What do you think?
DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War (2022-) #1
One of the last secret, underground human cities is facing total annihilation and its leader-John Constantine-must plan a suicide mission to assassinate a key lieutenant in the vampire empire! Against unreal odds and with an unlikely team including Booster Gold, Deathstroke, and Mary Marvel, does the Hellblazer have one more trick up his sleeve? A gritty, violent, monochromatic companion series to DC vs. Vampires!
38 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 19, 2022
About the author
Matthew Rosenberg
763 books179 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.
I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."
Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...
Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.
I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."
Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...
Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 29, 2026
Eh.
This one seemed a bit scatty and all over the place, and when it came to some of the dialogue, it sounded a bit canned and artificial.
The skinny gist is that Deathstroke took some heroes on an unsanctioned mission to try to dip Batman in a Lazarus Pit, and the whole thing went tits up.
But apparently, I needed to read this before going on to DC vs. Vampires (2021-) #8. So I did.
I guess it adds some context?
I also had a harder time figuring out what was going on action-wise because it was black and white with red thrown in. The problem I have with black and white comics like this is that you've got a bunch of people in capes throwing punches, and without the color of their costumes, they can be less than distinct.
There's also a short at the end about Batgirl fighting some of the GPD. But was it Barbara? She had what looked to be a long braid of hair coming out of her cowl. It was black and white as well, but since the braid lacked color, I thought she might be Stephanie.
Because...
Fuck if I know.
And this is why I hate these black and white issues.
Read it. I guess?
This one seemed a bit scatty and all over the place, and when it came to some of the dialogue, it sounded a bit canned and artificial.
The skinny gist is that Deathstroke took some heroes on an unsanctioned mission to try to dip Batman in a Lazarus Pit, and the whole thing went tits up.
But apparently, I needed to read this before going on to DC vs. Vampires (2021-) #8. So I did.
I guess it adds some context?
I also had a harder time figuring out what was going on action-wise because it was black and white with red thrown in. The problem I have with black and white comics like this is that you've got a bunch of people in capes throwing punches, and without the color of their costumes, they can be less than distinct.
There's also a short at the end about Batgirl fighting some of the GPD. But was it Barbara? She had what looked to be a long braid of hair coming out of her cowl. It was black and white as well, but since the braid lacked color, I thought she might be Stephanie.
Because...
Fuck if I know.
And this is why I hate these black and white issues.
Read it. I guess?
July 29, 2022
Not particularly interesting, and definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel with this DC Vs Vampires series now.
I'd also appreciate a heads-up when a book is going to be black and white (and red) too. I found it quite hard to tell wtf was going on towards the start of the book, because it's colour-less, and the pages are quite busy.
I'd also appreciate a heads-up when a book is going to be black and white (and red) too. I found it quite hard to tell wtf was going on towards the start of the book, because it's colour-less, and the pages are quite busy.
August 1, 2022
Only mildly interesting. I don’t think this thread is necessary, and the artwork made it confusing to follow.
April 9, 2026
What a great start for the main and backup story and what a fantastic art style and color palette for both. This series is really not holding back on jumping into the action as we immediately find ourselves a year into the vampire’s rule with a group of survivors leaving the underground human stronghold, known as nightlight, to go behind the council’s back to undertake a secret mission which has the chance to get batman back…as they have found the last Lazarus pit after the vampires destroyed the rest. This group is manned by Grant Emerson aka Damage, Deathstroke, and blue devil…but they are not alone, they are being hunted and as they approach the Lazarus pit with Batman’s body…they are attacked! Damage is first as none other than vampire Azrael comes from behind, slicing into Grant and pushing him into a nearby pit before he could use his powers. Above they are attacked by another vampire which Azrael held off from destroying the last pit solely to lure them in. And to be honest I have no idea who she is supposed to be, they never give a name and with this black, white, and red color pallet she isn’t the most distinguishable character. She immediately locks spears with blue devil as vampire Aztec attempts to swoop in to bite Daniel…only to be throw back by the burning sensation of demon blood. I think the woman is just supposed to be a generic Hallie’s but made special but Azrael’s order of the gray sun. Eventually she gets close enough to stab blue devil, only for blue devil to snag her and bring her in close, putting his own weapon between them and igniting it so that both of their heads are blown off. Not sure that exactly means she is dead as her heart wasn’t staked…but Dan probably would have died anyway. Deathstroke has had about enough of this and delivers a few decisive blows to Azrael before kicking him into the Lazarus pit. As Deathstroke turns around and prepares to fight more vampires…Azrael suddenly rises from the pit fully human once more!
