“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”

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

I’m a little torn on this one. On one hand it has a lot of things I 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.

Beautyful illustrations and solid story, This was an entertaining read and would love to read more from the writer and this series.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC of this graphic novel in exchange for a fair review.
I was a huge fan of The Walking Dead comics, so I was excited to see the creative team for Vampire State Building..

Building works disturb the resting place of a vampire - in the Empire State Building, the many homeless people in New York City are vampires under the thrall of the vampire god and work together to ensure the many visitors to the building are slaughtered. Terry Fisher, a young soldier about to be sent on operation, has arranged to meet up with friends at the top of the Empire State Building for a farewell party, now Terry and his friends have to battle their way through 102 floors to safety.

Did not finish - not for me.. The artwork was amazing, but the story line felt a bit flat. The vampires are more like mindless ghouls, and I didn't care enough about the characters.

Thank you Netgalley and Ablaze for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This comic showed up on my radar sometime in late 2019/early 2020. I remember my comic shop limiting the first issue to 1 per person, I think, and the idea of vampires in the Empire State Building was intriguing. And the first issue delivers on an intriguing premises! Think Die Hard meets ...whatever good vampire movie you enjoy. And really, I was expecting this comic to end with vampires taking over the world! Uber vamp IN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. How can you beat that?

Unfortunately, the creators borrowed a little too much, including the vampires maybe being something related to an indigenous tribe? I honestly thought we were further past that in 2020.

Honestly most of my stars here are for issue 1 and for the artwork. The further I get away from this comic, the more it makes me uncomfortable that the villain is a canibalistic Native American beastie.

Oh what’s that? A vampire focused story with a pun title, yes I should’ve absolutely devoured this graphic novel. Also it’s the same artist as The Walking Dead – a series which truthfully I haven’t read much of!

Look at all these vampires, they’re probably making people regret celebrating “I left the house today” 😂

I think one of the reasons I haven’t really dived into TWD graphic novels is that it has that mainstream edgey type of art whilst also being a very long series. That’s not to say I don’t like this art, actually I really appreciate how well it works with the story matter, it’s just not a style I vibe with loads! But, Vampire State Building is only 1 volume so I gave it a chance.

Look, it’s kind of wild that I’m not totally in love with a vampire graphic novel, but it fell so very flat for me. This was such a predictable storyline, and qwhite underwhelming.

It’s 2020, aren’t we done with typical stereotypes? with people of colour being the first victims? with the only 2 survivors being a white heterosexual couple, with the dynamic of a cheerleader and footballer?

Honestly this graphic novel could have been a favourite, if only it had spent a little more time on the vampires. They were the most interesting figures on page and yet I’m not supposed to be rooting for them?

I will say that the reason I checked this book out is mostly because of Charlie Adlard. I have been a fan of his art since The Walking Dead. Also, how much more pulpy can you get with Vampires attacking while you are stuck in a skyscraper!?!?!

The vampires in the book were absolutely terrifying. They were the feral kind rather than the more accepted version of your Bela Lugosi Dracula or Tom Cruise Lestat. I am always a fan of seeing Vampires in their most feral, ravenous version.

The story itself reminded me a lot of Die Hard/Towering Inferno as the characters try to make their way out and avoiding getting bitten/eaten alive. It was an enjoyable read and it was definitely something I can pick up and just take in for the pure enjoyment of it all.

I don’t think this graphic novel was my thing. I found that the plot had very little if any substance to it at all. I know that is not always the point with graphic novels, but I feel as though there was something important lacking from the story. When it came to the origin of the vampires and how they came to be in the Empire State Building, the explanation was really just one of convenience. A professor down with the cops just so happened to know someone who knew something about this ancient species of vampire. It just seemed a little too easy.

What I did enjoy was that it clearly wasn’t easy to defeat the vampires. I did like that the people themselves were not strong enough to just kill the vampires and call it a day. There was some suspense in whether or not any of the main characters would survive the attack. By the end, I was invested in whether or not the main couple we were following would survive.

The art for this graphic novel was really nice. I liked the look of the vampires and I really felt the atmosphere of an apocalyptic New York.

While I think this would be a fun read if you are a fan of slasher horror movies, I wasn’t completely sold by the plot and therefore I have overall very conflicted feelings about this.

Vampire State Building is the story of a soldier about to be sent away for active duty. A group of friends decide to have their going away party on top of the Empire State Building, but they are interrupted when vampires attack. Volume 1 collects issues 1-4

When the sun sets the colors are perfect! Everything has that glow that you only get at sundown It is absolutely beautiful which really just enhances how creepy the vampires are.

The story has the same feel as Die Hard. Police are outside and the friends are trying to get messages outside and survive.

3 stars.

