For having such a strong storyline to go with, and for having such a great build up in issues 1-3, B.P.R.D.: Vampire simply ended on a very weak note for me. In my last review of issue #4, I explained that the lack of development in the storyline was a let down. The story had come to a crazy point at the end of issue #3 with a big fight. In issue #4, Anders was absorbing the powers of the vampire sisters and was being tattled on by Hana to Bruttenholm. I had hoped that the conclusion of the series would reveal a complete, concise storyline.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with issue #5.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
B.P.R.D.: Vampire #5 more or less is simply a transitional issue to get us to the next five-issue series. The extent of what happened is very little. Bruttenholm arrived in Český Krumlov after receiving a phone call from Hana that Anders had been lead to where Lord Wilhelm resided. Bruttenholm leaves to resolve the turmoil he has caused for Anders, and sees the wrath and destruction on the trail to the castle. Once inside, he finds Anders, who has clearly gone mad from the power he has pulled from the vampires. After a brief discussion, Bruttenholm is left alone, with Anders taking off. Bruttenholm prepares to brief the Bureau on what their next case is — which is obviously Anders.
I am not sure if the artistic freedom given to Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon is what caused this series to be less interesting than B.P.R.D.: 1948. While we were advanced to the next series, it is a bit disappointing to know that the true depth that could have been with Vampire really amounted to nothing than turning Anders into a full monster. While it was a somewhat interesting transition, it was simply not enough to to make this five-issue series spectacular. Perhaps I’m missing the point that the drive of this series was simply to get us to the next adventure, and villain, which is Anders himself.
