I’m not a Ram V fan and can’t fathom his popularity - I’ve read his Catwoman and Swamp Thing books at DC, his Laila Starr book at Boom, and they’re all terrible. But apparently These Savage Shores at Vault is supposed to be his best book, and it’s the one that got him those other titles, so maybe I’ll be all turned around on him if I give this one a shot? Uh, no. I won’t say it’s his worst book because they’re all this level of crappiness but it’s definitely not good.
Ram V is just so awful at communicating simply the basics of a story. I took my time reading this and I still didn’t get what was happening or why.
So it’s the 18th century and vampires, monsters, etc. are real. A vampire is banished from England to India where he’s beheaded by an Indian monster. There’s an Indian kid who wants to be sultan or something, and an older man who also wants to be a sultan, maybe, and the Indian monster is buds with the kid somehow. There’s fighting between some factions for reasons and the beheaded vampire’s family is after the Indian monster for revenge. Whatever. I didn’t care.
Incompetent writing across the board. Ram V can’t create memorable characters or establish even slightly coherent motivations so it’s impossible to follow or shiv a git about anything going on. Who knows if there’s even a point besides having vampires fighting in a historical context?
Sumit Kumar’s art is very good - he managed to bring colonial India to life convincingly with a high level of detail and many scenes, particularly the ones set in the countryside, look really beautiful. Vittorio Astone’s subtle colours helped portray this lost world powerfully too (who knew a stone could colour? Waka waka).
It’s a visually striking book but nothing else about it will have any kind of impact on the reader. I remain unimpressed with this writer’s output - These Stupid Shores is a boring, incoherent mess.
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