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Impaler
Impaler Volume 1
One of the worst blizzards in history cripples New York City in one fell swoop. But the blinding cold and snow are the least of the city's worries. For aboard a drifting cargo ship stirs an unfathomable evil that will unleash a horror the likes of which the world has never seen. And in two nights, New York City will be no more...
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2007
2 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
William Harms
86 books4 followersWilliam Harms has written for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Top Cow, Sony Computer Entertainment, and 2K. He was the lead writer on Mafia III, which was widely acclaimed for its narrative and was nominated for several writing awards, including a British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Games Award.
His graphic novel series Impaler was nominated for an International Horror Guild Award.
He resides in Northern California.
His graphic novel series Impaler was nominated for an International Horror Guild Award.
He resides in Northern California.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 15, 2017
This isn't bad, but feels very incomplete. It reminds me a lot of THE STRAIN with the city being under siege by an army of vampires. The art is stylish and well done. The story is decent, but it feels more like a prelude than an actual chapter. Still, if you are a vampire/Dracula fan you may find this worth checking out.
May 3, 2016
The art was quite good, stylish and suitable to the subject. Things started off promising, with more character depth than I'd expected. It dissolved into more of an action series, though, where character moments were few and ineffective. Characters became indistinguishable from one another, and some potentially interesting ideas, like the twist on the Vlad the Impaler legend, just became mired in a disappointing second half.
December 8, 2021
When an army of vampires sweeps into New York City, Vlad Tempes may be their only hope.
This had some interesting ideas but I think the author tried to do too much too fast. The result is a somewhat crammed mess of characters reacting to dangerous situation after situation. The art is rough, blocky, and dark (a good fit for the story) but it can make it hard to tell one character from another. I dislike it when someone dies in a graphic novel and I don't know if I should care or not because I can't tell who it is.
This had some interesting ideas but I think the author tried to do too much too fast. The result is a somewhat crammed mess of characters reacting to dangerous situation after situation. The art is rough, blocky, and dark (a good fit for the story) but it can make it hard to tell one character from another. I dislike it when someone dies in a graphic novel and I don't know if I should care or not because I can't tell who it is.
February 10, 2025
Not bad , not brilliant but interesting enough to try the second when available
August 15, 2010
Readers that make it three-quarters of the way through the first volume of Top Cow's IMPALER, written by William Harris and illustrated by a duo of artists, will still only have a sinewy grasp on the creatures that are plaguing NYC.
By this point in the narrative, readers will have some grasp...if any...of what these creatures are, what they hope to accomplish, and what they could become if not stopped.
Unfortunately, readers will also feel the same way about the series itself, not truly understanding by this particular volume's end what the series truly hopes to be and where it intends to go.
The story itself is both simple and charmingly complex. When an army of vampire-like creatures (more akin with 1964's B&W classic, "The Last Man on Earth," insomuch that the creatures can't survive in the daylight and yet can communicate briefly, and the spiritual beasties that wanted to carry Patrick Swayze away in "Ghost"), a ragtag group of NYC officers team up with a man who appears to be Vlad III, the descendant of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's "Dracula," and the only one man who seems to understand how to save the world.
Never mind the fact that readers will learn as little about the creatures themselves as they will about Vlad III in this particular volume. Do some online research if you have the patience and you might discover why this collection boasts the only three issues of IMPALER ever published (which leaves the story grossly incomplete) and remaining issues never before seen until here. Perhaps editorial scrapped the book. Perhaps the creators fell so far behind that Top Cow decided to publish it as a "stand-alone" graphic novel. Whomever the culprit and whatever the reason, perhaps some more thought should have gone in to resurrecting this title before it could be reprinted here.
The narrative and plot of the story never truly gains a foothold. Readers don't understand if they're meant to appreciate the character development that's demonstrated through the surviving officers who are truly out of their league. Brief glimpses into their pre-plague lives suggest that they have some baggage to carry, but for the moment, this baggage doesn't bear any fruit that has any real significance on the battle at hand. IMPALER also doesn't seem to understand pacing, as it moves rather slowly, failing to introduce Vlad III until well into chapter three of the story, despite some bloody action that is meant to distract readers from the fact that...nothing's really alive here, whether the story or the attackers. Perhaps IMPALER wants to read more like a book of survival, a la Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD, but there's not enough meat to prompt that comparison.
For better or for worse, one saving grace of this volume is Nick Postic's artwork. He possesses occasional flairs of photorealism in his characters that might remind readers of work by DAREDEVIL's Alex Maleev or EX MACHINA's Tony Harris. Unfortunately, the artwork shifts two-thirds of the way through the volume and appears a bit like an unpolished version of work by the Luna Brothers. And yet, stranger still, the artist evolves (whether overnight or in the month's gestation while the title was on hiatus) to deliver some rather provocative line work by the conlusion of this volume.
