The first half of the issue, as always, is the story of Pearl the semi-accidental vampire starlet bent on taking revenge against the European vampires who meant to have her as a snack in earlier issues. I was extremely pleased to find that Snyder has continued to resist the usual woe-is-me-what-have-I-become of so many other vampire stories. Rather than have the conflict of this story be Pearl's struggle to accept her new nature Snyder has chosen to have it be Pearl's struggle to gain the upper hand against the old-line vampires who made her. This issue is all about Pearl exercising the greater agency her new state gives her and, most interestingly of all, teaming up with a human ally in her assault on the old-world vampires' lair. It's already extremely satisfying to have a team-up just go right for once, devoid of hackneyed conflicts over who's in charge and who isn't and all the other tropes of stories based on unlikely allies. To have the book mix that sort of engaging, likable relationship with the delicious busting-up of a scene of stereotypical villains rubbing their hands together is just gravy. To have an American vampire and an American mortal bust in just as those villains are mocking America's egalitarian ideals is perfect.

Far be it from me to leave out how much I enjoyed King's half of the book this time, though. Yes, I suppose there's an argument that Will Bunting is a little Mary Sue, sure, but isn't that part of what makes it so enjoyable? In fact, that touch of self-referential meta is necessary for the electric thrill of seeing Skinner Sweet show up at a reading of a story about Skinner Sweet. It's not quite Grant Morrison showing up on the page and introducing himself as a god but it's a little hard to ignore the overlap between artist and artwork in the second half of this book. I don't mean that as a criticism, though - quite the opposite. It's a dangerous choice and King pulls it off extremely well. The first half of this book is exciting, yes, but King's half is creepy. King's strength has always been his ability to tap into the power of close relationships and the dreadful fear that surrounds so many of them and he does that here to great effect.

Bottom line: if you haven't read American Vampire yet, wait for the trade, sure, but do read the trade.

So what does all this have to do with Detective Comics? Scott Snyder is taking over that book later this year and I don't think DC could have made a better choice. Lots of comic books - maybe all of them - have something in common with Batman in terms of subject or theme. Many books are about monsters or about outcasts or about people struggling with a desire for revenge. Countless comic book characters have as their ultimate and original motivation the desire to make up for something in their past or prevent that something from happening again or to someone else. None of that is new; it's a well-traveled road and one that Batman paved himself. No other book on the shelf right now, though, is as much about all of those things as Scott Snyder's half of American Vampire. Stephen King is telling us a story of a monster and how its existence shapes the lives of those persons who encounter it but Scott Snyder is telling us a story of a person who is the monster and has embraced that about herself as a means to an end: taking revenge for the crimes perpetrated against her and stemming the tide of tragedies large and small her attackers create in the lives of others. Just as Batman walks the line between villain and vigilante with only a personal code of honor to separate him from his villains at times, Pearl Jones is learning when to unleash the monster and when to savor whatever parts of a normal woman's life might still be available to her. Again, this isn't done as a woe-is-me sort of thing but as an exercise in empowerment. Batman's greatest strength is his capacity to convert tragic loss into devotion to a cause and in the same way Pearl's character development has been that of a woman learning the dimensions of her own strength and turning her new powers against her foes in confidence rather than self-pity. There are plenty of other, superficial overlaps with Batman - a less-powerful but devoted ally, the possibility of going over the edge, villains who are more like her than not, and so on - but ultimately it's that central theme of a person testing their own balance between opposing and passionate tendencies, a person who knows they must act with caution and surety in equal measure, that tells me Scott Snyder is going to do a damn fine job on Detective Comics.

So, sincere congratulations to Scott Snyder for the incredible opportunity to write one of the most important titles ever published. My only hesitation is that I hope it doesn't do anything unfortunate to American Vampire or its schedule to have Pearl Jones' creator focused elsewhere from time to time.

(And Scott, if you're reading this and the offer of a copy of American Vampire still stands, any chance we could work out a give-away of a signed copy for a PK reader instead? :) )