VtM: Winter's Teeth #1

The World of Darkness is calling to me again. At some point I want to pick up the newly released Werewolf the Apocalypse, Hunter the Reckoning, and Vampire the Masquerade. Of the three, Vampire is probably the first I'll with. In order to get into the proper mindset I've decided to finish reading the Winter's Teeth comic and review the issues. Each issue actually features two different stories that run concurrently. 

The main (titular) story is Winter's Teeth. It is written by Tim Seely and drawn by Devmalya Pramanik. The issue begins with an unknown vampire fleeing form something and running and leaping on to a train. We then jump to Minneapolis. The twin cities is the setting of Winter's Teeth. We're introduced to our protagonist, Cecily Bain, a Brujah that serves the prince of the city. She coldly enforces the Masquerade, sending a message to vampires of the Twin Cities. She then introduces us to the World of Darkness and name drops the major us settings of the setting: LA, Chicago, and New York. The Twin Cities are united under one prince, but there are rumblings among the kindred that the city should be divided. Cecily then visits her aging sister who suffer from Alzheimer's. She then encounters the mysterious fledging from the beginning. After a quick fight, she takes the vampire, Alejandra, back to her place. After interrogating her she finds the young vampire is probably a caitiff and knows nothing of her sire or vampires. The two appear to be forming a bond as the story ends with Alejandra getting into Cecily's bed.

While I haven't played the game in MANY years, this felt like a VtM story to me. I'm wondering if Seely played in the past because he's nailed the vibe. Cecily is a great protagonist because she's tough and her own person. She works with the Camarilla, but doesn't follow them blindly, giving her an anarch/independent edge too. The art is fantastic, as are the literarry threads. Cecily and Alejandra broth sing the poem, The Old Oaken Bucket, by Samuel Woodworth.

The second story, The Anarch Tales, is written by Tini and Blake Howard. It's illustrated by Nathan Gooden. Though it's done by a different artist, it feels the same as Winter's Teeth and not out of place. The protagonist of this story is Colleen Pendergrass. Colleen is a thin-blooded, and while she has now disciplines or thin-blood sorcery, she can walk around in the sun (though it does give her some discomfort. In this tale we are introduced to her coterie of unaligned vampires. They are the nosferatu, King Rat, who judging by his outfit was a soldier. There's Priscilla, a beautiful vampire that's probably a toreador. Finally there's Colleen's ex-husband and sire, Mitch. When we meet Mitch he's in a wolf/dog form so I assume he's a gangrel. The story ends with the group making their way to the Twin Cities for a job. The final panel shows they're being watched by a presumed hunter (as he refers to them as blood-suckers).

The Anarch Tales is short as sweet. It shows the other side of of vampire society and these characters seem more relatable. I'm definitely interested in seeing where the story goes and if it (presumably) connects to Winter's Teeth more directly. 

One of the fantastic things about these comics is they come with game related content to for Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition. In this issue with get playable character loresheets for the two protagonists, Cecily Bain and Colleen Pendergrass.

At a 3.99 cover price, Winter's Teeth is a great book. You get to interesting stories and usable game content based on them. You can purchase issue 1 on DrivethruRPG here or get it for free by following the instructions on this page. Stayed tuned for reviews of issues 2-10.