Greenberg the Vampire – review

Writer: J.M. Dematteis

Artists: Steve Leialoha & Mark Badger

First published: 2015 (TPB)

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: Oscar Greenberg is not your typical vampire. He doesn't drink human blood, for one. He's a successful author - albeit prone to writer's block. And he's a good son, who's kept his secret from his dear old Mama. Oscar's also very much in love with Denise, the vamp who turned him. Their happily-ever-after might actually last forever - unless someone comes between them. Someone like Arthur Keaton: Vampire Hunter, who also happens to be Denise's brother! Then there's the demonic Lilith, who has long had designs on Oscar.

The review: Marvel are well known, of course, for the superhero genre but Greenberg the Vampire does not fit in that genre. This was a 2015 reissue of two stories originally published in the 1980s. The first, in black and white and from Bizarre Adventures #29, was the much shorter of the two pieces. The colour story was from Graphic Novel #20.

The stories centre on Oscar, a writer turned into a vampire who loves his girlfriend (and sire) Denise and who has kept his mortal connections with his elderly Jewish mother (we are told that the Star of David is as effective as a cross at one point), who doesn’t know his secret, his brother who does – and supplies him with the blood he consumes from his butcher shop – and his nephew Morrie who is sort of his PA. In the first story there is a tale of a cult, whilst a hunter cuts through the ranks of the undead – who happens to be Denise’s brother and thinks he is avenging her death (he never knew she turned).

In the second story, Oscar has writer's block and is lured towards the movie industry and writing a screenplay of one of his own novels. Simultaneously a serial killer haunts New York, manipulated by Lilith who also has her sights on Oscar and, indeed, had claimed him when he was still in the cradle.

The art of the second story suits the time period from when it was drawn and is lovely in places, whereas the first (in black and white ink) is a bit more utilitarian. The stories, despite the supernatural aspects, really stand as character studies. Interesting stuff and a world away from superheroes. 7 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK