Customer Reviews

Impaler Volume 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read and reread Impaler about five times, and each time I notice something new. Whether it's in the stunning storyline, the realistic and gritty dialog, or the jaw dropping artwork, I always pick up something I didn't notice before. It gets better with each read.

The only thing I didn't like about it was the cliffhanger ending. Of course, I get the Top Cow comic that continues the awesome story each month, but I was truly left wanting by the end of the six issue compendium of Impaler Volume 1.

The best thing about the books is the writing. William Harms knows how to make vampires scary (unlike the angsty wimps portrayed in shows like Buffy and novels like the Anne Rice stuff); he knows how to make character real and three dimensional; he knows how to make you go "WOW!!" with cunning twists of plot. I laughed, I cried, etc.

Give it a read, and try to tell me you won't pick up the new Top Cow issues as the come out. Just try.

William Harms gets it done in this extremely well written story. Indeed, this new imagining of Vlad breaks boundaries by casting the notorious human rights abuser as the good guy, albeit one with a twisted since of righteousness and purpose. But don't just take my word - the preface is written by legendary horror master F. Paul Wilson! While the artwork literally paints a grim portrait of a vampire infested earth throughout, it does so with a bit of uneveness as the story progresses. Of course, this all changes with the upcoming Top Cow relaunch of Impaler, of which a preview is included in a backup section. Speaking of which, extras include a cover gallery, original pitch, deleted scenes, and extra artwork. Get this book, especially if you love vampires and horror. The new series looks to be fantastic!

With the proliferation of stories today about kind, fun-loving vampires, it's incredibly satisfying to read IMPALER. Writer William Harms has created a dark, threatening new vampire concept. A horror is unleashed in NYC, and in yet another juicy twist, the immortal Vlad The Impaler arrives as a vampire slayer. A succulent read. Five thumbs up.

As the others have said, a great, original, modern vampire tale, as far removed from twilight as you could hope for!

It seems like you can't spin a dead bat without hitting a vampire these days. There's the horny teenage variety at the cineplex (Twilight), the southern-fried type on Showtime (True Blood)... heck, even the Swedes are getting into the act (Let the Right One In).

The fact that the genre has been so thoroughly mined renders novelist William Harms' accomplishment with Impaler all the more remarkable. In his graphic reimagining of the tale, a cargo ship full of the bloodthirsty undead arrive in New York one morning and proceed to devour the innocent. The vampires spawn and spread as rapidly as an infectious disease, reducing the city to a charnel house in just 24 hours.

But there are other supernatural forces at work in Harms' tale, too. A mysterious holy warrior named Vlad III materializes in the midst of the destruction. He teams up with a group of human survivors, including a police detective still mourning the loss of his wife. She'd recently fallen victim to a more familiar but equally relentless foe: cancer.

Vlad tells them of a demon beast that controls all the vampires. The beast cannot be killed, according to Vlad, only imprisoned. He knows because he's battled it before--400 years ago. But the U.S. government has its own radical idea as to how to contain the horrifying plague.

Impaler's story arc ends with a bang, but with plenty of intriguing threads that will have you counting the days until the next installment is published. Read it with the lights on.