{"id":1255,"date":"2008-05-08T00:42:06","date_gmt":"2008-05-08T06:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1255"},"modified":"2008-05-08T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2008-05-08T16:38:10","slug":"happy-vampire-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1255","title":{"rendered":"Happy Vampire Month!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slurp!What, no one told you? You left your glow-in-the-dark fangs at home? Not to worry, you’ve got the whole rest of the month of May to catch up. At least, according to First Second Books<\/strong><\/a>, who has declared this event<\/strong><\/a> in the interests of promoting Vampire Awareness and Understanding, so we can work towards a future when Humans and Vampires can coexist in Harmony and Happiness. Or maybe they just want to promote some books. Whatever, vampires are fun.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to celebrate with a book, particularly a graphic novel, might I suggest:<\/p>\n

Life SucksLife Sucks<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, a graphic novel by Jessica Abel<\/strong><\/a> (of La Perdida<\/em><\/strong><\/a> fame), Gabe Soria<\/strong><\/a>, and Warren Pleece<\/strong><\/a> (Can that really be his name? Really?<\/em>). It just officially debuted from First Second, and I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Meet Dave. He’s a vampire, but he’s not happy about it. His boss Radu at the Last Stop convenience store forcibly “converted” him to create the ultimate employee: loyal to his master, and willing to work nights. But Dave used to be a vegetarian, and his heart really isn’t in this new un-life. It gets weird when he starts crushing on Rosa, a goth girl who thinks vampires are sexy and glamorous – the exact opposite of his reality. But should he tell her? Or should he just give in and make his first kill? And how can he keep his rival Wes – an asshole-surfer vampire – from taking her just to piss Dave off?<\/p>\n

Dante and Randall. If that were a Blood Brew, it could just as easily be Dave and Jerome.If I can put this in cinematic terms, this comic reads like one part Clerks<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, one part Buffy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, with a sprinkling of Lost Boys<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. The sarcasm and slackerdom of Dave and his friends ring true, and serve to ground the whole vampire issue firmly in a recognizable reality, especially when contrasted with the Anne Rice<\/strong><\/a>-style idealized vampire mythology Rosa and her goth friends embrace. Dave’s moral anguish over his vampiric state lends a thoughtful poignancy to the story that nicely counterbalances the humor. I thought the whole idea of Radu and his other vampire-\u00e9migr\u00e9 cronies was fascinating, too. These old guys from the old country have come to the States to make a new un-life for themselves as small-business owners, and use their powers to enslave their workforce and create more customers for their side businesses: blood beer, human jerky, and other vampirish consumables. In this world, the vampirism kind of comes off as a metaphor for the mob.<\/p>\n

I’d recommend this for anyone who likes the more interpersonal-drama-type comics, and maybe thinks they don’t like vampire stuff. It could win them over. Of course, if you do<\/em> like vampire stories, especially with equal doses of wit and edginess, I think you’ll love it too.<\/p>\n

* * * what the neighbors thought:<\/strong> * * *<\/center><\/p>\n