Vampyrates! tells you everything you need to know in its title. If you love pirates, you’ve got a classic swashbuckling tale. If you love vampires, you’ll get plenty of bloodshed and ridiculously attractive immortals. But what’s really impressive about this comic is that the creative team of Fred Van Lente and Luca Pizzari has built an entire world from a high-concept premise. Reading through Vampyrates! #1 reveals that a lot of thought was put into it, and that only made me fall more in love with the idea.
Not only does Van Lente get to showcase plenty of vampire and pirate action, but he also delves into the hierarchy of vampires through the series’ lead, Nira. Nira is set to become the Empress of the Vampirium, the collective of vampires that sails the high seas. Yet she fears being stuck in a loveless marriage that’s mostly for political reasons, instead yearning to sail the high seas with her human lover Davin. She is freed from her obligations when her cousin stages a coup, sending her on the run and into the path of Akeyo, a human pirate who’s been the Vampirium’s major scourge for years.
Van Lente’s script hits the gas from the very first page, immersing readers in the world of Vampyrates! yet never making them feel lost or confused. Characters are introduced with moments that cement their place in this universe, whether it’s Akeyo cutting through swaths of vampires or Nira dictating the terms of her marriage to her would-be husband. Phrases including the “Blackash Rebellion,” the “Night Isles,” and the “Sanguine Church of Last Communion” also hint at a wider world that I can’t wait to see more of.
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If the story wasn’t enough to hook you, the art certainly is. Pizzari crafts a cast of vibrant characters that stand out, especially the vampires. They look human, yet their deathly pale skin and blood-red eyes betray their true nature. As for the humans, Akeyo is a sight to behold thanks to his long, flowing dreadlocks, royal blue outfit (complete with a cape), and gold accents that hint at royalty. Pizzari also fills Vampyrates! #1 with plenty of bloodshed, as blades puncture hearts and dying vampires burn away into heaps of ash.
Pizzari’s artwork sings thanks to Adam Guzowski, who plays with different shades of light and dark throughout the issue. Darkness mostly comes into play thanks to the vampires, who are forever shrouded in shadow; Guzowski makes up for this by giving their eyes an otherworldly glow and, in Nira’s case, a blood-red streak at the front of her hair. Even the light that does appear is unsettling, as it comes from the crest of an eclipse. Jodie Troutman rounds off the artistic crew with her lettering, which grows big and bold as befitting a pirate, and also lends itself well to captions meant to resemble old handwritten letters or blood red letters spelling out the names of the Vampirium’s cities.
Vampyrates! #1 marks a bold and bloody debut, crafting a world that readers will get lost in while also providing plenty of swashbuckling and bloodsucking action. Vampires are cool. Pirates are cool. This comic proves that mixing the two together is a bona fide recipe for success.
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