by Scott Snyder and Stephen King

With a unique contribution from New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen King, Scott Snyder, a celebrated short story writer, and Rafael Albuquerque, an artist, launched a monthly Vertigo comic book series in March 2010.

American Vampire introduced the readers to a new breed of vampire – a more well-built and brutal species of a vampire with distinctly American characteristics. The first story arc of the series which was tackled throughout five issues featured two stories, one by Snyder and another by King.

The storyline by Snyder was a Jazz Age glamour and one of decadence and deception. Pearl was an aspiring modern woman with starlet dreams. In searching for her big break, she guested in Hollywood’s dance-halls and speakeasies, then later found out something threatening to her.

On the other hand, the story made by King provides the origin of Skinner Sweet, the very first American vampire. He was described as a murdering, bank-robbing cowboy of the 1880s. Skinner had rattlesnake fangs and was faster and stronger than the previous vampires. Following Snyder and Albuquerque’s story traced Skinner’s bloodline through decades of American history.

Scott Snyder said that it had been fascinating for him to get a chance to reimagine a classic monster and invent the entire mythology and secret history. Collaborating the work with Stephen King and Vertigo made it more crucial for him. He added that having them both and Rafael Albuquerque involved in American Vampire was a dream come true for him.

Stephen King shared that he loved vampire stories. The idea of working on the dark exploits of distinctly American vampires lit up his imagination. It was a thrill to do an origin story and to be a part of the creation. He was thankful to Scott Snyder for sharing his vision.

Rafael Albuquerque was amazed at how Scott and Stephen have done a detailed and inventive new series in a time where vampire stories were everywhere. He was proud to be working on a challenging and exciting project.

According to Karen Berger, publishing a series with a fresh take on the vampire myths itself was already incredible. But adding the talents of Scott Snyder and Stephen King to the creation was beyond impressive. The whole team are thrilled that Vertigo was chosen to be the home for this extraordinary work, which they believed was a significant addition to their popular and timeless appeal of vampire folklore everywhere.

About the creators:

Scott Snyder was best known for Voodoo Heart (Dial Press), his first collection of stories. He worked on his novel “The Goodbye Suit” which was published by Dial in 2011. He also taught writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University, NYU.

Stephen King was the bestselling author of “The Stand, The Shining, The Dark Tower”, “Under the Dome” and multitudes of other works. He chose two stories “Dumpster Tuesday”, and “Wreck” for the 2007 Best American Short Stories anthology shortlist.

“American Vampire” was the first comic book writing Stephen King did base on original material. This marked his debut with Vertigo/DC Comics.

Rafael Albuquerque was best known for his work on Crimeland and Superman/Batman.