''I...Vampire'' (also titled ''I, Vampire'') is a
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
series from
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
created by writer
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels.
Biography
Early career
J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...
and artist
Tom Sutton
Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002)
He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyoming. Later, stationed at Itam ...
about a fictional character named Andrew Bennett. The character and storyline originally started as a backup story in ''The
House of Mystery
''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...
'' between 1981 and 1983, but was popular enough to become the main feature. The ''I...Vampire'' finale was almost book-length.
Concept and creation
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels.
Biography
Early career
J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...
pitched the series to editor
Len Wein
Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...
under the title "Greenberg". Wein liked the concept, but rejected the title and suggested "I...Vampire" instead. DeMatteis would later revive the title for his 1985 Marvel Graphic Novel ''Greenberg the Vampire''.
Fictional character biography (original series)
In 1591, after being turned into a vampire himself, Lord Andrew Bennett turned his lover, Mary Seward, into a vampire, and she became corrupted by the power. She took the name Mary, Queen of Blood and created a group of vampires called the Blood Red Moon bent on taking over the world. The series followed Bennett into the modern day as he tried to undo his mistake and
take down Mary and the Blood Red Moon.
He was helped by his two companions Deborah Dancer, a beautiful young woman who Bennett saved from Mary at
Woodstock
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
(and who was also his girlfriend) and Dmitri Mishkin, a Russian man who Bennett rescued from Mary (and his own mother, turned by Mary) when Mishkin was a child.
To try to keep his humanity, Bennett made a vow to only drink the blood of animals and bottled human blood (which created a subtext of
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
). In the original series, Bennett keeps his companions at arm's length, particularly Dancer. For a time, he stays away from them altogether for fear of putting them in danger.
Storylines included Mishkin's quest to find and destroy the vampire who was his mother, Bennett's pursuit of Mary through various time periods leading back to a time before either of them were vampires (motivated on Mary's part by a desire to escape a strange disease killing vampires in the present), and finally an experimental 'cure' for vampirism which leads to the final confrontation between the surviving protagonists and Mary.
Later stories
Bennett has attempted suicide on several occasions to end his curse, and has also been brought back to life after each attempt due to a higher power, as seen in the 1988 run of ''
Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version was originally created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More Fun Comics' ...
''. During this run, we also see Andrew Bennett interact with the
Lords of Chaos and Order
The Lords of Chaos and Order are a fictional group of supernatural entities featured in American comic books published by DC Comics. Although alluded to in 1st Issue Special #9 (December 1975), their physical appearance was first showcased in DC S ...
to seek an end to time, which does occur due to the vampire's involvement, but is later reversed. He also appeared in the 2005 miniseries ''
Day of Vengeance
''Day of Vengeance'' is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Bill Willingham, with art by Justiniano and Walden Wong, published in 2005 by DC Comics.
Publication history
''Day of Vengeance'' is one of four limited series leading up t ...
'' as a background character in the
Oblivion Bar
This page lists the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics.
Sites
Arrowcave
The Arrowcave is the former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Roy Harper (character), Speedy.
Avernus Cemetery
Avernus Cemetery ...
, which became the
Shadowpact
The Shadowpact is a fictional group of magic-based heroes who fought against the Spectre in the 2005 limited series '' Day of Vengeance'', published by DC Comics.
Their self-titled series ended in May 2008, after 25 issues and a two-year run, b ...
's headquarters. He appears as a supporting character in
Doctor Thirteen
Beatriz Da Costa
Reep Daggle
Dagon
Dan the Dyna-Mite
Dan the Dyna-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Danny Dunbar was the star pupil of Thomas N. Thomas, a high school chemistry and phys ...
backup stories in the 2006 miniseries ''
Tales of the Unexpected''.
Powers and abilities
Andrew Bennett has the powers of an elder vampire. He can transform into mist, a bat, and a wolf
[Joshua Hale Fialkov (w), ''I, Vampire'' #1 (November 2011). DC Comics] and has superior strength far beyond that of a mortal man. He is immortal and possesses the ability to turn others into vampires, a healing factor,
hypnosis
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...
, and limited telepathy. His image cannot be seen, such as being reflected in a mirror or captured on film. He, however, also has the weaknesses of a vampire. He is severely weakened by sunlight, losing most of his vampiric powers,
and he can be killed by silver, fire, and/or a wooden stake to the heart.
''The New 52''
The title was relaunched as part of
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
company-wide title relaunch ''
The New 52
The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...
''.
The initial creative team is
Joshua Hale Fialkov
Joshua Hale Fialkov (born August 19, 1979) is an American comic book writer who primarily works in the horror genre. He is best known for '' Echoes'', '' The Bunker'', '' Elk's Run'', '' I, Vampire'', and the 2008 film '' Infected''. He has be ...
writing and
Andrea Sorrentino
Andrea Sorrentino (born April 21, 1982 in Naples) is an Italian comic book artist known for his work for DC Comics, Marvel and Image Comics. His work includes I, Vampire and Green Arrow for DC Comics, Uncanny X-Men, All-New X-Men and Old Man Logan ...
as penciller. The first issue was very well received critically, and was the 78th best selling comic in September 2011 by units.
