Walking Dead Vol. 22; The Last American Vampire; Moriarty

So it's finally getting interesting again in the "Walking Dead" series by Robert Kirkman. The survivors have been settled for a few years now (Carl is about 16, I think) and they are rebuilding civilization, making bread, all sorts of wonderful things. Carl wants to move to their other location to apprentice with the blacksmith, and Rick reluctantly lets him go, realizing he's not a little boy and he shouldn't hold him back. At the end we find out a new horror: survivors, dressed in zombie skins. Why? I guess we'll find out in the next issue.

Seth Grahame-Smith's latest, "The Last American Vampire", was very good. The vampire who turned Abraham Lincoln, Henry Sturges, is telling his life story, starting with how he was turned at Roanoke. One of the first English settlers to the new land, Henry's party included a vampire named Crowley. One night Crowley is discovered feeding and he ends up killing the entire Roanoke colony, except for Henry, because he admired his bravery, and little Virginia Dare (as interesting an explanation as to what happened to the Roanoke colony as any, I guess). Henry and Virginia escape Crowley, believing him to be dead, and go to live with the natives. Henry eventually turns Virginia, against his will, and they lose each other. Henry goes on to fight Jack the Ripper, who is actually Crowley, having escaped, and hunts for a mysterious killer targeting vampires. It was a fun read.

"Moriarty" by Anthony Horowitz was amazingly good. There was a fantastic twist I didn't see coming that literally made me gasp out loud. Scotland Yard inspector Jones shows up at Reichenbach Falls after Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes supposedly plunged to their deaths. We know Sherlock faked his death, but did Moriarty truly die? Jones meets a Pinkerton agent from the States, Chase, who has followed a criminal named Clarence Devereaux. Devereaux came at Moriarty's invitation, and Chase wants to nab him bad. They spend a good deal of time trying to track him down and catch him, and when they finally do---I can't spoil it, but it was good.