Review: The Strain #6

Okay this is an absolutely stunning portrait cover of Abraham by E.G. Gist! It really is just stunningly gorgeous I hope we see more like this in the future.

We open with Eph and Nora bailing Abraham out of jail. While they are on the way to his shoppe they get a history lesion from Abraham. Once at the shoppe the history lesson continues along with a demonstration. Now the image on the cover makes perfect sense.

I love that there are seven original ancient vampires, supposedly. Three stayed in the old world and three traveled to the new world. Where on, the Master as he’s become known as, is the lone rogue.

It’s all a bit much to take in but Abraham takes the pair on a hunting expedition which erases any trace of doubt that Vampires now exist and the plague is running rampant through Manhattan. He gets them to understand what is going to happen if this is left unchecked. With the CDC Eph likens this spread to a disease, its easier for him to comprehend it this way. He isn’t entirely off either this is a plague and it does travel like any disease does and more quickly than anyone is prepared for.

I like that we get to see some of the more mundane stuff happening around this “outbreak” and yes I am referring to Eph’s son. His custody hearing is happening and he’s off running around trying to stop a vampire epidemic. I enjoyed that he freaked out and it was Nora who was the voice of reason. I mean he is working on a CDC case that is of the utmost importance how can they fault for that.

It turns out easily enough considering his alcoholic past. Though he’s been sober going on two years that isn’t enough. Still this hearing is almost academic considering what is happening if you think about it.

Well they think that the police have finally come around to their way of thinking only it turns out they’ve been caught on tape killing vampires who they believe to be just regular people. Now they’ve got a conflict with the police that will impede their progress and let the plague spread more easily.

David is doing some marvelous things with his interpretation of the novel, not that I’ve read them yet. I say that because I am thoroughly enjoying what I am reading. It cannot be easy to pick what is important to the story and needs to be on the page and what helps to make it that much more effective, scary, and creepy and an all around stand out from the crowd read. He’s really made this a must have each and every month.

The artwork this issue was brighter than I am used to seeing it. Then again we didn’t spend as much time around the vampires and the darkness as normal either. I like how the two are separated, light and dark, the contrast is striking and effective.