Creative Team:
Writer: Ange and Patrick Renault
Artist: Charlie Adiard
Colorist: Sebastien Gerard
Lettering: Carlos M Mangual

Meeting up before he goes to Afghanistan, Terry, his girlfriend Rachael and his cousin Ashley meet up at the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, a horde of vampires overtake the building, cutting everyone off from the outside and leading to a massacre and Terry has to fight to get them out.

I like the premise and this is an interesting read but I didn't feel much after it was done. It just kinda happened. This is like 30 Days of Night but instead of a small town it's schmushed into one building. I think I would have liked this more if it had more time and the story didn't feel crunched down.

But then again, how long would the vampires really be able to hold the entire building before the authorities clean house? I shouldn't expect something really drawn out. This isn't isolated Alaska; it's a major city post 9/11. They're gonna eliminate the threat ASAP whether they believe its vampires or not.

Anyway, despite leaving me wanting more, I did find it compelling, well drawn, and really creative. If there's more, I'd check it out. 3.9 out of 5.

Absolutely intriguing story. I was a fan of the walking dead story and this was just as good. Definitely going to need to pick up a physical copy. So excited to see what else they have in store.

⭐1 Star⭐

If you are looking for a quick read, bursting with blood and gore, then this is the graphic novel for you. But unfortunately, this is where the praise ends.

The plot is rushed, dropping us into the carnage of the night with little to no time to build empathy for or understand the characters. Although the underlying concept of the story is interesting, there is nothing unique in its execution. Vampire State Building takes tired tropes from popular movies and tv shows and rather than using them to subvert the reader's expectations for the narrative; we follow the same wearisome structure of the shows that inspired it. The Vampires behave more like traditional zombies, this makes sense when you consider that this is written by the artist of The Walking Dead, but it is disheartening to see that this story is so similar.

If you are looking for a short graphic novel to read in an hour, then pick this up. But if you need your next horror fix, then look elsewhere.

I received an advance review copy of this graphic novel for free via NetGalley in association with Diamond Book Distributors. I am leaving this review voluntarily 📚.

🧟‍♀️🧛‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧛‍♂️

-Lucy

Terrifying vampires in an interesting setting? Count me in! This was a premise that I hadn't really thought about before. What would you do if you were in a skyscraper and vampires attacked? How screwed would you be? This book made me glad I don't like heights. The vampires were definitely not glamorous, so that was refreshing. No sparkly vampires for me, thanks. I prefer them to be insatiable monsters, so this gets bonus points. The only drawback in this one was the ending being unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome, but unfortunately I know a little too much science to believe it could've happened the way it did. Other than that though, I really enjoyed this and I highly recommend it to fellow horror lovers. I read it easily in one sitting, and I'm looking forward to the next book by this author.

It is a horror novel. It is about a building which is possessed by Zombies who work fir a master.
He needs to feed on humans to become strong.
Story is very engaging and reader sticks to it right from the start.
Artwork is innovative and fresh. It shows clearly all the fear and gruesome events.
I liked the suspence depicted in the story.
It actually feels like a movie. You can clearly feel the circumstances. A very good graphic novel that is highly recommended.

I love vampires, so I was excited to read this one. I just want to start out by saying the art style for this graphic novel isn't my favorite, but that's just a personal preference. I did however, enjoy the story for the most part. I had a little trouble following what was going on but I did have fun reading.

Nice art. Story and plot are pretty standard "disaster/horror" stuff -- nothing special. An ancient evil entity is released in a skyscraper, victims become disposable minions of the great leader, the authorities are in over their heads... But wait! What are those darn meddling kids up to?! Not quite that bland but it gives you the general idea.

Lots of blood, over-the-top violence, and some adult language.

Thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Charlie Adlard moves on from zombies to vampires. Die Hard + Towering Inferno + Vampires. Given the pedigree of the films the creators were inspired by, this should have been way better than it was. The storytelling was very basic and disjointed. I was bored by most of this and its paper thin characters.

Vampire State Building by Ange, Patrick Renault, & Charlie Adlard

2 stars

I won’t lie. I picked this book up and requested it on Netgalley solely because it said from the artist of The Walking Dead and I like the style of those comics, so I was excited to read a horror comic. This one started out with promise. It follows a man who is about to leave for combat in the army and his friends celebrate his farewell in his last day in New York. It ends horribly when vampires take over the town and the group find themselves locked in the Empire State Building. Que the title. I didn’t hate this at first. In fact, I thought it was it was going to be 4 stars and then I got to the mythology behind the vampires and it was so racist and stereotypical that I lost all interest. The vampires originate from cannibal Native Americans. *face palm* In America, the cannibal Native trope has plagued our media to the point where I remember having a teacher tell me in high school history that these Natives were not cannibals, but these were because for some reason we have to distinguish cultural practices with our stereotypes. A large portion of Natives don’t even practice cannibalism, but we are going to completely forget how many times the ancestors of the British ate people during plagues and famines. Stereotypes towards the Native population need to be discussed as well as looked at from a critical lens and this story shows a complete lack of looking at a stereotype and its cultural implications. I’m sorry, but having Native Americans be cannibals who become immortal vampires to take over the world is just not a culturally aware plot. It’s offensive and steeped in cultural stereotypes. It got worse and worse as the graphic novel went on. So, yeah, I was annoyed. I was even more annoyed because I spent the month of August reading two books (which were five stars-The Only Good Indians and Moon of the Crusted Snow) by Natives because I wanted to learn more about tribes and reservations and the history and implications as well as cultural pushbacks and oppression that these people groups have faced. This graphic novel did not handle this stereotype with care, but instead took the Natives are evil cannibals’ trope and turned them into immortal vampires hellbent on destroying the world. I don’t recommend it for that alone, however, I recognize that may not be a drawback for many people and if this still piques your interest then pick the graphic novel up. The story itself is intense and the chase scenes were fun, but the plot was horrendous and it deadened my excitement over the text.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 1

