X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Mutants vs. Vampires

Who doesn’t love a good vampire story, right? Even better if it includes any of the seminal X-Men.

One of my coworkers is the ultimate American comics fanboy and he knows that (although I’m not quite as invested as he is) I like comics, too. One day during a free moment (and after I mentioned that Gambit is my favorite member of the X-Men), he said he was reading X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Mutants vs. Vampires, which features Gambit and Storm in the very first part. When he offered to lend it to me to read after he was done, I jumped at the chance.

Well, it’s a pretty ridiculous read. It turns out that this collection is a set of side stories to a primary plot line that involves Jubilee (my other favorite X-Man) turning rogue (no pun intended) and the other protagonists trying to find her after she disappears. I don’t know much about this main storyline because I haven’t read it, so don’t ask yet. My coworker is lending me that collection next!

Mutants vs. Vampires has everything from finding Dracula’s body (his head is somewhere else, already in X-Men possession) to fighting a vampiric whale complete with giant fangs (I’m not even kidding) to the original comic from the ’80s in which Dracula (still alive at the time, apparently) attacks Storm and briefly makes her his bride.

If you like vampires (and mutants), then this collection of shorts by various authors and artists is a great read, but I recommend reading it only with the primary storyline in hand as well since reading it first left me with questions about Jubilee (who’s only mentioned) and the assumed knowledge all the characters rely upon as they go through their days. Having access to up-to-this-point information on the X-Men doesn’t hurt, either. But really, when it comes down to it, how is more Gambit a bad thing?