Dix ans après le premier numéro de American Vampire, DC officialise la publication de l’ultime cycle de la saga imaginée par Scott Snyder et Rafael Albuquerque.
American Vampire 1976 sera une mini-série en 9 épisodes publiée sous la bannière Black Label. Le #1 sortira en octobre.
America is broken. Trust between the government and the American public has crumbled. Paranoia reigns supreme. It’s 1976, not 2020, and this horrifying tale is the concluding chapter of the Eisner Award-winning American Vampire, reuniting Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque for a nine-issue miniseries!
“Scott, Rafael, and I, we cut our teeth together on American Vampire 10 years ago,” said executive editor Mark Doyle. “Returning to finish the story we started a decade ago is a thrill. Working on American Vampire 1976 has been so creepy and cool, especially because the parallels between 70’s paranoia and today are really chilling…”
Skinner Sweet has exhausted all efforts to regain his lost immortality. With his powers and purpose gone, he is now determined to go out with a bang. At a seedy motorcycle rally in the desert where Skinner’s closer than ever to his death wish, Pearl Jones and a shocking partner track him down for one last, desperate mission: the force known as the Gray Trader and its minions are tunneling through the bowels of the world to unleash hell on Earth—just in time for America’s bicentennial. With catastrophe looming, it’s up to Skinner and Pearl to reconcile and change the course of history—or die trying.
“The characters in ‘76 are in a really dark place in terms of the fight against evil,” says Snyder. “The '70s mirror our current era in many ways: the anxiety, the fear, and the re-examination of American identity. The book opens on Skinner Sweet working outside of Vegas doing death-defying Evel Knievel-style stunts, trying to die. There’s a kind of Son of Sam plot in New York City with Cal and Travis, a political thriller plot with Felicia, and all sorts of '70s iconography. It’s my favorite arc so far.”
The series that launched the careers of superstars Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque returns for nine final issues and the closing chapter of the legacy of American Vampire.
American Vampire 1976 #1 by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque will publish on October 20, 2020, and carry DC’s Black Label descriptor, identifying the content as appropriate for readers ages 17+. The book will retail for $3.99 with cover artwork by Albuquerque and a variant cover by Dustin Nguyen.
Je pense que DC va clôturer l’histoire et le label définitivement. Il ne faut pas qu’il vive mensuellement je pense. Autant profiter de la part croissante des TPB (cf. article de Comicsblog récemment, très intéressant et sans avis à l’emporte pièce, mon cher Soyouz).
Il est déjà clôturé depuis longtemps. Le label existe juste pour les rééditions. Certaines réeditions sont même en train de passer de Vertigo à Black Label comme Sandman et Animal Man (mais je crois qu’au tout départ ce n’étaient pas des séries Vertigo).
Pour le dire vite, Vertigo a été créé initialement pour donner une sorte de cohérence aux séries qui étaient chapeautées par Karen Berger en tant qu’editor, qui avaient une forte unité à la fois de genre et de ton — consécutive notamment à ce qu’on a appelé « l’invasion britannique » (autrement dit la tentative de DC de trouver le nouvel Alan Moore après que celui-ci a claqué la porte). Aucune des premières publications du label (Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Hellblazer, Sandman, Shade the Changing Man, Swamp Thing) n’en était à son premier numéro. Par la suite c’est devenu de plus en plus informel, le coin « adulte » de DC, en accueillant des choses de plus en plus diverses, tout simplement parce que les tentatives de l’éditeur de créer d’autres collections aussi fortes n’ont jamais marché (par exemple Transmetropolitan a été versé en cours de route au label Vertigo après avoir commencé sous la bannière Helix, un label consacré à la SF qui s’est cassé la g… au bout de deux ans, le titre de Warren Ellis étant le seul à lui avoir survécu).
Je trouve que c’est un peu rapide de dire que le label est « clôturé depuis longtemps » et « existe juste pour les rééditions » alors que les dernières tentatives volontaristes de le relancer datent de 2015 et 2018 (et il y a eu de belles choses)… mais oui, on voit bien que le titre était sous respirateur artificiel depuis huit / dix ans au moins, et avec l’épidémie actuelle DC a décidé de le débrancher…
Description: America is broken. Trust between the government and the American public has crumbled. Paranoia reigns supreme. It’s 1976, and this is the concluding chapter of American Vampire! Skinner Sweet has exhausted all efforts to regain his lost immortality. With his powers and purpose gone, he is now determined to go out with a bang. At a seedy motorcycle rally in the desert where he’s closer than ever to his death wish, Pearl Jones and a shocking partner tracks him down for one last, desperate mission: The force known as the Gray Trader and its minions are tunneling through the bowels of the world to unleash hell on Earth – just in time for America’s bicentennial. With catastrophe looming, it’s up to Skinner and Pearl to reconcile and change the course of history – or die trying.
