Written by Doug Moench with art by Kelly Jones, this is an amazing book, I bought it on a whim only because I like the team from their normal Batman run so much. Although I didn’t expect much out of it. I had the impression that it was just some elseworlds tale about Batman being a vampire that goes around drinking hookers blood. But I was dead wrong.

“Red Rain” the first volume of Batman Vampire starts with what seems to be a serial killer killing random innocents, Batman uses his skills as a detective to ascertain that the killer is a vampire, he has some run-ins with some of them, and is no match. A female vampire appears in his dreams and tells him what he must do, and reveals that count Dracula is behind the vampire presence in Gotham. She gives him some of her blood, so that he has the strength of a vampire, she tells him the mythology, that there are good and evil vampires, and Dracula has control over all of them, making it so that she has no chance of defeating Dracula alone. He devises a plan to take down Dracula, but gets bit in the process of killing him, turning him into one of the last vampires.

What I liked about this book was how it built, introducing the mythology slowly, and creating a complete, really cool universe. It feels like it is based in regular Gotham with all the characters you already know and love, then the introduction of vampires, slowly changes the world into it’s own thing. I really liked how all of the characters reacted to the idea that there might be vampires in the city, including Batman who can’t believe what he sees with his own eyes for quite sometime.

The next book in the saga “Bloodstorm” starts out with Joker going to the masterless vampires coaxing them into becoming his minions, in return for organizing them and giving them the city. Which is a ridiculously good idea for a comic book, Joker also recruits a vampire number one minion named “Creach” this book is just awesome.

The coolest element of this book is Batman’s new blood lust, the entire book he is fighting the urge to drink human blood, with the help of a serum that is slowly losing it’s potency. I couldn’t have imagined the twists and turns this one element could bring out, but they are all great. Including a moment when he is sweating because the thirst is so strong, unable to help him self he grabs a rat biting it’s head off and sucking it’s blood, it was such a good build-up that when he drank it’s blood I yelped.

Also in this volume they introduce Selina Kyle into the mix, she is bitten by a were-wolf which might seem cheesy but when you read it, you will slowly realize how cool it actually is. They also follow commissioner Gordon, and tell of some of his vampire hunting escapades, which I really liked.

The ending to this book is picture perfect and it leaves you not only completely satisfied, but at a point where I couldn’t think the story could even move on.

Which makes it even better when they work out the next book “Crimson Mist”. What I enjoyed the most of this one, is its dark side, it gets into dead vampires heads and I love it. I think this book is the goriest and has the most action, it adds a lot to the series because in this book Batman has taken the final plunge into evil, most of the turns in the book come from deciding if he is a good guy or a bad guy, it is wonderful. Also in this book most of the Batman rouges gallery show up. I must also add that there is a really good reason that the book is called “Crimson Mist” but you will just have to read it to find out for yourself.

Overall I would give it my highest recommendation, it is a really cool book with really well thought out story and script. Kelly Jones’ art is designed to tell vampire stories , and it works really well in this book. It has some of the coolest Batman images in Batman history. Read this book! And buy it on Amazon through this link!
It’s amazing!