“This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, and we’re stealing it back.” That’s what Bono says on the first track of “Rattle and Hum” before The Edge rips into “Helter Skelter.” That’s kind of how we feel about vampires these days. They are sexless teenagers. They go to school. They sparkle. Vampires have been stolen from us, the horror fans of the world, and we’re stealing them back with American Vampire. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of heart in this story and a budding romance to rival the great ones. But it’s the monstrous, ravenous, insatiable part of vampires that we miss. This was Scott’s plan from the beginning, back when he pitched this idea to me over a year ago. He said, “one exciting thing about the story (if not the most exciting) is the chance it affords to create a brand new kind of vampire. An American Vampire. Something that’s powered by the sun…born of the West, with rattlesnake fangs that inject a paralyzing venom into you when you’re bitten…the exciting prospect is to get to reinvent a classic movie monster and a classic genre…” I had been looking for a way to make vampires cool again and Scott nailed it. This was it. He even buried the coolest title ever in there—he just didn’t know it yet. Then he told me his friend Stephen King (yeah that Stephen King) wanted to make vampires cool again too. He wanted to write a couple issues. Then we asked Rafael Albuquerque if he wanted to make vampires cool again too. He answered by sending us the coolest character designs you’ve ever seen. Then we went to work… Cut to today. Issue one of “American Vampire” is on the stands now! Scott, Steve and Rafael have been bleeding on to the page for all of you readers who miss real vampires. Scary vampires. Dangerous vampires. Sexy vampires. American Vampires.