Vampire State Building #1

by Ange, Patrick Renault

The newest horror series from the artist of The Walking Dead, Charlie Adlard! Just in time for Halloween, get ready to be bitten from the first full color page. Terry Fisher is a young soldier on the verge of being sent away for active military duty, and is going to meet his friends at the top of the Empire State Building for a farewell party. But suddenly a legion of vampires attacks the skyscraper and massacres its occupants. Hounded in the 102 floors that have become a deadly trap, Terry must take decisive action to save himself and his friends - and the city of New York - before the army of abominations, and the terrible vampire god within, walled in the building since its construction, spill into the city!

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Vampires, Comic Book, Fantasy

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Ange is a pseudonym used by Anne and Gérard Guèro to publish comic books with artist Alberto Varanda and medieval fantasy.

They also publish science fiction and roleplaying texts under the pseudonym G.E. Ranne.

Reviews

[Devon Munn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I'm writing this review after i read the last two issues

This did definitely had some tense and creepy moments and seeing Adlard's art is a delight but one issue i had is the explanation for the vampires i found somewhat iffy but it is still a solid read

[Syeda Sumayya Tariq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of friends gather at the Empire State Building to say farewell to a friend and to view the sights from the top of the building. The ongoing renovation in the building disturb the great Vampire God from its sleep in the secret chamber at the building. Now, there's a whole army of vampires hell bent on spreading out through out the city while they hunt and turn every one in the building.

It's a cool one, the graphics a bit more than the story. The story is absolutely fast paced, never a dull moment there. I just felt like the whole story was basically a means to get the two main charcters to a predictable end. I would have apreciated a bit more about the origins of the vampires and what their ultimate game was. That said, the sory definitely flew through, there was a lot of action as the characters run up, down, in and, out of the sky scrapper as they try and find an escape from the blood sucking monsters. Definitely some tense, and panic ridden moments there. The graphics were cool, especially the monsters and the Vampire God, I thought it was a different and brilliant take from what you'd expect for a Vampire God to look like. The individual issue covers were really amazing. All in all it was a short, quick, and delightful ride.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the review copy.

[Timur · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a boring useless waste of time.

This had nothing to do with Vampires. These were zombies? Ghouls? Just some dull creatures that wanted to kill. Kill these absofuckinglutely uninteressting flat Characters...i didnt even cared any second of...

Saw this Cover and thought of some cool origin story for the Heart of nyc, old badass Vampires living inside the Empire state building since 1930 and whatnot, ruling over the city in cool dresses with slick hair, long nails, pale skin SEXY VAMPIRE FANGS etc.
But no. It's just a random building with random people and random creatures searching for brains...oh wait... that was the walking dead...oooooohhhh....the book the artist worked on before THIS trainwreck.
On top of this pile of batshit is the reveal of the master vampire....he looks just like..like....wtf I can't even explain. Some five year old draw a "monster"?

And there were no bats in it.
Not. A. Single. Bat.
Although the REAL empire state building is full of them.
Fuck this. Seriously.

[Anoeska Nossol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

2.5 out of 5 stars

The title has a humoristic undertone which I really liked. When I read the description of the first volume, I was interested in the story. It gave me 'the walking dead' vibes, but with a vampire twist. It sounded very promising and unique.
The artwork is beautiful, but the chosen font is harsh to read. I personally don't like the regular comic font and prefer the ones with a font that is more clear. Some drawings were also a bit too busy, which made that it wasn't as scary as it could be.
Overall, the plot was okay. I found it a bit boring and not as unique as I thought before reading. It all felt very rushed, and the story was flat because of it. Same for the characters.

It was okay, but not great.

[Bobbie Bomber · Rating 4 out of 5]

True rating 3.5
I received Vampire State Building through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As soon as I saw the creative team for Vampire State Building I knew I had to read it! I was a huge fan of The Walking Dead comics and this did not disappoint. VSB is a fast paced action packed volume that I could not put down and read in one sitting! The story starts fast and does not slow down, the ending did feel a bit rushed but it wrapped up nicely and left its self open for more if they want to further explore but the ending also felt solid enough that if this is the end I would be fine with it. Even though this is fairly short you connect pretty well with the character's and I did find myself rooting for the main characters through the story. I really loved the art work it was clean and eye catching and definitely fit the story well, but then I didn't expect anything less.

[Dana K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great graphics - I loved the depiction of the vampires. The legend of the Hamatsa was a really cool addition to the vampire mythology. I loved the use of fire and the single setting for the bulk of the story.

[Emma | Booking it with Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this graphic novel. Unfortunately this was not a new favorite for me. I was hoping that with the name it would include a bit more humor. It didn’t allow much room for character attachments and the story of how the Vampires got there didn’t really work. If you’re in the mood for a one sitting quick action packed read, this might be for you. The art was well done but the story was meh.

[Dawie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not my thing. Great premise, not so greatly executed.