At least that’s what Doctor Kirk Langstrom aka Man-bat confirmed once Deathstroke got Azrael back to the sanctuary where he could have a proper medical examination. The pit turned him back into a human but it cannot be used again as the pit has been diluted. They were so close to bringing batman back, but technically they do have one now. As Azrael begins to explore the sanctuary he passes by wink and wild dog only to hear a mysterious voice calling out to him in his mind (uh oh, does the vampiric side of him still survive or this normal Azrael level of crazy?) until he finally sees someone he recognizes…Bane, who happens to be enjoying a meal with Mary Marvel. The pair get acquainted and Mary invites Azrael along to talk to the sun. The entire human civilization is underground, with approximately 2,742 people, but in order to grow crops and get vitamin D and stuff Captain atom has turned himself into a living Sun with his energy output converted to solar radiation. Azrael then notices that booster gold is tending to the field, he has decided to rock a Mohawk now and it’s not working for him, lol. Hilariously behind him we can also see peacemaker and who think is Adam strange based on the jet pack. But then Deathstroke retrieves Azrael…it’s time to talk to the council. But just outside the civilizations guards (vigilante and Tara) notified someone approaching…only to find that its Damage alive and well and looking surprisingly put together…his face has been restored. They should have taken that as a bad sign but they do the normal test with a UV wand…only to destroy his face once again as he has been changed into a vampire. Tara is immediately taken down as vigilante tried to back her up…only for his crossbow to jam. We are being infiltrated and it’s my first day here, lol.
The council is made up of John Constantine (who isn’t even physically there, projecting his astral form instead), midnighter, Mayor Fleming, Jimmy Olsen, Mr Bones. And Lead of the Metal men. The council is not happy that they took this mission on by themselves and got two of their members killed in the process, but Fleming points out the obvious question…the would have fully backed this plan, so why did they go on their own? Deathstroke explains that he wanted to brief batman himself on the complacency that has taken root here…lead sees right through the word salad, Deathstroke wanted to stage a coup to get rid of the council all together. Midnighter hilariously leaps over the table to attack Deathstroke for the notion of it, but Azrael calls to them to stop all of this. They cannot afford any division, he remembers everything from his time as a vampire. He has seen the blood farms where weather wizard allows the sun to shine only to grow algae for their livestock, the heroes are gone and arguments during a time like this is a luxury they do not have.
As bane and booster are tending to the garden they suddenly see a bloody vigilante walk by…only to quickly realize that isn’t vigilante. But it’s already too late, he is currently scaling the wall towards Captain atom as Damage rips off his mask to reveal himself. Score detonating himself right next to Nate!! I swear Captain atom can’t make it out of any story without blowing up, and he may just take the last remnant of human civilization with him.
This issue also features a fun backup story following the exploits of Stephanie Brown as batgirl. We find her after the last remnants of the GCPD, lead by Jim Gordon, activate the best signal on a last ditch effort to reach any of the bat family for help. As Stephanie arrives he claims that they have solid intel on a window of opportunity to attack the king. For a moment I thought this story would take place before the killers special and this may be his Jim ultimately got his hands on the Lex Luthor blood vial he passed to Harley…but it doesn’t, and Stephanie sees through the ruse as Jim has already been changed. She immediately throws down a flash of hole waters which burns all of them as she begins to rip through them, finally ending by impairing Jim and finishing him off with even more holy water vials to burn him to a crisp, with a final promise to avenge all of them. That’s what on taking about, and the art style absolutely rocks!!
