Warning: contains a preview of Blood-Stained Teeth #1!
Upcoming Image Comics series Blood-Stained Teeth brings together crime and horror in a unique vampire story. Exploring vampires who hunger for not just blood but also money, the ongoing series is created and written by Christian Ward, who won the Eisner for Best New Series in 2020 for Invisible Kingdom (a must-read for fans of Dune). Ward is joined on this title by artist Patric Reynolds (The Mask). The creative team also includes colorist Heather Moore (The New World), who Reynolds praises for their talents making the environment in Blood-Stained Teeth "a downtown neon jungle at night."
Image Comics is no stranger to vampire titles with a twist. Naming only a couple of vampire-related titles, the company publishes the southern vampire series Redneck, written by Donny Cates (The One You Feed) with artwork by Lisandro Estherren (The Last Contract). Then there's the 'Jesus vs Vampires' saga of Loaded Bible by writers Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and Steve Orlando (Commanders in Crisis) with art by Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad). But Blood-Stained Teeth has been likened to two specific crime horror comics, shared in the official Image Comics' press release.
The Image Comics announcement compares Blood-Stained Teeth to the likes of crime comics such as Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s Eisner-winning series 100 Bullets as well as fellow Image Comics title Killadelphia by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander. A comic book series combining crime with horror, Blood-Stained Teeth focuses on the criminal Atticus Sloane, a vampire who turns others if the price is right. In addition to seven covers - featuring the talents of Ward, Reynolds, Declan Shalvey, and Jamie McKelvie - Image Comics revealed an ad page and five preview pages, presented below.
Moore's psychedelic colors really make the below preview pages stand out, creating a unique atmosphere not just for a vampire series, but for a comic book title in general. The preview also quickly establishes how problematic it can be to turn people into vampires in a modern-stylized setting. When talking about the inspiration behind the book and its uniqueness, Ward said: "I've been thinking about making this comic for years and it struck me, that in a time where we have billionaires racing to explore space rather than pay taxes there's never been a more apt time to tell a story about a secret society of Vampires who are feeding not just on our blood but also on our money."
Sloane's story begins with what may be a dangerous mistake, as the vampire turns an influencer who instantly reveals their new status to the world. Many prior works have associated vampires with social elites, depicting their feeding on and turning of others as more mundane forms of exploitation, but Blood-Stained Teeth takes a unique view of the relationship between blood and money that will be fascinating to see play out. The ongoing Blood-Stained Teeth series will premiere its first issue on April 27, 2022, in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.
Source: Image Comics