Green Lantern interviews a vampire in DC vs. Vampires #1 preview

DC vs. Vampires #1
(Image credit: DC)

Following the breakthrough success of the DC/zombie series DCeased which pitted DC's iconic superheroes against zombies, another horror undead monster type is facing off against those heroes in DC vs. Vampires. The 12-issue DC vs. Vampire series pits the Justice League against a secret vampire army that is preparing to conquer Earth - and somehow, I, Vampire's Andrew Bennett is involved.

Here is a five-page preview of the debut issue:

DC vs. Vampires #1 primary cover (Image credit: Otto Schmidt (DC))

"The story starts with Andrew Bennett, wrapped in blankets, trying to get into the Hall of Justice at high noon with a terrifying message that there is a new vampire leader on Earth and what he's plotting will mean the end of human domination of the planet," Tynion wrote in his newsletter, describing the pages in the preview.

The two stories don't share a continuity, and although it follows the success of DCeased and on the surface a similar formula, Tynion plotted out his take on a "horror apocalypse" from an opposite angle.

"By the end of the first issue of DCeased, an intense Zombie Apocalypse was already ripping through the world and the people in it," Tynion continues. "But I liked the idea that we might be a slow burn apocalypse… A conspiracy growing in the shadows of the DC Universe, that escalates slowly and terrifyingly issue by issue until the world is unrecognizable."

Tynion wrote the full outline for DC vs. Vampires, but finding himself unable to write it in the immediate future due to his other commitments he said he and editor Ben Abernathy recruited writer Matthew Rosenberg and his Hawkeye: Freefall artist, Otto Schmidt.

"This is an 'anything can happen' take on a vampire coup," Rosenberg wrote in his newsletter. "The vampires have infiltrated some of the most powerful corners of the DC universe. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect."

The primary DC vs. Vampire #1 cover is illustrated by Otto Schmidt, with a vast array of variant covers planned from the likes of Francesco Mattina (four covers), Ejikure (two covers, one which glows in the dark), Jorge Molina (glow in the dark), Dan Watkins (two versions), Felipe Massaferra (two versions), Marco Turini (three covers), Tula Lotay (a Royal Comics exclusive), Yoshitaka Amano (a Things from Another World exclusive), Daniel Warren Johnson/Eric Spicer, and Kael Ngu (two covers, both a joint Frankie's Comics/Golden Apple Comics exclusive). Check them out here:

DC vs. Vampires #1 (of 12) goes on sale on October 26.

In the mood for horror? Check out our best horror comics to get in the Halloween spirit. 

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)