At least that’s what Doctor Kirk Langstrom aka Man-bat confirmed once Deathstroke got Azrael back to the sanctuary where he could have a proper medical examination. The pit turned him back into a human but it cannot be used again as the pit has been diluted. They were so close to bringing batman back, but technically they do have one now. As Azrael begins to explore the sanctuary he passes by wink and wild dog only to hear a mysterious voice calling out to him in his mind (uh oh, does the vampiric side of him still survive or this normal Azrael level of crazy?) until he finally sees someone he recognizes…Bane, who happens to be enjoying a meal with Mary Marvel. The pair get acquainted and Mary invites Azrael along to talk to the sun. The entire human civilization is underground, with approximately 2,742 people, but in order to grow crops and get vitamin D and stuff Captain atom has turned himself into a living Sun with his energy output converted to solar radiation. Azrael then notices that booster gold is tending to the field, he has decided to rock a Mohawk now and it’s not working for him, lol. Hilariously behind him we can also see peacemaker and who think is Adam strange based on the jet pack. But then Deathstroke retrieves Azrael…it’s time to talk to the council. But just outside the civilizations guards (vigilante and Tara) notified someone approaching…only to find that its Damage alive and well and looking surprisingly put together…his face has been restored. They should have taken that as a bad sign but they do the normal test with a UV wand…only to destroy his face once again as he has been changed into a vampire. Tara is immediately taken down as vigilante tried to back her up…only for his crossbow to jam. We are being infiltrated and it’s my first day here, lol.
The council is made up of John Constantine (who isn’t even physically there, projecting his astral form instead), midnighter, Mayor Fleming, Jimmy Olsen, Mr Bones. And Lead of the Metal men. The council is not happy that they took this mission on by themselves and got two of their members killed in the process, but Fleming points out the obvious question…the would have fully backed this plan, so why did they go on their own? Deathstroke explains that he wanted to brief batman himself on the complacency that has taken root here…lead sees right through the word salad, Deathstroke wanted to stage a coup to get rid of the council all together. Midnighter hilariously leaps over the table to attack Deathstroke for the notion of it, but Azrael calls to them to stop all of this. They cannot afford any division, he remembers everything from his time as a vampire. He has seen the blood farms where weather wizard allows the sun to shine only to grow algae for their livestock, the heroes are gone and arguments during a time like this is a luxury they do not have.
As bane and booster are tending to the garden they suddenly see a bloody vigilante walk by…only to quickly realize that isn’t vigilante. But it’s already too late, he is currently scaling the wall towards Captain atom as Damage rips off his mask to reveal himself. Score detonating himself right next to Nate!! I swear Captain atom can’t make it out of any story without blowing up, and he may just take the last remnant of human civilization with him.
This issue also features a fun backup story following the exploits of Stephanie Brown as batgirl. We find her after the last remnants of the GCPD, lead by Jim Gordon, activate the best signal on a last ditch effort to reach any of the bat family for help. As Stephanie arrives he claims that they have solid intel on a window of opportunity to attack the king. For a moment I thought this story would take place before the killers special and this may be his Jim ultimately got his hands on the Lex Luthor blood vial he passed to Harley…but it doesn’t, and Stephanie sees through the ruse as Jim has already been changed. She immediately throws down a flash of hole waters which burns all of them as she begins to rip through them, finally ending by impairing Jim and finishing him off with even more holy water vials to burn him to a crisp, with a final promise to avenge all of them. That’s what on taking about, and the art style absolutely rocks!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2022
The DC vs Vampires event expands with a new companion series that's going to be running for six issues. The events of this series have already been referenced in issue seven of the main series, and as such we kind of already know how things are going to go here; not very well.
The book opens with Deathstroke leading a small team of heroes into a remote location to find the last Lazarus Pit, the only one that the vampires haven't fully destroyed. We discover that the vampires have been ruling Earth for the last year, and that humanity is down to the last few hundred survivors.