In this version, Andrew Bennett is an older vampire (approximately 600 years old) but has the physical appearance of a man in his 20s. His former lover, Mary, Queen of Blood, gathers an army of vampires to take over the world. Wounded trying to stop her, Andrew seeks out help from his old ally Professor John Troughton. They are soon joined by a young vampire hunter Tig, whose father had been turned into a vampire. Traveling to Gotham City, they, along with
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
, confront Mary's horde, but Tig kills Andrew and unwittingly releases Cain, the original vampire, from extradimensional captivity. Cain takes command of the horde of vampires from Mary and begins absorbing magic. Tig, Troughton, Batman, and the
Justice League Dark
Justice League Dark, or JLD, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team made their debut in ''Justice League Dark'' #1 (September 2011). The team features some of the more supernatural characters in t ...
are almost overwhelmed by the vampires when
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu (Nimue Inwudu) is a fictional character published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur''.
Jeryl Prescott portrays X ...
manages to resurrect Andrew Bennett, who proceeds to kill Cain and claim leadership of the vampire horde for himself, promising a new era free from conflict with humans.
The series ended in April 2013 with issue #19. Fialkov was told about the cancellation when he finished the script for issue #15 and is satisfied with the conclusion to the series.
Vampire lore
In the ''New 52'' continuity, vampires possess the generic abilities associated with the undead, namely supernatural powers of strength and speed, immortality, and accelerated healing, as well as enhanced senses sufficient to track blood by scent, hear heartbeats and see in the dark. Unlike most popular depictions of vampires, however, they are not burned from exposure to direct sunlight. Instead, similar to the literary
Dracula
''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...
, sunlight dulls their senses and severely weakens their physical attributes to the point of becoming effectively human or even less so in terms of their abilities. These vampires trace their lineage to the Biblical
Cain
Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
. After being exiled from Paradise and cursed with the
Mark of Cain
The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physical ...
for killing his brother Abel, Cain wandered a vast desert until he came across the first woman,
Lilith
Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...
. Consumed with bloodlust, he turned her out of sheer instinct.
They have shown the ability to shapeshift to a greater extent than before, being able to become a variety of different forms, none of which have been completely defined. Vampires have also shown the ability to create clothes through shapeshifting. While all vampires can turn into wolves, Andrew has shown to be able to combine his wolf form with his natural 'human' form to create a monstrous werewolf-like creature. Andrew has also shown that he is able to change into a mist and back, being able to do this in combat as well to avoid strikes in the "nick of time", rendering him intangible. He has also shown to be able to mist all of his clothes as well as the weapon he was carrying. Andrew can also turn into a swarm of bats or sprout large bat-like wings from his back in order to achieve flight. In addition, Andrew also has the ability to "sway" humans to do his bidding and can alter their memories. After the events from ''Rise of the Vampires'', Andrew can cast magic and do things like resurrect people and vampires,
[''I, Vampire'' #8. DC Comics.] freeze his enemies,
and absorb dark magic,
[''I, Vampire'' #12. DC Comics.] among other things. Besides his vampiric powers, Andrew has been shown to be an expert tracker and master swordsman with unparalleled combat skills.
Alternative versions
In the 2021 out-of-continuity miniseries, ''DC vs Vampires'', Mary, Queen of Blood is shown to be the leader of vampires worldwide and in favor of vampires continuing to hide in the shadows, until she is overthrown by an unknown enemy. Vampires proceed to convert or kill high-profile superheroes and villains in the hopes of establishing a new world order. Andrew Bennet attempts to alert the Justice League, but only succeeds in informing Batman before he is killed by a converted Green Lantern.
Collected editions
The original series was collected in April 2012 under the title ''I...Vampire''. It included ''The House of Mystery'' #290, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299, 302, and 304–319 and ''The Brave and the Bold'' #195 ().
Issues #1–6 of the ''New 52'' series were collected in October 2012 under the title ''I, Vampire Volume 1: Tainted Love'' ().
Issues #7–12 of the ''New 52'' series, along with ''
Justice League Dark
Justice League Dark, or JLD, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team made their debut in ''Justice League Dark'' #1 (September 2011). The team features some of the more supernatural characters in t ...
'' #7–8, were collected in March 2013 under the title ''I, Vampire Volume 2: Rise of the Vampires''.
Issue #0 and issues #13–19 of the ''New 52'' series were collected in December 2013 under the title ''I, Vampire Volume 3: Wave of Mutilation''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:I...Vampire
1981 comics debuts
1983 comics endings
DC Comics titles
Gothic comics