by Stacey Levin
…Stephen King, that is, because the sovereign of scare has done it again with his newest entries into the comic arena – “American Vampire” and the limited series “N.” The King (That’s my nickname for him. Cause we’re friends. And friends have nicknames for each other. Ok, fine, I don’t actually know him… yet.) has been writing comic books and graphic novels for over 25 years. In fact, on his website, he lists “Creepshow,” the companion comic to the movie, as his earliest comic credit back in 1982. But most fans readily associate his comic work as extensions and companions to his existing published titles such as “The Dark Tower” and “The Stand.” All great stuff, but with “American Vampire” and “N,” The King has gone back to the roots of his horror story telling which is what I love the most. Ok, yeah, so this is a completely biased ode to The King. Sue me. Well, I guess you could stop reading, but it’s STEPHEN KING, people!
In Marvel’s “N,” which is based on SK’s short story and written by the talented film and television writer Marc Guggenheim, The King tells a chilling tale about living in a personal 
hell of paranoia and obsession when his lead character descends into the dark world of mental illness. A lead character with a mental illness is not new territory for S.K. Some of his most famous creations were really just batsh*t crazy folks. (Hello, Annie Wilkes! How ya doin’, Jack Torrance?) But what’s different about Dr. John Bousaint in “N” is that he starts out sane. Actually, he’s a psychiatrist who is literally driven crazy by the mysterious circumstances that surround the death of one his patients known only as Patient N. Patient N committed suicide – pushed to the ultimate limit by hanging out at an odd geological formation of rocks in a barren field. Wait, what? The rocks made him kill himself? No, that can’t be and it sounds illogical. Well, that’s what the good Doc thought, too, until he went to investigate the place and soon found himself catching the same kind of madness that Patient N suffered from. So you’d think people would stay away from the weird rocks, right? Not in a horror comic, peeps. That’s just the beginning. From there, The King’s story and Guggenheim’s expert scripting literally describe every pain staking moment of what it must be like to slowly go insane… to know it’s happening to you, but be helpless to stop it. I can’t think of too many things more frightening than that. Artfully drawn by the accomplished artist Alex Maleev, the imagery in “N” makes you feel as if you too might be catch the insanity if you read too much. Effing brilliant.
With Vertigo’s “American Vampire,” The King takes on the overused area of vampiressszzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, dozed off there for a second because every freakin’ publisher, studio and network is taking a 
stab at telling a vampire tale. (Stab – get it? Yes, cheesy pun intended.) But once again, nobody can do it like The King. I love “American Vampire”! It’s the book I can’t wait for on pull days. It’s not just any ordinary vampire tale. It’s the story of one guy, vampire Skinner Sweet, told from two separate places in his timeline. It’s the same storytelling device SK used in two of my favorite novels from his library – Desperation and The Regulators (under his pseudonym Richard Bachman.) Written along with Scott Snyder, I suspect the two stories being told in “American Vampire” will soon meet in one complete tale. Snyder’s story starts in 1920’s Los Angeles in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood where the heroine Pearl struggles to make ends meet while pursuing her acting dreams. For many of us already living in Los Angeles, that in and of itself is the nightmare. But wait, there’s more. Poor Pearl gets sucked in by a handsome leading man (yep, I went there – sucked in!) who whisks her to a posh Hollywood party where she proceeds to find herself getting attacked by vampires. Confused, scared and feeling really, really strange, Pearl awakens to her new life as a creature of the night. Well, that blows. She doesn’t know the first thing about being a vampire. Luckily our new favorite bad guy, Skinner Sweet is there to give her a few tips… right before the story switches to an old west tale set in the early 1800’s- the setting for Skinner’s origin tale written by The King himself. And for those of you familiar with “The Dark Tower” series, you know the West is a world S.K. loves; a place where he can take his time telling a rich tale with lots of character, color and history. Complementing both sides of the Skinner Sweet yarn is the beautiful art by Rafael Albuquerque whose technique e fills the page with expression and life. “American Vampire” has managed to accomplish what none of the countless other vampire books have yet to do – make vampires seem original and scary again.
