CSBG Archive
Comic Book Alphabet of Vampires – A
First Second Books have declared May to be “Vampire Month,” so to go along with them (and you can read more about Vampire Month at their website), the latest comic book alphabet will be all vampires who have appeared in comic books!!
Enjoy!
Alex Elder
Alex Elder was the star of Humberto Ramos’ Crimson.
Crimson was written by Brian Augustyn, based on concepts from Ramos, F.G. Haghenbeck and Oscar Pinto.
Alex was a typical teen who was attacked by vampires while hanging out with his friends. They were all murdered, but Alex was turned into a vampire. Crimson was mostly about Alex coming to terms with his new existence, but also about his getting revenge on the bad guys who killed his friends.
Alex turns out to be a bit of a chosen one, and the series touches on notions of faith and destiny and stuff like that. It was actually a lot deeper of a comic than I think most folks give it credit for. Augustyn did a fine job with the series and the characters.
Ramos’ art, though, is clearly the star of the book. His design sense mixed with his manic storytelling style ends up with an unmistakably original comic book series.
Sadly, the series only lasted a couple of years.
27 Comments
Tom Fitzpatrick
May 20, 2008 at 3:25 am
I’d lay odds on that “L” will be “Lestat” of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles.
At least 4 of her Vampire books were adapted into comics.
Also including The Mummy (not the movie), and various other novels.
BDaly
May 20, 2008 at 5:15 am
I’ve got all the trades and I loved it at the time, but I reread it a couple of years ago and didn’t enjoy it as much. Mybe it’s time to give it another read.
Scott MacIver
May 20, 2008 at 8:07 am
Dr. Strange vs Dracula is my all time favorite vampire comic. I read it when I was a kid, and it just rocked my socks. Along with Dark Phoenix, it was the story that made me a life-long comic fan.
Crimson was good, but it really tailed off there at the end. It could have been a lot better if it didn’t get rushed and canned.
Jeff Ryan
May 20, 2008 at 8:08 am
Q is for Quasar!
On a minor note, someone please turn Quasar into a vampire. You know, just for an issue or so.
No, wait, Q can be for Quantum…BECAUSE HE SUCKS!
Okay, he doens’t suck, but someone had to start off the vampire jokes.
Jeff R.
May 20, 2008 at 8:20 am
B, D, and I are all to obvious for words, of course.
Anthony Strand
May 20, 2008 at 8:36 am
C’s gotta be The Confessor, right? I mean, it’s gotta be.
Dizzy D
May 20, 2008 at 8:43 am
I had expected A for “Alucard” (never like sorting by first name).
Grapeweasel
May 20, 2008 at 9:41 am
I wish that this was still running so that Ramos wouldn’t be ruining so many Marvel comics.
The Mutt
May 20, 2008 at 10:26 am
C should be the Caitiff from Action Comics #577.
Rhod
May 20, 2008 at 10:44 am
Durham Red for D!!
C’mon, Dracula’s too obvious right?
fourthworlder
May 20, 2008 at 10:45 am
DUCKULA LIVES
Birmy
May 20, 2008 at 11:00 am
As good as The Confessor would be for “C,” I think there’s only one real contender there: an Irish vampire named Cassidy.
Jeff R.
May 20, 2008 at 11:26 am
Cassidy will show up under ‘P’, I think. Which, in turn, means that Pryemaul has to go under ‘J’…
Derek J. Goodman
May 20, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’m probably going to regret asking this, but who’s the obvious answer for I?
Andrew-TLA
May 20, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Do living vampires count here? ‘Cause if not, I have no idea who M could be.
Jeff R.
May 20, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I…Vampire, of course.
Derek J. Goodman
May 20, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Never mind. Figured it out for myself.
winterteeth
May 20, 2008 at 12:59 pm
What, no Anita Blake?
Thok
May 20, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Do living vampires count here? ‘Cause if not, I have no idea who M could be.
While Morbius likely counts, there’s also an early Batman villain called the Monk. (Yes, I cheated and looked at Wikipedia’s fictional vampires page. It’s hard to find good people form G, Q, U, and Z, among others.)
El Dustino
May 20, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Could ‘K’ be Aristar Krory from ‘D.Gray-man’? Saying his name out loud just makes you feel like a horrible, horrible person.
SanctumSanctorumComix
May 20, 2008 at 7:29 pm
K is for Hannibal KING.
That way… H is for HELLCOW!
~P~
P-TOR
El Dustino
May 20, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Shame we already missed Dr. Acula
Kirayoshi
May 21, 2008 at 12:26 am
I expected A to be Angel.
Of course S has to be Spike.
Ninjawookie
May 21, 2008 at 5:34 am
This book had an excellent middle section, after Alex got a haircut the book suddenly became excellent at about issue 7. The ending was a little fast though, but it ended up becoming the best book out of the original cliffhanger series even though everyone was obviously buying danger girl and battle chasers every 9 months.
SanctumSanctorumComix
May 21, 2008 at 6:44 am
El Dustino for the win.
Nice reference!
~P~
P-TOR
Lothor
May 21, 2008 at 10:05 pm
In this context, V is not for Vendetta; V is for Varney!
Dalarsco
May 22, 2008 at 12:55 am
Angel is the obvious choice, but my favorite part of these Comic Book Alphabets is that they spotlight the ones that aren’t obvious. If I ever get the chance to grab this series on the cheap (or it gets TPBs) I’ll totally give it a shot.