American Vampire Omnibus Vol. 2

American Vampire #5-9

by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque (Illustrator), Dave McCaig (Contributor)

You are cordially invited to a party—to die for! The incredible AMERICAN VAMPIRE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 collects all the blood-thirsty tales you've been craving!

In the first story, series mainstays Skinner Sweet, Pearl and company return to Hollywood in the '50s during the Red Scare. In a time where America was on the lookout for the next Communist threat, was the real danger something far more insidious? A major turning point in AMERICAN VAMPIRE lore begins here!

Also included here—it’s a story burned deep into the American psyche: two young lovers, a stolen car and the open road. But these young lovers are newly turned vampires trying to fight the bloodsucking urge inside them. To make matters worse, they’ve got a pack of angry vampires on their tails—plus bad-ass vamp-killer Travis Kidd. He’s tracking the “Heartbreak Killers” across the heartland, but can he stop them before it all ends in tragedy? This one-shot special sets the stage for the AMERICAN VAMPIRE relaunch later this year!

Collecting tales from both the American Vampire: Anthology collections, discover the "lost tales", new characters, and old favorites! Find these tales and more in American Vampire Omnibus Vol. 2; collecting American Vampire #28-34; American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell #1; American Vampire: Anthology #1-2; American Vampire: Second Cycle #1-11; American Vampire 1976 #1-10

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Dc Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

928 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2022

About the author

Scott 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.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a crazy two weeks. Felt like I had a million things going on and took me forever to finish this. Anyway, this was another great book. These two omnibuses were a blast to read. The first half of this book sees Skinner Sweet working with the VMS alongside of Pearl, some previous characters showing back back up and some tragic deaths. The second half begins the journey towards the end, the rise of the Beast. This was a super powerful being that rises every several thousand years and lays waste to the world. Throughout the second half of the book we learn the back story about this character, how it was defeated before and how the people working for him are preparing for his return. Very creepy and interesting stuff. We see every vampire that appeared in this story that hasn’t died come back to team up with Pearl and company to find away to stop the coming of the Beast, the original monster. That journey was amazing to read. Snyder told one hell of a story here and Rafael Albuquerque backed him up nicely on art duty. Definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn’t read it already.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started well but it’s sadly not as good as volume 1

[Fahad Ahmed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ooh boy, the second leg of the American Vampire story goes places that I wasn't expecting it to go! Unfortunately, I don't quite mean that in a good way.

When we first return to the story, it's time to resolve the Me, Pearl and the Dying Boy cliffhanger from last time. Henry Preston leaves the story in the first arc of this omni, and the whole moment is sad, even though I thought the love story between him and Pearl was a drag for both characters. His death frees Pearl up to become an active player in what's left of this entire saga. Speaking of which...

The Gray Trader and the Beast cast their shadows over this entire story - so it's funny that right after Snyder introduced him, he apparently took a big 'ol hiatus from American Vampire. The effects of that gap year are pretty obvious in Second Cycle, the miniseries that follows up on where things left off. Second Cycle is a total thrill ride, but I can't help feeling like Snyder has forgotten the tone and style of the series. For so long, we were lacking an overarching villain, and while he does tie the Beast back to stuff we've seen before, it all just feels kinda rushed. And then the series ends on a cliffhanger.

After an even bigger hiatus, Snyder finally finishes the story with American Vampire: 1976, and this one really bears the marks of those hiatuses, because the ending is just absurd. He contrives to bring back every single good guy and put them in a final confrontation against the Gray Trader and the Beast, and while this is still a thrill ride, the story takes some bizarre twists and turns. Where does this saga of vampires living underground in the tapestry of American history end up? Well, think of the most implausible ending a story like this could possibly have, and you might get close to the mark.

One of the most annoying tendencies that American Vampire picks up from here is having stuff happen off screen. I get that it's necessary to do that sometimes, but good grief, seriously important stuff happens right where we can't see it, and there's so much telling/not showing going on here! And as if that wasn't annoying enough, the annoyingness of Skinner Sweet peaks in 1976, too!

And finally, we have the American Vampire Anthologies, perfectly placed to disrupt the flow of the story. I think it would've made sense to scatter the shorts in these anthologies across the omnibus, as it would help the story get back to the more intriguing pace in the last volume. As is, they're liking biting into a bone while eating a piece of chicken - and you weren't sure you were liking the chicken anyway.

All told, American Vampire is a really inconsistent comic, and while I recommended it in the last omni review, the conclusion is making me reconsider. I mean, these omnibuses together make up around 1800 pages of content, and if only half of that is good, then it doesn't make sense to read them, does it?

