Best Vampire Comics

Vampire stories are in our nature as a species. No matter what country or ethnicity a person may come from, their ancestors sat together and traded stories about supernatural beings with inhuman capabilities—some drank the blood of living creatures in order to live, while others could not stay in direct sunlight. Whatever the vampire of your country of origin may be, one thing is for certain—vampires have inspired a lot of comic books. Here are our favorite vampire comics and why we can’t get enough of them.

What is it about vampires and vampire hunting that we seem to love so much? Is it overcoming a foe that is so much greater and more powerful than us? Perhaps it’s the idea of us overpowering our predators—the hunted becomes the hunter. Whatever the reason, vampire comic books are here to stay, and we think we’re A-OK with that.

Written by Stephen King and Scott Snyder and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire is a complicated collection of stories that pits different strains of vampires against each other in a sort of vampire war. Its main players are Skinner Sweet, a vampire that’s been around since the days of the Wild Wild West, and Pearl Jones, an aspiring starlet from the 1920s. The two are from the same American vampire strain, and they take it upon themselves to fight against the older European strain vampires that are out to get them. The differences between the two strains are apparent as the series progresses—the American strain is resistant to sunlight—in fact, it powers them. They are also faster and stronger than their European counterparts. Publication began in 2010 and has been positively received by fans.

Written by zombie fiction enthusiast Max Brooks and illustrated by Raulo Caceres, Extinction Parade combines zombies and vampires into one gory compilation. As humans fight against zombies in a war against the undead, the vampires soon realize that their food supply is dwindling. They took this war as a sign that they could be open about their vampirism and feed whenever they pleased, but this realization that when the humans go, they go to, caused them to take up arms against the zombies. It’s a race against time as vampires join the fight against zombies as they fight for their own survival that leaves the question of the human existence in the balance. Warning—gore and nudity is plentiful in this series, so children beware!

A Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano, Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the secretive, mysterious Hellsing Organization as it combats vampires and other supernatural foes that threaten England. The organization is named after Abraham Van Helsing, leader of the Royal Order of the Protestant Knights. The mission of Hellsing is to search for and destroy all the supernatural forces of evil that plague England and threaten queen and country. It had a run from 1997 to 2009 with 10 volumes that prompted the release of several different anime series that ran from 2006 to 2014. The manga has also inspired the creation of a prequel to the original comic that adds more insight to the main characters backgrounds and how they came to join the notorious Hellsing Organization.

30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic mini-series published in 2002. The story follows a small town named Barrow in Alaska, which is so far north that the sun does not rise for 30 days during the winter. This makes the town an ideal, hospitable zone for vampires, who take this time of complete darkness as an opportunity to feed upon the townspeople in a month-long killing spree. As vampires from around the world swarm to the quiet town and massacre its inhabitants, the sheriff decides to use vampire blood as a way to gain superhuman strength and defeat the vampires and saving his people from destruction. Written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, the books were so popular that it was later adapted into a movie going by the same name.

Vampirella is a graphic novel centered around a vampire superheroine of the same name. Originally created in 1969, Vampirella has been going strong for decades. She has many superhuman abilities, including shapeshifting, immortality, superhuman speed, strength, and senses, night vision, speed healing, flight, hypnosis, and telepathy. Even though she is a vampire, she is not weak against garlic, daylight, crosses, or holy water. She doesn’t attack people to drink their blood unless she feels like it or if she is attacked first, although she still needs blood to survive. She is considered to be a “good” vampire and uses her time and talents to rid the world of evil. The authors and illustrators have changed over the years, but the comic’s popularity has remained strong in spite of it.

Written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano (of Final Fantasy fame), Vampire Hunter D depicts a post-nuclear Earth set in the very far future year of 12090 A.D. The Earth, once ruled by the elegant yet cruel Nobles (vampires), mutants, ancient demons, and technological creations, is now slowly but surely being returned to the hands of humans—thanks to the efforts of D and other vampire hunters that exterminate supernatural threats to human existence. D himself is a half human/half vampire mixed breed known as a dhampir—this lineage makes him an excellent vampire hunter. The series began in 1983 and is still being published to this day. Several animated movies and video games have been released and an upcoming animated series has been announced as of 2015.

Sea of Red is an American comic book series published from 2005 to 2006. The storyline centers around 16th century vampire pirates, specifically the drowning deckhand Marco Esperanza. Marco was miraculously saved and then turned undead by the crew of the Black Galleon, a cursed pirate ship, and has spent the past 400 years tied to the bow of a sunken vessel, clinging to life in the dark and briny deep ocean. He is discovered many centuries later by award-winning film director Joel Cameron’s submarine on a scouting mission for his next block-buster film. Joel, being an eager filmmaker and wanting to capture a zombie battle live on camera, sets Marco free and encourages him to exact his revenge against the man who made him undead.

Marvel’s Blade features Blade, a vampire hunter who was orphaned at birth due to a vampire feeding on his mother while she was in labor with him. This somehow led to Blade receiving some vampire DNA, as certain enzymes were passed along to him at this time. As he grew older, he learned to harness his strength and other unique abilities with the help of his mentor. After watching his girlfriend die at the hands of vampires, he vowed to travel the world and rid it of the evil threat that vampires posed. He has on and off again battles with Dracula, whom he chases around the globe in a never ending quest to kill him. The series began in 1973 and has been going strong ever since.

BloodRayne is unique in that it actually began as a video game series and was so popular that it has inspired many comic books that follow the main characters. BloodRayne is a female half human/half vampire who hunts the supernatural. Developed in 2002, the video game version of BloodRayne was originally released for the Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox. The story takes place in 1933 and 1938—just before WWII. An agent of the Brimstone Society, Rayne is sent to a variety of locations to battle the supernatural as well as the Nazi army. In the sequel game, she confronts her vampire father, Kagan, and his other offspring that have banded together and formed the Cult of Kagan. The Cult of Kagan is dedicated to making it possible for vampires to overcome their weaknesses to sunlight, and Rayne takes it upon herself to destroy them before it is too late for humanity.