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Exsanguine #1 Review

By Andy Frisk
October 24, 2012 - 18:42

An apparent serial killer is plaguing Alexandria, Virginia. There have been a few grisly murders and an out of touch, centuries old vampire who calls the city's "Old Town" his home is suspected. Of course, the FBI agents assigned to the case don't know that Saul Adams is a vampire, but FBI profiler Agent Quinn, who may or may not have a touch of the psychic (or supernatural) about her herself, suspects Adams of being something bloody... Meanwhile, the killer, once revealed, turns out to someone that Adams (or the FBI-once they find out) would never have imagined.

From the creator of Hack/Slash, Tim Seely, comes what at first appears to be a pretty basic and non-inspired take upon the vampire genre with the character of Saul Adams serving as the main blood sucker. As it turns out though, he's quite purposefully not the most interesting, or perhaps even the most central character of what turns out to be a very inspired first issue of Exsanguine. The serial killer, who also might or might not have a touch of the supernatural about them as well, is really the more interesting of the two. How the relationship between the vampire and the serial killer will evolve and how the two FBI agents will unravel and deal with the bloody goings on will make for an interesting story over the next few issues. Will it turn out to be a tale of a serial killer vs. a vampire, or will it be more of a serial killer plus the vampire vs. the FBI? One can't tell from the first issue's events alone, and that's what makes one want to pick up issue #2.

Tim Seely handles the artistic chores on the tile and his style has changed little from his work on Hack/Slash. His work is solid but not very detailed so it actually seems like there is less going on in each panel as there could be. He does create effective body language and facial expressions though, both of which serve to move along the story very well visually.

A smarter than average horror read with some of the most interesting characters to show up in a horror comic in some time, Exsanguine is a solid read for fans of the vampire, serial killer, or FBI supernatural crime thriller types of stories. Definitely worth checking out.  

 

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12