In the end, what could have been a truly innovative response to the vampire craze that's swarming literature turns into an underdeveloped sense of promise and ideas. Ideas, being a dime a dozen, and the first volume of IMPALER possesses little promise to change the minds of its readers.
Interestingly, though, this particular volume also boasts an introduction to the "second series" of IMPALER, and the artwork is remarkably promising, giving readers some hope that there could be light at the tunnel of this franchise. Still, the production and execution of the series so far, with a cliffhanger ending that absolutely demands more chapters, not a self-styled "second series" seems to suggest that either the editorial board at Top Cow or the creators of this series are flying on a wing and a prayer and by the seat of its collective pants, rather than consciously constructing a narrative that will survive its own imminent implosion, or the reluctance of readers to return to Vlad III and these (somewhat) human protagonists.
By this point in the narrative, readers will have some grasp...if any...of what these creatures are, what they hope to accomplish, and what they could become if not stopped.
Unfortunately, readers will also feel the same way about the series itself, not truly understanding by this particular volume's end what the series truly hopes to be and where it intends to go.
The story itself is both simple and charmingly complex. When an army of vampire-like creatures (more akin with 1964's B&W classic, "The Last Man on Earth," insomuch that the creatures can't survive in the daylight and yet can communicate briefly, and the spiritual beasties that wanted to carry Patrick Swayze away in "Ghost"), a ragtag group of NYC officers team up with a man who appears to be Vlad III, the descendant of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's "Dracula," and the only one man who seems to understand how to save the world.
Never mind the fact that readers will learn as little about the creatures themselves as they will about Vlad III in this particular volume. Do some online research if you have the patience and you might discover why this collection boasts the only three issues of IMPALER ever published (which leaves the story grossly incomplete) and remaining issues never before seen until here. Perhaps editorial scrapped the book. Perhaps the creators fell so far behind that Top Cow decided to publish it as a "stand-alone" graphic novel. Whomever the culprit and whatever the reason, perhaps some more thought should have gone in to resurrecting this title before it could be reprinted here.
The narrative and plot of the story never truly gains a foothold. Readers don't understand if they're meant to appreciate the character development that's demonstrated through the surviving officers who are truly out of their league. Brief glimpses into their pre-plague lives suggest that they have some baggage to carry, but for the moment, this baggage doesn't bear any fruit that has any real significance on the battle at hand. IMPALER also doesn't seem to understand pacing, as it moves rather slowly, failing to introduce Vlad III until well into chapter three of the story, despite some bloody action that is meant to distract readers from the fact that...nothing's really alive here, whether the story or the attackers. Perhaps IMPALER wants to read more like a book of survival, a la Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD, but there's not enough meat to prompt that comparison.
For better or for worse, one saving grace of this volume is Nick Postic's artwork. He possesses occasional flairs of photorealism in his characters that might remind readers of work by DAREDEVIL's Alex Maleev or EX MACHINA's Tony Harris. Unfortunately, the artwork shifts two-thirds of the way through the volume and appears a bit like an unpolished version of work by the Luna Brothers. And yet, stranger still, the artist evolves (whether overnight or in the month's gestation while the title was on hiatus) to deliver some rather provocative line work by the conlusion of this volume.
In the end, what could have been a truly innovative response to the vampire craze that's swarming literature turns into an underdeveloped sense of promise and ideas. Ideas, being a dime a dozen, and the first volume of IMPALER possesses little promise to change the minds of its readers.
Interestingly, though, this particular volume also boasts an introduction to the "second series" of IMPALER, and the artwork is remarkably promising, giving readers some hope that there could be light at the tunnel of this franchise. Still, the production and execution of the series so far, with a cliffhanger ending that absolutely demands more chapters, not a self-styled "second series" seems to suggest that either the editorial board at Top Cow or the creators of this series are flying on a wing and a prayer and by the seat of its collective pants, rather than consciously constructing a narrative that will survive its own imminent implosion, or the reluctance of readers to return to Vlad III and these (somewhat) human protagonists.
February 22, 2017
William Harmsin vampyyrisarjakuva ei kykene hyödyntämään kaikkea siinä piilevää potentiaalia. Lopputulos jää sen verran yhdentekeväksi kauhusarjakuvaksi, että siivoan tämän saman tien kirjahyllystäni, enkä edes harkitse toisen osan hankkimista.
July 10, 2012
If you like violence and new takes on the vampire, I say give the book a chance. The artwork is very good although it did take me a few double takes to distinguish characters. It almost makes me think of a Walking Dead for vampires: because you shouldn't get attached to anyone. I would hope that the other volumes help explain everything more, but I won't be picking it up to find out.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews