Virulents

"A small platoon of American soldiers in search of their missing comrades comes across Indian commandoes looking for a group of terrorists suspected of hiding a most heinous weapon in the craggy breast of the Hindu Kush. It's a night of revelation as the Americans discover the fate of their lost brothers, and the Indians discover the fate of their terrorists. But the terror is not in the form of flesh and blood, or bullets or gunpowder
Terror has a new name."

At least that is what the publishers at Virgin Comics have to say about Virulents. I personally call it 'Wow'. I mean, geeze just how often do you find a new look at an old legend? Vampires? Piffle. Terrorists? BFD. We see both in Comics all the time. You can't throw a dead rat in a Comics shop without hitting a book with either of them, it seems like.
But what if the terrorists actually WERE vampires? Ahh. Now that is different. This is the story of a unit of Indian and American soldiers in a somewhat barren Afghan desert who are searching for American soldiers and an Indian Nuke that have both gone missing and are possibly in the hands of terrorists and you have a pretty fair story. Now, toss in one of the niftiest style of vampire you have ever come across and you have Virulents.
You also have a first class, action-packed story in the latest graphic novel from released by Virgin Comics. The new book uses as its inspiration an ancient Indian legend of a blood demon who literally terrorized the old Gods, before they were able to stop it. The worst thing however is not just that it kills you and drinks your blood, turning you into one of 'them', but that every time you cut it and spill its blood, a new vampire rises up, a duplicate of the original. Think of the ancient Hydra, and you have an idea of what our heroes are facing.
The story is modern, and uses many references to events happening in our world. In short, it is our world just a darker part of it. There are comments about President Bush, the war against Islamic terror that the Indians have been fighting for several hundred years, and Indian movie stars.
You also get a chance for an education, since there are many, MANY Hindi swear words used and they all come with translations. Neat!!
If this is an example of the type of work we can expect from Virgin, sign me up. This books is downright good.