As you might expect… this is the story of how President Lyndon Johnson became a vampire. I’ve never read the Karl Vincent series so I really don’t know anything about this world and where this one-shot fits in, but the story itself stands on its own. The gist is that a G.I. comes back from Nam as a vampire. He’s already been declared dead and his death covered up. Because the government knew he was fighting vampire apparently. He decides to blame Johnson because it’s his war.

You can pretty much figure out the rest of the story yourself. There’s a Van Helsing-esc character that shows up in the story and there’s plenty of cornball humor. I know that’s not the best compliment, but that’s basically what it is… cornball humor. Things like the officer that delivers the bad news to our vampire G.I.’s mother thinking, “I hate this part of the job!”

It’s a well put together story, but it’s painfully average. There’s plenty of thought bubbles and let me tell you if you miss those… you won’t after this comic. There’s just a lot and none of them seem to do much for the story other than add a free transition to another scene or be a cheap joke. The overall plot is predictable and nothing new.

The art is pretty good. I actually liked the style that was used, especially on the coloring. It has this expressive ink spray all over the page. It almost looks as if an old comic book received some water damage. The art also does a lot of heavy lifting on the humor, making sure that the jokes come off without a hitch.

It’s not a bad issue by any means, but it wasn’t terribly interesting either. I suppose if you have an interest in the Karl Vincent series then this is a nice surprise and add on, but for new readers it might not make you want to check out more. But hey, if you want to see a President that escapes a lot of ridicule, turned into a vampire, then this is for you.

Score: 2/5

The Files of Karl Vincent – President Lyndon Johnson: Vampire Writer: Kevin Given Artist: Joe Badon Publisher: KRG Publishing Price: $4.99 Format: One-Shot; Print/Digital Website