[Krazzykarry]

Vampires are beasts of the night. They hunt during the night because the sun is their enemy and will literally burn them alive.
American Vampire is a story about a new breed of vampires which can roam around in the daytime and hunt without any fear of the sun. So, what happens when a deadly outlaw becomes the first American Vampire? The answer is simple, you get a beautifully crafted story about monsters fighting each other, to reign supreme.
The first season of the series deals with establishing the characters and their back stories. The story of Skinner Sweet and his Sired Heroine is told parallelly and takes place in Old West and 1920's Hollywood respectively. The organization named V.M.S. is introduced which is established for the sole purpose of abolition of Vampires.
As the story progresses the history and the lore of Vampires expands to all parts of the world. The story gets into the history of ancient Vampires, Vampires during the World Wars and even Dracula makes an appearance. Any budding comic writer or any writer in generally should study this material to understand world building and character development.
The main story and the creator of the series is credited to Scott Snyder. The origin of Skinner Sweet is written by The Stephen King. The artwork is helmed by Rafael Albuquerque. He is responsible for the striking visuals of the series. The design of each character feels fresh and the character designs of the Vampires are very original, with long clawed fingers and long retractable fangs. The series shines in the action scenes. The artwork in the action scenes are amazing to look at and feels like you are watching a big budget action movie. The color palette chosen for this series compliments the penciling and the inking. (I don't know how to explain it but I love the colors in this series. The shadows and lighting is another main reason for me to enjoy this series.) The series is violent and gritty, not for the sake of being violent or gritty.(A story about blood thirty vampires has to be violent and gritty.)
The series branches into a few mini-series and anthologies out of which some are better than the others. Number of talented writers and artists have lent their skill to this project. Some of them are Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Sean Murphy, Dustin Nguyen, Marguerite Bennett, Jordi Bernet, Tula Lotay, Becky Cloonan, John Paul Leon, Jason Aaron, Gail Simone, Jeff Lemire, Greg Rucka, Kieron Gillen, etc.
Now to understand how a regular working class lady named Pearl who works three jobs to make ends meet fits into this rich history and mythology of Vampires, you will have to read The American Vampire. Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this series as well or not. Give your feedback as well.

[Chr*s Browning]

As I said I would last year, I finally got around to rereading this series in its entirety (much of it in an emergency room in Sandusky and in line for rides at Cedar Point - shoutout hoopla, the GOAT library app for guys like me who should probably be reading other books but can’t help loving comics), and I think for the most part it holds up, right until the end. Snyder alleges in the introduction to American Vampire 1976 that this was the ending he always planned and some parts of that seem true (the series of reveals with a certain character’s return to the fold generally work well and would slap in a tv version) but everything with the Gray Trader after the Second Cycle issues is overdone, the conceit of a climactic monologue from Skinner delivered in the form of a letter that conveniently contrasts with what is actually happening (“verbal irony” in the most 8th grade english delivery possible) blows, and the Big Fight kinda sucks! Satan? Really? After a meeting with the council of Firsts who are just The Universal Monsters. After all the time we spent together? The icing on the cake is that the last ten issues push the “American” in the title far more than the “Vampire” - this was always a series of monsters lurking parallel to American history (well… mostly just 50 years of it) - but there’s too much American Liberal Idealism on hand at the ending, and it doesn’t get to half a place as resonant as Preacher’s “Well damn girl, didn’t you know?” No, instead we get 9/11 and Biden cameos, some Trump-age metaphors, and Pearl and the VMS becoming the NSA. Dumb dumb dumb. Pisses me off really because it’s solid right up until the break, and somewhere between 2015 and 2020, Snyder lost the sauce or started huffing it. Alas. Glad to have read it in entirety and know that my take when I read the end holds true in context of the larger book. The fun got overtaken by Theme. Many such cases.

[Sebastian Lauterbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like Omnibus Vol. 1 and I like this even less.

This volume basically contains the following: A story arc in the fifties, a bunch of short stories and a really long closing story arc in the sixties and seventies.

The first one is quite good and Pearl is stepping into the spotlight, but it features a natural development for most of the cast.

The short stories range between pointless and atrocious. What a waste of time and paper.

The biggest chunk of the book deals with the Gray Trader and the Beast. The book completely loses its identity here and confuses the vampire/horror setup with a superhero story. Past sins of Skinner are completely forgotten, established relationships between characters are ignored and characters from previous story arcs miraculously show up to join the Avengers. There's a few cool Kaiju moments here, but overall it was very baffling.