With things this dire the survivors are going to need a pretty good plan, and Slade thinks he has it; the resurrection of Batman. Not only is Batman a hero that people would rally behind, but he's also a tactical genius, and was the mentor and father figure to the vampire king, Dick Grayson. Bringing him back makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, some vampires are waiting for them at the Lazarus Pit.
The vamps are being lead by Azrael, who gets knocked into the pit during the fight, and is reverted back into a human. Forced to run for their lives, Slade and Azrael are the only survivors, and head to one of the few human strongholds left. Whilst Azrael gets to see how the place runs, and Slade gets a dressing down from those in charge for his rogue actions, one of his team who was turned into a vampire gets into the compound and launches an attack.
We know from the other book that this place is going to fall, and that pretty much everyone there is going to die. This isn't a big shock, and even if we didn't know this it's probably something that we'd have expected from the series anyway as its just so, so grim. However, the fun comes from finding out how it happens, to see how the characters we have here eventually meet their ends.
And there is an interesting mixture of characters here, and if any of them survived Captain Atom exploding it'll be interesting to see them fight some vampires. I imagine it's going to take a lot of them to take Bane down, and I'd love to see Booster Gold fighting some monsters.
The artwork on the book, provided by Pasqual Qualano, reminds me of the art on Future State: Gotham, because it's presented in very simple black and white form. There are times when this does hinder the book slightly, and it sometimes feels like it's hard to see exactly what's going on or who background characters are supposed to be. Colour can be an important thing in comics, even just to tell characters apart at times, especially when they're fighting in close quarters. But when it's all colourless it can feel chaotic at times.
The book has a back-up feature, starring Batgirl as she takes on a group of GCPD officers, and Commissioner Gordon, who have been turned into vampires and set a trap for her. I guess we know what happened to Gordon after DC vs Vampires: Killers now. It's not absolutely clear which Batgirl this is, as she's never named, but we know it's not Barbara based on what she says here, and the fact that she's got other things going on. It could be Cass, though she feels too talkative for that. I think it's Steph, based on her behaviour and the long, light coloured ponytail, and I don't remember really seeing her in the series so far, so it feels like this is her. It's a decent story, and it shows the ultimate sad end to another beloved character.
DC vs Vampires continues to be one of the darkest, most depressing and shocking things DC has done, and it's pretty great.
The book opens with Deathstroke leading a small team of heroes into a remote location to find the last Lazarus Pit, the only one that the vampires haven't fully destroyed. We discover that the vampires have been ruling Earth for the last year, and that humanity is down to the last few hundred survivors.
With things this dire the survivors are going to need a pretty good plan, and Slade thinks he has it; the resurrection of Batman. Not only is Batman a hero that people would rally behind, but he's also a tactical genius, and was the mentor and father figure to the vampire king, Dick Grayson. Bringing him back makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, some vampires are waiting for them at the Lazarus Pit.
The vamps are being lead by Azrael, who gets knocked into the pit during the fight, and is reverted back into a human. Forced to run for their lives, Slade and Azrael are the only survivors, and head to one of the few human strongholds left. Whilst Azrael gets to see how the place runs, and Slade gets a dressing down from those in charge for his rogue actions, one of his team who was turned into a vampire gets into the compound and launches an attack.
We know from the other book that this place is going to fall, and that pretty much everyone there is going to die. This isn't a big shock, and even if we didn't know this it's probably something that we'd have expected from the series anyway as its just so, so grim. However, the fun comes from finding out how it happens, to see how the characters we have here eventually meet their ends.
And there is an interesting mixture of characters here, and if any of them survived Captain Atom exploding it'll be interesting to see them fight some vampires. I imagine it's going to take a lot of them to take Bane down, and I'd love to see Booster Gold fighting some monsters.