[Anja von "books and phobia" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wenn man mich mit etwas locken kann, dann mit Vampiren und Zombies. Um so gespannter war ich auf diesen Comic, welcher zumindest auf der Rückseite sehr wenig von seiner Handlung verriet. Zumindest war klar, das es im Empire State Building sein würde und Vampire eine Rolle spielen. Alles andere musste mir das Buch selbst erzählen.



Dem ging ich auch schnell nach, denn die Story faszinierte mich schon sehr, besonders da der Zeichner der Walking Dead- Comicreihe mit an Bord war. Somit war zumindest schon für eine stimmige Atmosphäre gesorgt, denn das Spiel mit Licht und Schatten war ein sehr wichtiger Aspekt. Auch die Farbwahl fand ich gut, da man mehr auf dunklere Töne setzte, statt auf Grelle. Selbst wenn es Beleuchtung gab, wirkten die Farben immer noch eine Nuance dunkler, was ehrlich gesagt auch perfekt passte. Dies sorgte auch dafür das der Horror richtig gut zur Geltung kam. Die Vampire waren furchteinflössend und die Angst in den Gesichtern der Charaktere deutlich ersichtlich, was will man also mehr?



Zurück zur Story, welche für den Auftakt der Reihe, erstaunlich viel verriet. Nicht nur das man dabei sein durfte, als die Vampire das Empire State Building überfielen, man erfuhr sogar den Grund. Der war übrigens wirklich gut und spielt sogar ein wenig mit der Geschichte von Vampiren. Ich war auf jeden Fall tief beeindruckt, denn ich mag es sehr, wenn bekannte Figuren, wie eben Vampire, aus ihren Rollen fallen und neue Facetten mitbringen.



Neben den Vampiren gab es aber natürlich noch Terry und seine Freunde. Deren Handlung wirkte bei den ganzen Vampiren fast schon nebensächlich, da man hier ganz normale Freunde erleben durfte. Interessanter wurde es allerdings, als es dann mit Vampiren losging. Jetzt hieß es schließlich eine Lösung in Form eines Fluchtweges finden. Dabei ging man sehr kreativ vor, so das hin und wieder wirklich überraschende Momente zustande kamen.



Das Ende war dann natürlich mit einem Cliffhanger der Extraklasse versehen, welcher ganz klar zeigte, das dies erst der Anfang war.



Dieser Comic legte einen fulminanten Start hin, in dem es nicht nur Vampire in die Neuzeit holte, sondern ihnen auch einen völlig neuen Schrecken gab. Dazu noch die herrliche Szenerie mit den umwerfenden Zeichnungen und es war um mich geschehen. Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf den Nachfolger.

[Ben Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

📝Review of 𝕍𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘
+++
“𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥”
+++
This is my very first time reviewing a book on NetGalley, so that’s exciting! Plus it’s a vampire horror graphic novel, so what could go wrong?
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Briefly, the graphic novel is about an ancient evil that has been awakened on the 75th floor of the Empire State Building. The city must find a way to eradicate this evil before it overwhelms them, and on a smaller scale a group of friends must find their way out of the building alive
+++
Man, I’m a little torn on this one. On one hand it has everything a like: an ancient evil, hordes of monsters, and an enclosed setting of a tall building that our heroes must work their way down floor by floor to escape from. But on the other hand, I just wasn’t super into it. The background of a possibly real cannibalistic society/vampires was interesting, but it didn’t make a whole lot of sense and didn’t really go anywhere. Overall the story seemed very straightforward. I didn’t really care about any of the characters, and the art was standard but nothing special. A few cool scenes, but overall not super impressive. One of my favorite parts was all the different covers provided at the end (you’ll see some examples if you swipe right)
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

[Regina Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vampire State Building by Ange and Patrick Renault is a gory and quite entertaining piece of work. I liked the premise of the story, but simply wished that we found out more about the Vampire god from him, not people. In SPOILER ALERT! The Walking Dead people did not really know where did the plague came from and simply had to survive. In this comic everything was a bit fast-paced, like they tried to achieve closure faster. And having vampires, that are faster and more resilient than zombies only contained to one spot, without spreading seemed to be unlikely.
Vampires reminded me a bit of the From Dusk till Dawn vampires, they mostly do not look much like their human selves. This part I actually like.
Characters were briefly introduced. I simply hope that it becomes a long-running series, with a more stable character, where one really can become attached to them.
The artwork was beautiful. I could not stop looking at the main vampire god, because he was so damn creepy and interesting!
Waiting for more!

[Escapereality4now · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vampire King wakes up from his eternal sleep because of the noisy renovations at the Empire State Building. Several friends who decided to say goodbye at the top of the building are there when the Vampire King awakes and uses his wrath to unleash a vampire army on the city.




I loved the art in this graphic novel a little more than the story line. The story was a fast paced entertaining Graphic Novel from start to finish but the end was a bit predictable. The entire story revolved around two characters. There was definitely a lot action and tension building in the story.

We get a good introduction to the characters and have a good sense of who they are
in the beginning. I did love the way the artist portrayed the Vampire God. I also loved the way the vampire fed in the story and thought it was very unique. He was such a creepy character, however I would have liked to have seen more development in terms of the history of the Vampire God and his army.