À partir du moment où tu prends une source commune, en l’occurrence Evel Knievel, et que tu la plonges dans le surnaturel, tu finis par avoir des similitudes frappantes. Et sans doute voulues, en plus.
Covers by: Rafael Albuquerque, Francesco Francavilla.
Description: Skinner, Pearl and a surprising new ally team up to pull off their game-changing heist of the Freedom Train, but time is running out for a nation in crisis. The Beast’s plan for mass terror and world domination is finally revealed in sick detail, and as humanity spirals toward extinction, there’s a devastating twist. When an unexpected force returns to pick off the VMS’s top officials, Travis and Cal discover that the ultimate evil has competition – and the final battle will be more merciless than anyone imagined.
Description: Two subterranean showdowns escalate! Thousands of miles apart, rogue American vampires and the last remnants of the VMS chase the only known leads against the Beast’s looming plans for world domination. As Skinner’s crew fight for their lives aboard the runaway Freedom Train in the Tongue-infested tunnels of the Southwest, Cal and Travis scavenge the tracks below Times Square for traces of the Beast’s terrifying challenger – but when they get too close to the monster for comfort, they’re blindsided by the mother of all unexpected twists.
Key clues and coordinates in hand, the rogue branches of the VMS reunite for a final mission that could unlock the secret to taking down The Beast. On their journey to find answers about a pact between America’s Founding Fathers and an ancient counsel of monsters, the whole team—Skinner, Pearl, Book, Felicia, Travis, and Cal—realize they’ll need to confront their own complicated personal pasts before they have a hope of correcting world history. Back at the White House, the Gray Trader’s secret associate, Bixby, wrestles with his allegiance to evil and makes a final decision about the president’s fate.
American Vampire 1976 #4
Written by Scott Snyder Pencils Rafael Albuquerque Inks Rafael Albuquerque Colored by Dave McCaig Letters by Steve Wands Variant Cover by Mirka Andolfo Cover by Rafael Albuquerque Release Date: January 12, 2021
C’est de plus en plus moche… je ne sais pas ce qui arrive à Albuquerque : les visages sont bâclés, les perspectives foireuses, les décors et arrière-plans inexistants… même les couleurs ne sont plus au top alors que le coloriste habituel de la série est quand même pas un tâcheron. Bref, j’avais déjà remarqué une baisse significative de la qualité (y compris en narration parfois pas claire du tout) sur le deuxième cycle mais là on diminue encore. Pourtant ils ne se sont pas pressés pour le sortir ce dernier cycle. Je prendrai tout de même pour la conclusion de l’histoire mais une grande partie du plaisir de lecture va sauter. Bizarre tout de même, si quelqu’un a une explication ?
Skinner, Pearl, Book, and the rest of the team are finally united in their mission to stop the Beast from world domination, but the missing key to their success is protected by a council of preeminent ancestral monsters with an axe to grind. These are the progenitors of some of the world’s most iconic folkloric species, and the victims of a broken American promise. Desperate for the council’s assistance, Skinner’s crew becomes a captive audience to their tale of betrayal-but the chilling insight saps all hope of recruiting their help. With only a few days to spare before terror is unleashed, the team must convince the legends that humanity is worth preserving, and that history may still bend toward redemption.
American Vampire 1976 (2020-) #5
Written by Scott Snyder Pencils Rafael Albuquerque Inks Rafael Albuquerque Colored by Dave McCaig Cover by Rafael Albuquerque Release Date : February 9, 2021
With the help of the Council of Firsts, Skinner’s team has learned the secret sacrifice required to obtain the Blood of Light-their only hope of stopping the Beast from destroying humanity and conquering the world. Finally within reach of the remedy, the crew sends one of its own on the grueling last leg of the mission-but a devastating betrayal and an unwelcome revelation about Skinner’s quest for immortality could sabotage the expedition.
Written by : Scott Snyder Pencils : Rafael Albuquerque Inks : Rafael Albuquerque Colored by : Dave McCaig Cover by : Rafael Albuquerque Page Count : 26 Pages Release Date : March 9, 2021 Age Rating : 17+ Only