The artwork on the book, provided by Pasqual Qualano, reminds me of the art on Future State: Gotham, because it's presented in very simple black and white form. There are times when this does hinder the book slightly, and it sometimes feels like it's hard to see exactly what's going on or who background characters are supposed to be. Colour can be an important thing in comics, even just to tell characters apart at times, especially when they're fighting in close quarters. But when it's all colourless it can feel chaotic at times.
The book has a back-up feature, starring Batgirl as she takes on a group of GCPD officers, and Commissioner Gordon, who have been turned into vampires and set a trap for her. I guess we know what happened to Gordon after DC vs Vampires: Killers now. It's not absolutely clear which Batgirl this is, as she's never named, but we know it's not Barbara based on what she says here, and the fact that she's got other things going on. It could be Cass, though she feels too talkative for that. I think it's Steph, based on her behaviour and the long, light coloured ponytail, and I don't remember really seeing her in the series so far, so it feels like this is her. It's a decent story, and it shows the ultimate sad end to another beloved character.
DC vs Vampires continues to be one of the darkest, most depressing and shocking things DC has done, and it's pretty great.
January 22, 2023
As Deathstroke leads a team to a Lazarus Pit, in the hopes of resurrecting Batman, the appearance of Azrael causes problems. Brought alive in a black and white style with occasions of red, this is a visually interesting tale which shows the characters still trying to one-up each other even in the vampire apocalypse. There's also a backup story of Batgirl fighting the GCPD, which fills in some blanks within the overall story.
July 25, 2022
First of all, I am hooked on the whole DC vs. Vampires series. So I jumped on board for this spin-off companion series. Big news: it is in black and white (and a tad red), similar to the Future State: Gotham series (which I also read and collect).
Good start to this series, explosive ending! Count me in, and already looking forward to buying the hardback collected editions.
Good start to this series, explosive ending! Count me in, and already looking forward to buying the hardback collected editions.
January 23, 2023
Essentially a side story with Deathstroke, Constantine, and a band of misfits trying to turn the tide in the battle against the 'Gray Son' (yea...) and his vampires that have taken over everything.
Bonus: Told mostly in black and white and heavily influenced by anime. It's pretty much an anthology with a 'A' story running throughout and then assorted backup stories filling out each issue.
Bonus: Told mostly in black and white and heavily influenced by anime. It's pretty much an anthology with a 'A' story running throughout and then assorted backup stories filling out each issue.
January 16, 2024
I'm loving this! It's already better than the last 3 events I read (Beast World, Knight Terrors & Gotham War). Batman's dead, and Deathstroke is trying to bring him back to life by using the Lazarus Pits, all in an attempt to overthrow the 'human council'. This human council is losing the war against vampires, who are led by Nightwing.
September 12, 2024
The art is taking away a lot of enjoyment for me. Hard to tell what's happening at times. Black and white CAN work but sometimes like this the effect of red also takes away from scenes. Also these are like the D and Z list villains so not a lot to root for. I do like the backup though with a Batgirl whooping everyone's ass.
July 22, 2022
I was surprised by the (almost) complete black and white art in this, which I don't have an objection to (I grew up with the B&W comics glut of the 80s) but, in this case, the art is cartoony and stylized, especially in the Batgirl backup story and, unfortunately, it isn't that good at all.
September 22, 2022
2.6. One word: mid. Not many additions to the main plotline, so it feels like such a filler chapter. I get that it’s an exposition to the current rebellion, but it left me confused rather than interested.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2022
this is cool and I'm super down for expanding this world but this art isn't really made for the minimalist color approach. Kinda hard to read in some parts. Also, so stoked to see a Singelin back up story
July 24, 2022
i dont like deathstroke. i went from ewww to giggling and twirling my hair when we saw constantine. him and only him <3
February 21, 2024
this way not that good pretty bad to be honest in my opinion the story was not good
August 30, 2025
Meh
The art is distracting. I kept trying figure out which was a character referred to and not get confused. I am not certain if I'll continue with this particular comic tale.
The art is distracting. I kept trying figure out which was a character referred to and not get confused. I am not certain if I'll continue with this particular comic tale.
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