I’m sure the majority of gamers will be familiar with Vampire Survivors. Releasing to instant success, it swiftly became an indie phenomenon thanks to its gripping top-down 2D survival mechanic, which has been cloned many times, and has even spawned a dungeon crawler spinoff in the form of Vampire Crawlers. Safe to say, if you’re even remotely interested in the indie scene, this game will have come across your radar.
This must then also mean, if we follow the rules of the almighty gaming cycle, that a comic adaptation can’t be too far away. Well, the first issue is now available – VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1 from Titan Comics, written by David Hazan.
For a quick recap of Vampire Survivors lore, it’s set in rural Italy, following a group of monster hunters caricatured to gaming conventions. These range from whip cracking warriors, mages, holy priests, and, old men who use garlic? Their task is to find and defeat Bisconte Draculó, an alleged vampire count who people blame for the hordes of monsters and ruined land which have appeared. Despite these drops of lore, Vampire Survivors was never too engrossed in its own narrative. So without further ado, and with a SPOILER WARNING inbound, let’s see how the comic adds up.
As mentioned, this new comic run is based upon a game, so a huge point of contention, and the first factor into quality, will be how it compares to the source material. I’m happy to say it keeps the same meta tone and references the game brought, along with the caricatured characters. This can first be seen in what I’m 99% sure is a reference to Hermione Granger’s famous quote from Harry Potter, with Gennaro commenting on a pronunciation – “it’s pronounced Moon-goh-low, not Moon-glow”. It perfectly encapsulates the satirical nature of the series, straying away from the potential disaster which would be taking the source material too seriously.
The comic also does a fantastic job translating in-game mechanics into plot beats. Take the roguelite idea of impending, guaranteed death which is always a promise during gameplay, yet in the comic’s narrative, it becomes a very real concern for Imelda. It begins to affect her mental wellbeing, and is the driving force for the siblings to uncover the mystery of what is occurring. Safe to say, staying true to the source material is not only not an issue here, but one of the greatest strengths in producing a compelling storyline.
None of this could be achieved without the art however, being a comic’s driving force in compelling emotions, spectacle, and world-building. In this department, VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1 and its artists, Jimmy Kucaj and Joao Canola, continues on a positive streak, harbouring gorgeous gothic visuals and settings which do well to immerse the reader. There is definitely a huge emphasis on art over dialogue, probably being around a 70:30 split in favour of art, yet taking the source material and genre into account, the spectacle of action is pivotal in fulfilling a reader’s desires.
The dialogue itself is, however, one of VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1’s weakest elements, with the peaks reaching as far as fitting for the character, and the lows reading as generic drivel inserted to fill spaces. Where this would be an issue in drama narratives, to me, the source material itself never warranted anything more than harmless fun, leaving anything further than this simply seeming pretentious.
The characters also embody this sentiment, with readers unfamiliar with the game likely viewing them as terribly written, cliché fulfilling caricatures. Despite this, in Vampire Survivors and its spinoff, each character has been specifically designed with the intention of fulfilling some kind of stereotype in a humorous, meta way, leaving any adaptation that changes this feeling unfaithful. I know explanations like this can often be used as an excuse for lazy writing, but in this scenario it certainly isn’t, and fans of Vampire Survivors should be beyond happy with how the characters they grew to love in the games, have been portrayed.
Finally onto the narrative itself, and it can be a mixed bag. There’s various great ideas here, all usually stemming from character interactions, although in terms of actual plot beats and development… it’s kind of non-existent. The driving force of the narrative revolves around Gennaro and Antonio in an Italian chapel searching for their sister Imelda. Following her swift appearance a couple pages later, the rest read like the Avengers: Endgame final battle, with characters cropping up left right and centre to join the team. The embodiment of death then appears to cause even more trouble, ending with the team admitting their defeat, and a ‘to be continued’ box teasing the next issue.
This initial issue may not have had the most expansive narrative, however it sets a strong foundation for future chapters to expand upon. Whether it’s Imelda’s troubles with death, the dynamic between the Ladonna and Belpaese clans, or the mystery of the seemingly endless creatures which keep appearing, future issues certainly have a lot to build from, yet also a lot to fix.
Ultimately, whether or not you’ll have a positive experience with VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1 depends entirely on the mindset you approach it with. Those expecting complex themes and gripping emotional cruxes… how did you end up here? Yet come to this with a vision of fun action, faithful adaptations of the source materials characters, tone, and locations, and some fantastic art to wrap everything together, and you will thoroughly enjoy the foundations VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1 sets. This should, hopefully, be a gripping comic run.
Huge thanks go out to Titan Comics for providing us a review copy of VAMPIRE SURVIVORS #1. You can pick up a copy for yourself by visiting Titan Comics direct.
