''Crimson'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series created from

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Humberto Ramos Humberto Ramos (born 27 November 1970) is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as ''Impulse (comics), Impulse'', ''Runaways (comics), Runaways'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''The Amazing Spider- ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Brian Augustyn Brian Augustyn (November 2, 1954 – February 1, 2022) was an American comic book editor and writer. He often worked as editor or co-writer with writer Mark Waid, such as on ''The Flash'' in the 1990s. He wrote '' Gotham by Gaslight –'' which ...

, from story concepts by Francisco Haghenbeck and Oscar Pinto.

Publication history

The series debuted in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and ran for twenty-four issues. The first seven issues were published as part of the

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-publishing, self-published or published by a corporate publisher. I ...

comics and then the final seventeen at

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

imprint. Also published were a ''Crimson Sourcebook'' special issue as well as a one-shot starring Scarlet X. ''Scarlet X - Blood on the Moon'' was set in Mexico and featured the

origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

of Joe the Indian.

Plot

''Crimson'' revolves around a young man named Alex Elder who is attacked by a gang of vampires while out late with his friends. Bitten, Alex is saved by Ekimus, the last of an ancient race pre-dating humanity, who claims Alex is "The Chosen One". Alex becomes the first and last of his kind, gaining powers beyond that of a normal vampire, who is destined to bring the end to vampirekind. The series follows Alex as he adjusts to life as a vampire and shoulders the responsibilities of being a hero. The comic features not only vampires, but

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

and other

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

beings and elements, as well as

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

themes and deities.

Main characters

* Alex Elder is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

and a sixteen-year-old teenager who on a night out with friends is ambushed by a savage vampire gang. He is saved by Ekimus, who feeds Alex his blood and turns him into "The Chosen One": a vampire endowed with magical powers so as to destroy all other vampires, and who is chronicled to save the world from the coming apocalypse. * Ekimus is a wise,

repentant Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past or present wrongdoings, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen a ...

, and ancient being known as a "

Grigori Grigory, Grigori and Grigoriy () are Russian masculine given names. Russian version of Gregory (given name). Grigory * Grigory Baklanov (1923–2009), Russian novelist * Grigory Barenblatt (1927–2018), Russian mathematician * Grigory Bey-Bi ...

", who guides Alex in his new life as a vampire. He is known as the source of all vampirism throughout the world. * Scarlet Thinbault X is a female operative and daughter of "The Order of the Red Hood", a family-led organisation dedicated to hunting and destroying demonic creatures. She befriends Alex and later becomes his love interest. * José, nicknamed "Joe", is a Mexican Indian vampire who becomes Alex's street mentor and best friend. * Lisseth is the main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

. He is allied with Lisseth.

Collected editions

The series has been collected by

into four

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

: * ''Crimson'': ** ''Loyalty and Loss'' (collects #1–6, 160 pages, June 1999, ) ** ''Heaven & Earth'' (collects #7–12, 160 pages, February 2000, ) ** ''Earth Angel'' (collects #13–18, 160 pages, March 2001, ) ** ''Redemption'' (collects #19–24, 160 pages, October 2001, ) The whole series has also been collected in hardcover: * ''The Complete Crimson'' (collects #1–24 as well as ''Crimson: Scarlett X Blood on the Moon'', and the ''Crimson Sourcebook'', 640 pages, August 2018, )

Other media

Toys

Palisades Toys Palisades Entertainment, LLC, better known as Palisades Toys, was an American manufacturing and distributing toy & collectibles company geared toward the adult collector market. Established in 1994, the company generally worked within the same v ...

released toys based on the series.

References

* * * {{Authority control 1998 comics debuts DC Comics vampires