The Strain, Volume 1

This volume is the first collected edition of Dark Horse Comics' adaptation of The Strain, based on the first novel of the same name by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The story opens in 1920s Romania, establishing the vampire origin; it then cuts to contemporary New York: a Boeing 777 from Berlin sits on the taxiway after landing at JFK, all cabin lights out and all contact lost, with more than two hundred passengers and crew aboard dead. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, head of the CDC's Canary Team for biological threats, leads the boarding inspection, initially suspecting a terrorist attack or an unknown infectious disease. Meanwhile, in Harlem, the pawnbroker Abraham Setrakian, an elderly Jewish man, recognizes from news footage a far older threat—a parasitic nematode that spreads by infection and turns its hosts into monsters. Volume 1 collects issues #1–6 of the original series and remains largely in the investigation and setup phase of the outbreak's first days, building conspiracy and dread through cold, dark-toned paneling. The Chinese online edition was translated by the SLOMO scanlation group; this volume is their release 01.