Josh Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino take readers back to the late 1500s to tell the tale of Andrew Bennett’s origin. On this fateful night a bloody encounter would transform him into the monster he is today; the vampire he is today.

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I, Vampire #0 is an interesting beast. Of all the zero issues that I’ve read this month, it is in fact the one that is most decidedly an origin story, but it still raises enough questions to not seem disruptive in the series’ narrative as a whole. It goes all the way back to the beginning and gives us a solid look at what exactly happened the night Andrew became a vampire, but at the same time, it leaves the reader wondering more about the nature of Caine and his own past. I’m hoping Fialkov plans on expanding upon this a bit in the future.

The issue is probably one of the most well written of the series to day, and it truly evokes the feel of a classic horror comic without feeling dated like the original series does. Fialkov handles the exchange between Caine and Andrew very nicely, showing the devotion Andrew has to his love Mary while displaying his own strength and courage as a human against a demon. However, the scene that stands out the most is the first-person sequence when Andrew first turns. His first tastes of blood as nourishment and the way his thoughts react to the change are incredible and add a lot to the character.

Andrea Sorrentino, once again, illustrates a beautiful issue, but after several issues of vampires fighting nazi zombies in the desert, it’s a welcome return to the darker settings the series began in. Sorrentino’s forests are mysterious and beautiful, and his depictions of bloody violence add to the horror of this issue.

Overall, it’s another fantastic installment in this series, and it raises further questions to be answered about some of the cast. Hopefully, the title can stick around long enough to see these storylines visited because what Fialkov has been doing here is nothing short of genius.

GO Rating: 4/5

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