I also noticed a dip in the quality of the artwork. In addition I spotted several editorial mistakes. The spelling of Iskakku vs Isakku for example.

Overall I'm still sticking to three stars because the book is entertaining (minus the short stories) but definitely not solid enough for a reread.

[C. Chambers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fitting and ultimately fitting conclusion to this series. I managed to read these back-to-back and was able to track all the characters as they progressed.

In the end, unless you're willing to commit to this series exclusively for a few weeks, it's going to be hard to balance all the motivations and moving parts. You'll need to sprinkle in a hearty dose of disassociation to deal with the ex-machina present as well. Some people are just, apparently, alive again; abductions happen off-page and without any fight. That said, the first couple volumes here have some ideas that really shine, making the story quite bearable.

It's... Kind of a messy ending. But it's fun, easy entertainment. You aren't getting any insightful meta-analysis of yourself with these books. Just shut off your brain and enjoy the Monster Mash.

3/5 stars.

[Ethan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, and just like that one of the oldest series on my reading list is done. This volume was a lot messier and more uneven than the first one, but this time around there was a atronger connecting thread, so thats a plus. This brought the cast back basics and really became about Skinner, Pearl, the way they've both had to change with the modern wood, and - eventually - the gray trader. And all of that while still taking plenty of time for worldbuilding short stories and cutaways (which I love) I'm iffy on a lot of it because it felt like the series had slipt away from the american-history horror story that it started out as, and it definitely suffered from modern Snyder writing, but it all came together in the end. For a long running series I thought this was satisfactory and even managed to wrap up all of the obvious loose ends (even if it was a little bit rushed and sloppy), so I'm happy. Good journey that got pretty wacky and out there at times. I wish it was more consistent, but it's worth the time commitment if you can get on it's wavelength

[Zachary Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to start the second half of this series in omnibus format to see where the story goes as I loved the first omnibus. This starts well but after two hiatuses the story falls off a cliff and tries to do too much. The art is great throughout even with different artists stepping in for an arc here and there. I really enjoyed the two anthology issues. Snyder tried to do too much and seemed to have lost the focus on what made this series so good.

[Michal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the main story. Even with the too sweet (pun intended) ending it was good and because it was quite an implausible ending, I was surprised several times. Unfortunately, a lot is skipped from the main line and the reader has to guess what happened in those gaps. While gaps are filled by short side stories that vary in quality and mostly were unattractive to me. I wish half of the book was gone and replaced by more details around how the main story is connected.

[Highland G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooooooooooo…… much filler and as usual Snyder has no idea how to end a series. This could have rapped up in 5 issues but instead we got well this mess. What little progression we got was consistency interrupted with fill in stories not only by our creators but guest writers. By the end it felt like a showcase of Snyders friends more than a fulfilling end to our story.

[Patricia Stamm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the concept behind the American vampires, might be a new favorite vampire type. The story was well written enough so that I wish I’d read it when it originally was being published. There is something to be said for reading the serials versus the omnibus. The art was hit or miss at times. Skinner Sweet was definitely the fav but his image suffered the most inconsistency.

[Martin Alfaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think that this is Snyder at his Zenith. All the emotional beats hit like a truck, the end of the original run is the low that was lacking across the first volume but man does it hit you. Second cycle is a fun little thing that builds towards 1976. The anthologies are master pieces in short stories. 1976 is a high octane climax that sends off the series in such a fitting way.

[Frederico Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Omnibus vol 1 was phenomenal and set up a great story. Vol 2 however while mostly entertaining just felt all around messier with this big bad villain thrown in to finish things off when what made the first half of the story so good was just that focus on the different characters and how their lives changed over the decades.

[Craig W · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Second Cycle storyline was atrocious, and it unfortunately was a LONG one… things rebounded a bit with the 1976 finish, but it was too little too late. The anthologies contained within are also pretty weak. This volume was a massive step down from omnibus #1.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Vampire is a rare treat, and a book to savor. It’s a great little horror comic, with a writer on the absolute top of his game. Though they rushed the ending of the series. They tried to wrap everything up as fast as they can. So much missed potential. But at least they finished it.

[Davide Pappalardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume. The story meanders too much for its own good without really exploring the new concepts it introduces. Not a failure and enjoyable, but it could have been better.

[Joshua]

Not that spooky! But a cool autumnal read nonetheless. Which I’m sure is precisely what they were going for.

[Gwynplaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter really killed all the series. The 1976 chapter was rushed and anticlimatic. Pity

[Bryson Grenfell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mild step down from the dizzying heights of volume 1, but still has a hell of a lot of bite. I flew through this in one day and look forward to revisiting the series again in the future