American Vampire Vol. 3

In professional wrestling, there’s this term for a specific kind of character called a “tweener”. A tweener is basically a guy who’s generally in it for himself. He’s not exactly a heel (bad guy) or babyface (good guy), he’s more so inbetween. A prime example would be Stone Cold Steve Austin, a guy who exhibits traits of a rule breaker but is beloved by the fans.

If we took the American Vampire universe and labeled the characters in relation to their actions, Skinner Sweet would be the definition of a tweener. Sure, you could argue that he fits the role typically portrayed by a villain but with some of his actions in Volume 3, Skinner is often walking that line between good and evil.

In Volume 3, Snyder moves the setting to the 1940s and the conflict of World War II. By that alone, Snyder’s already got me interested. If you ask anyone, Nazi’s are the true measuring stick in regards to the level of evil the human race can sink to. When you throw vampires in the mix as soldiers of the Reich, you’re sinking so low you might as well be operating out of Hell.

While the first two volumes are just plain excellent, the third installment truly takes things up a notch. The ongoing development of some of these characters has lead the series into some fantastic story telling. Snyder is just churning out compelling fiction, leaving nothing off the page. Emotions are running high as characters like Skinner Sweet, Pearl Jones and Felicia Book interact throughout history, desperately trying to rid the world of one another.

This Scott Snyder guy is something else. I’ve yet to read anything of his that doesn’t grip me from the beginning and leave me wanting more. There’s so much to love within this series and so far, I can’t recommend it enough.