might be the Devil himself (I did ask how they'd one-up Dracula - that's a way!). This volume comes to a pretty quick and unclear conclusion, but I appreciate the revved up pacing. The final one-shot is awfully creepy and a nice look at the Gray Trader's possible origins.
I appreciated the dose of mythos suggesting that the Gray Trader might be the Devil himself (I did ask how they'd one-up Dracula - that's a way!). This volume comes to a pretty quick and unclear conclusion, but I appreciate the revved up pacing. The final one-shot is awfully creepy and a nice look at the Gray Trader's possible origins.
July 13, 2017
As usual, I can't get enough of these vampires! The story (finally!) continues following Pearl Jones and Skinner Sweet as they deal with an even older and more dangerous threat than the traditional Carpathian vampires. Volume six was an interlude of short stories, and while I enjoyed it, the lack of the main story drove me crazy! I can't keep waiting a year to find out what happens - I need more of this work in my life! Naturally I was excited about this next installment and I devoured it and now, as usual, I'm left hungry for more, wondering how I can survive another year on this cliffhanger!
July 16, 2018
We jump forward to the 1960's and get a whole new look at the villain facing Pearl and her friends. The world around them has changed quite a bit, but Pearl and Skinner are surviving. The stakes are higher and psychologically this one is more intense. I was hoping this series would pick up and I got my wish. The threats feel a lot more ominous and it's harder to talk about without spoiling anything.
It's an improvement that I'm really enjoying.
It's an improvement that I'm really enjoying.
April 23, 2015
Well, I've read 6, might as well read the 7th. This one features more plot development and a terrifying new something to be afraid of. The bonus story is really great, executed in a somewhat different style with higher word count than normal and yet just as effective. For any real vampire fans out there, these stories are a must. Recommended.
December 26, 2024
Scott Snyder & Rafael Albuquerque return to American Vampire and I'm glad they did. We now find Pearl back in Kansas helping refugees who just happen to be vampires. They then run across the biggest evil they've ever encountered and its now Sweet but he shows up. This book shows true evil and has some scary scenes more so than the previous issues. Snyder does a fantastic job to move the story along and add to the American Vampire mythos. Albuquerque's art is stellar and a perfect fit for this book. Overall, another superb installment in a great series.
May 6, 2022
Snyder leaves everything that made AV successful to do what he does on everything now. Attempt to write the biggest most badly convoluted as shit story with the meanest half baked and barely formed baddie ever created. He sold the Gray Trader for years like he sold Rotworld for years and he sold the Joker in Endgame for years….. every time he shits the bed. His eyes are bigger than his belly meaning his ambition dwarfs his ability as a writer and he lacks the discipline to properly line up his ducks and make sure everything works before he starts running his mouth and writing his book and we’re stuck with this, a broken promise, an overhyped mess that barely makes a thud when you want a bang.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews