Immortality as a vampire has its perks, but what happens when you abuse that power? You put your own life in jeopardy, like Atticus Sloane in the new Image Comics series Blood-Stained Teeth. Issue #1 comes to us from the creative mind of writer Christian Ward, who usually works on the art side of things, in books such as The Infinite Vacation and Ody-C with fellow writer Matt Fraction. Joining him on this teeth-sinking vampire crime voyage is artist Patric Reynolds whose artwork helps bring this trippy story to life… or death?
Blood-Stained Teeth #1 follows first-born vampire Atticus Sloane, who has turned humans into vampires for money. Doing so has afforded him a life of luxury which includes fancy clothes, endless amounts of cash, chauffeured car rides, and the unwanted attention of the first council of vampires, who are not amused by what he’s been doing. Unfortunately, Atticus has broken one of the cardinal rules: turning a human into the undead. Vampires who are not born naturally are called Sips which are usually way more vicious vampires than their pure predecessors. So now Atticus must right his wrongs by murdering every vamp he’s ever created, or the first council will kill him.
The first issue gets off to a good start by introducing the rules of Ward’s vampire world and wastes little time jumping into the plot of the story. Right from the start, as soon as we meet Atticus, he’s turning someone, and it goes horribly wrong, showcasing just why the first council doesn’t want this sort of thing happening in the first place. If you’ve seen the first Blade movie with Wesley Snipes, you’ll remember that Deacon Frost was the least favorite member of the council of vampires; Blood-Stained Teeth #1 will give you some of those same familiar vibes while adding its own unique spin on the vampire genre.
Patric Reynold provides charming and hypnotic illustrations filled with emotion and grittiness that add the right amount of realism to Blood-Stained Teeth, making it entertaining and engaging to read. Colorist Heather Moore’s neon color choices add the finishing touch that provides an abundance of emotion and detail to the story, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou brings the perfect balance of captions and word balloons that are never distracting or take away from the art or story.
Blood-Stained Teeth #1 is off to a good start and a damn good comic. With over forty years of Atticus turning humans into Sips, he will have his hands full trying to find them all. Ward and Reynold have a hit on their hands.
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