Reviewer: “Starman†Matt Morrison
Story Title: Consequences
Written by: Judd Winick
Penciled by: Tomm Coker
Inked by: Tomm Coker
Colored by: Jason Wright
Lettered by: Kurt Hathaway
Editor: Mariah Huehner
Publisher: Vertigo Comics
It has been said before, by myself and other critics, that Judd Winick’s strength as a writer lies in his characters, his sense of humor and his knack for inspired situations to base stories around. It has also been said that he is somewhat lacking in the ability to write good action scenes or natural exposition. And now I must say that nothing better illustrates this than this penultimate chapter of “Blood And Waterâ€.
Until now, I had greatly enjoyed this series. I loved the concept, which gave us a look at vampirism as a blessing untapped by many genre writers. I loved the characters, who were active and enjoyed themselves as opposed to the more depressive and angst-filled vampire characters that permeate modern literature. And you couldn’t find many better gags these last few months than series hero Adam trying to fight off his friends with a sex-toy crucifix.
And then last issue, the plot kicked in. And instead of being a funny, cute story about a group of friends who just happened to be vampires and one man’s learning to cope with his new lifestyle choice, the book transformed into just another horror comic with an unseen monster awakening to start killing those nearest the hero. This issue, we find out just who and what the monster is, why it was awoken by Adam’s transformation to vampirism and why Adam is now doomed to become an outcast among his new “kindâ€. The sad fact is that this is nowhere near as interesting or entertaining as Adam’s hitting the town and using his newfound powers, and the series suffers for it.
Thankfully, the artwork is still up to snuff, but it can’t help the “been there, done that, saw it rerun on ‘Buffy’ last week†plot. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy this issue. Far from it. But after the last three issues of something new and unusual on every page, the amount of repetition from older works in this issue is both shocking and depressing. Perhaps it will end with a bang. But right now, this book is like a part-time vampire. It kinda sucks.