Character Scale: 2

Villain Scale: I am omitting this because I found it offensive.

Plotastic Scale: 1.5 (just because I liked the chase scenes before I knew where the creatures came from)

Art Scale: 3

Cover Thoughts: Love it. Creepy, bloody, and alluring. Too bad the inside makes me unhappy.

Thank you, Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Prose (Story): The new horror series from the artist of The Walking Dead fame, this graphic novel collects the first four issues of the series as we follow Terry Fisher, a rugged New York City soldier about to re-enter active military duty, who - the night before he leaves - meets up with his friends and ex-girlfriend at the top of the Empire State Building for a going away party ... on the same night a crazed horde of bloodthirsty vampires breaks loose to take over the building - the city - and man.

Don's (Review): A genuinely interesting premise - a sort-of mythical vampire god, who has been walled up inside the Empire State Building since its construction, is set loose at last to take over and enslave mankind, turning all around him into vampires as rugged military hunk Terry Fisher parties with his friends on the roof above - somehow, in execution, lacks much in the way of originality or thrills. Bloody and gory, yes, and there are definitely tense moments that help keep you reading, but ultimately (beyond the premise) there isn't a lot new to this stock vampire story. As Terry and company try to get the 102 floors down to street level, the iconic Manhattan skyscraper crammed with vamps, anyone whose read even moderately in the genre can see almost every plot point coming. Murky, messy art both compliments yet somehow distracts from the story, and overall this reader was left both dissatisfied and underwhelmed, feeling as if I'd traveled this same old road too many times before. 2/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Vampire State Building, by Ange, Patrick Renault, Charlie Adlard
★★★☆☆
144 Pages
Content Warning: blood, gore, violence


Vampire State Building was an original concept with dark, gritty artwork. I found the artwork fitted the vampires better than the humans, who were left a little basic and indistinct. I thought the plot was a bit thin, with few explanations that left it feeling more like a horror slasher movie, where you just know 90% of the cast are going to die, from stupid decisions, and there's going to be no satisfying conclusion. Which is exactly what happened here.
The ending was rushed, the conclusion simple and basic, and I really wanted more of the folklore, the history, the motivation of the vampires. These guys were basically labelled “vampires” and it was expected that we knew everything we needed to know. When a hint of their history did make an appearance, it was boring and given in dialogue by someone who had literally just Googled a term and found their entire history revealed online. I wanted proper exploration of the vampires, an explanation for why there were 1000s of homeless people who were actually vampires, who had never once tried to wake the God vampire, what their culture was, why it had begun, and if there were more like them. If this had happened in the past, if it would happen again in the future.

Sadly, all my questions were left unanswered, lost in the sub-plot romance and the convenient plot of an army recruit happening to be right in place to fight the Big Bad.

Unfortunately, it failed to impress this reader, who has seen vampires in all shapes and forms, but never dismissed in this offhand fashion that makes then less of a threat and more of a convenient plot point.

~

Favourite Panel

This is the quote at the beginning of the story, and I really hoped it would have a HUGE impact on the book but...it didn't. This quote set me up for a story I never really got, but really wanted.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/96/10/b1/9610b140214ca7ede9d6e97f866523b7.jpg" width="400" height="200" alt="description"/>

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...⁣
⁣
VAMPIRE STATE BUILDING is the new series from Charlie Adlard, one of the bestselling artists behind THE WALKIND DEAD.⁣
After a bestselling series of 33 volumes that has been adapted for television, Adlard offers us here a short but rather intense story.⁣
The only problem with this kind of format is that you don't really have time to get attached to the characters and you always want more.⁣
I thought the idea of the vampire god was pretty cool and I would have loved to see it developed a little more: a story that's too short with elements that needed to be developed, which is to me the only weak point of this graphic novel.⁣
Adlard's drawings are still as mythical, even more neat here and the colors also bring a little more life and dynamism to the work.⁣
⁣
Thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Book distributors for sending me this arc book⁣.