DC New 52 Review: I, Vampire #3

Please note, I have reviews posted for I, Vampire #1 and I, Vampire #2.

I, Vampire #3
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Andrea Sorrentino
Cover Price: $2.99

In a nutshell:
We finally get some supporting characters as we meet Andrew Bennet's (the pro-human vampire) closest friend as well as a new ally.

Synopsis:
Once again the story is told from the point of view of a character, this time that of Professor John Throughton, a human, who has been a friend and ally of Andrew Bennett since Andrew saved him from becoming a victim of Mary in 1979. We learn that before the current escalating war between vampires and humans there was five years of vampire ceasefire with the only violence against humans being isolated instances. Andrew and John discuss Andrew's connection with the other vampires and John wonders whether Andrew is aware that if he took his own life it would end the threat of his offspring. As they prepare their move against the evil vampire forces, Andrew is attacked by a young girl named Tig who was taught to fight vampires by her mom after her father was killed by one. We get here an idea of what the "good guy" team in the Vampire War will be.

Why did I pick it up?
While I do think that I, Vampire #2 killed some of the momentum of the first issue by basically rehashing a lot of the same information (but from a different point of view), I still felt a strong interest in this book and where it's going.

The Good:
We finally get some more characters. As much as I think the relationship between Andrew and his lover/enemy Mary is the core of this book, by the end of the second book I felt that by focusing two issues on just that, we weren't getting enough of a picture of the world they live in. The character of John gives us a broader perspective on Andrew in particular, as a character he feels a kinship with, but also as a character he has some questions about as well. The character of Tig is not the most original character so far but she has the potential to add another dimension to this book. The art continues to be amazing and I think it serves this story very well. In fact, I have a hard time envisioning this book with a different artist and I'm hoping that it doesn't come to that, at least anytime soon.

The Bad:
I feel like the first person narrative is limiting the pace of this story as well as boxing it into a corner that keeps us focused very close (which is good) but at the cost of really getting a sense of what the bigger world feels like. We've seen the horrific images, but we haven't really seen a lot of pedestrians and normal world interaction. I think that this format can also feel a little inauthentic if it becomes an ongoing formula. I guess my hope is that at some point the story is going to break this format so that the story can flow in a little more organic way and we can get a more diverse view of this world in an issue, because at this point, I feel like we should have a little more perspective. Luckily what this format has given us is strong enough to hold my interest, up until now at least.

Is it worth it?
Everything this book has presented has been good and has left me wanting more. I don't feel like we've gotten enough yet to get a sense that the story as a whole will be satisfying, but what we've gotten so far has held my interest and I would recommend. The third issues picks up the momentum that started to slow down in the second issue and I'm continuing to look forward to what's coming next.