Although I can go on and on about my main man, I’ll stop here so you can run to Meltdown and pick up the four issues to date of both “N” and “American Vampire.” While you’re doing that, I’m going to hatch a plan to meet The King himself so we can embark on the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Shut up, it could happen!
Follow Stacey and Jason on twitter at @TVStaceyLevin and @GoTodash
It’s Good to be The King
by Stacey Levin
In Marvel’s “N,” which is based on SK’s short story and written by the talented film and television writer Marc Guggenheim, The King tells a chilling tale about living in a personal
hell of paranoia and obsession when his lead character descends into the dark world of mental illness. A lead character with a mental illness is not new territory for S.K. Some of his most famous creations were really just batsh*t crazy folks. (Hello, Annie Wilkes! How ya doin’, Jack Torrance?) But what’s different about Dr. John Bousaint in “N” is that he starts out sane. Actually, he’s a psychiatrist who is literally driven crazy by the mysterious circumstances that surround the death of one his patients known only as Patient N. Patient N committed suicide – pushed to the ultimate limit by hanging out at an odd geological formation of rocks in a barren field. Wait, what? The rocks made him kill himself? No, that can’t be and it sounds illogical. Well, that’s what the good Doc thought, too, until he went to investigate the place and soon found himself catching the same kind of madness that Patient N suffered from. So you’d think people would stay away from the weird rocks, right? Not in a horror comic, peeps. That’s just the beginning. From there, The King’s story and Guggenheim’s expert scripting literally describe every pain staking moment of what it must be like to slowly go insane… to know it’s happening to you, but be helpless to stop it. I can’t think of too many things more frightening than that. Artfully drawn by the accomplished artist Alex Maleev, the imagery in “N” makes you feel as if you too might be catch the insanity if you read too much. Effing brilliant.
With Vertigo’s “American Vampire,” The King takes on the overused area of vampiressszzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, dozed off there for a second because every freakin’ publisher, studio and network is taking a
stab at telling a vampire tale. (Stab – get it? Yes, cheesy pun intended.) But once again, nobody can do it like The King. I love “American Vampire”! It’s the book I can’t wait for on pull days. It’s not just any ordinary vampire tale. It’s the story of one guy, vampire Skinner Sweet, told from two separate places in his timeline. It’s the same storytelling device SK used in two of my favorite novels from his library – Desperation and The Regulators (under his pseudonym Richard Bachman.) Written along with Scott Snyder, I suspect the two stories being told in “American Vampire” will soon meet in one complete tale. Snyder’s story starts in 1920’s Los Angeles in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood where the heroine Pearl struggles to make ends meet while pursuing her acting dreams. For many of us already living in Los Angeles, that in and of itself is the nightmare. But wait, there’s more. Poor Pearl gets sucked in by a handsome leading man (yep, I went there – sucked in!) who whisks her to a posh Hollywood party where she proceeds to find herself getting attacked by vampires. Confused, scared and feeling really, really strange, Pearl awakens to her new life as a creature of the night. Well, that blows. She doesn’t know the first thing about being a vampire. Luckily our new favorite bad guy, Skinner Sweet is there to give her a few tips… right before the story switches to an old west tale set in the early 1800’s- the setting for Skinner’s origin tale written by The King himself. And for those of you familiar with “The Dark Tower” series, you know the West is a world S.K. loves; a place where he can take his time telling a rich tale with lots of character, color and history. Complementing both sides of the Skinner Sweet yarn is the beautiful art by Rafael Albuquerque whose technique e fills the page with expression and life. “American Vampire” has managed to accomplish what none of the countless other vampire books have yet to do – make vampires seem original and scary again.
Although I can go on and on about my main man, I’ll stop here so you can run to Meltdown and pick up the four issues to date of both “N” and “American Vampire.” While you’re doing that, I’m going to hatch a plan to meet The King himself so we can embark on the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Shut up, it could happen!
Follow Stacey and Jason on twitter at @TVStaceyLevin and @GoTodash