Vampire State Building #1 is a new entry in the vampire genre and delivers enough originality to stand out. The debut issue does a solid job balancing the introduction of characters and the eventual chaos of vampires. The story in a nutshell, a mysterious space is discovered in the Empire State Building which sends out a call to vampires living in New York City who attack the building trapping everyone within.

Written by Ange and Patrick Renault the debut issue focuses on two things. First, we have an introduction to the various characters of the series. We get a good idea as to who they are and what they bring to the table. There are some tropes in there and so far the characters don’t have a lot of depth but hopefully, we get more than horror film cliches. The second thing about the issue is building tension.

There’s a great build-up in the issue. There’s a tension there. That begins with some of the interaction of the characters and then explodes during the eventual vampire attack. The use of the character strife to then transition into chaos is a great move. It really helps with the emotional rollercoaster of the issue. There’s also a smart focus on the chaos of the attack itself and keeping the readers on their toes with who dies and what exactly is going on. We experience the same chaos as those in the building. It’s also clear that anyone can die in this series as some of the introduced characters don’t make it.

Vampire State Building #1‘s big selling point is the art of Charlie Adlard, the artist behind The Walking Dead. There’s a familiarity in Adlard’s style so much so his characters feel like they could be in The Walking Dead. There’s both good and bad with that. If you enjoy Adlard’s style, it works. There’s nothing groundbreaking in panel use. But, Adlard hits the right beats much as he did with the more famous property.

Vampire State Building #1 is a solid debut issue. It’s not anything new or amazing but it’s just an entertaining start for those into this type of story. We’ll see where it goes in this tale of survival and hopefully it brings something different. The debut issue has done its job in getting me excited to see what’s next.

Story: Ange, Patrick Renault Art: Charlie Adlard
Color: Sébastien Gérard
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Ablaze provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review