Overall i really enjoyed this graphic novel

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for a honest and unbiased review*

Hello Fellow Readers!

I really have been in the mood for horror and when I saw this I knew this would check all the boxes and it did. I wanted evil vampires, I wanted blood, and I wanted there to be a hero, but while it gave me everything I wanted I still didn't feel fulfilled. Maybe it was just too cliche? But I didn't feel any connection to the characters, so when someone died it didn't affect me to much.

Terry was okay, a man who is going through some (actually a lot) of stuff, he's about to be shipped off and his friends meet at the empire state building to watch the sunset and remind he what he's leaving behind. Honestly, I would like to read more about Terry without all the vampire stuff I think that would make for some interesting reading.

Overall, a good horror Graphic Novel with vampires.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this story but it was beautiful and still interesting. I feel like it was a bit bland and predictable for a suspense/horror graphic novel, though the story was intriguing enough that I finished the book in one sitting. Overall, definitely not my favorite but worth reading, if only for the artwork.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of potential here and the usual awesome Adlard art but it ends too soon. You just start caring about the people trapped and it's over...

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[Jai · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I thought it would be something really unique but it really wasn’t.

[Elyse · Rating 2 out of 5]

NetGalley ARC.

Didn't really care for this graphic novel. Vampires have been done so many times, in so many ways and this was nothing special.

[Bella (Bella's Wonderworld) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meine Meinung:

Splatter, Horror und monströse Vampire – das Ganze gezeichnet von Charlie Adlard, dem Zeichner von »The Walking Dead«. Das Szenario zum ersten Band der »Vampire State Building« Dilogie liefert das Schreiber-Duo Ange und Patrick Renault.

Als Setting dient die atemberaubende Kulisse von New York City mit seinen eleganten Wolkenkratzern und dem stetig pulsierenden Leben. An einem verhängnisvollen Abend trifft sich der US-Soldat Terry mit seinen Freunden auf der Aussichtsplattform des 1931 erbauten Empire State Building, um sich vor seinem Afghanistan Einsatz von ihnen zu verabschieden.

Nachdem man Bekanntschaft mit der Clique geschlossen hat und sich von dem zauberhaften Blick auf die Skyline losreißt, nimmt der 56 Seiten umfassende Comic zusehends an Fahrt auf. Vampireske Kannibalen schleichen sich im Empire State Building ein und ziehen auf der Suche nach ihrem Meister eine Schneise der Vernichtung durch die gut besuchten Etagen des eleganten Gebäudes, wobei sie Angst und Schrecken unter den Menschen verbreiten. Einzig Terry, dessen Clique sich durch das Durcheinander der aufkommenden Panik verloren hat, scheint einen kühlen Kopf zu bewahren. Natürlich hat diese terrorverdächtige Infiltration längst die Polizei auf den Plan gerufen und so wechseln die Panels zwischen der sich zuspitzenden Lage im Gebäude und der Einsatztruppe.

Eine Linguistin des Polizeiteams erkennt in den archaischen Lauten der Vampir-Monster eine Mischung der Indianersprachen aus den Stämmen der Mohawks und Kwakiutl und kann durch ihr Sprachverständnis für die Sondereinheit wichtige Informationen übersetzen. Der Anführer des Vampir-Kollektivs betrachtet sich als Auserwählter der Hamatsa, einer uralten Sekte, deren Mitglieder Kannibalen waren und durch ein Initiationsritual in Vampire verwandelt werden sollten. Doch was wollen die Fanatiker dieses traditionellen Geheimbundes, die Götter anbeten und an einen heiligen Zyklus glauben, heute? Diese Frage wird hoffentlich im abschließenden Folgeband beantwortet…

Der erste Band von »Vampire State Building« bietet Action, Vampire und massenhaftes Opfersterben ähnlich einer Zombieapokalypse. Von der Story hätte ich mir allerdings zumindest eine bessere Ausarbeitung der Einflüsse aus der indianischen Tradition gewünscht. Stattdessen wird viel Zeit auf die Einführung von Charakteren gelegt, die das Autorenteam nur wenig später sowieso den Vampiren als Fraß vorwirft. Der Comic punktet bei mir durch die atmosphärischen und scharf gestochenen Illustrationen von Charlie Adlard, der Monster genauso beeindruckend in Szene setzt wie das spektakuläre Setting.

Fazit:

Solider Vampir-Horror, der in erster Linie durch Charlie Adlards Illustrationen überzeugt, storytechnisch aber noch etwas Luft nach oben hat.

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© Bellas Wonderworld; Rezension vom 15.06.2020

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC.)

Vampire enthusiasts will want to add this to their collection!

I was hooked from the start. The graphics, characters, and plot were amazing! A great balance of speech and artwork. The colors enhance the storyline.

If you like vampires and horror, pick this up. You won't be disappointed.

I can't wait to get a hard copy of this for my collection!!