Bite Club #1
Originally Presented at Comixtreme.com.
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Suck Off and Die
Sex clubs… organized crime… 300,000 vampires… that’s life in Miami.
Writer: Howard Chaykin & David Tischman
Art: David Hahn
Colors: Brian Miller
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Frank Quietly
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
REVIEW: Howard Chaykin returns to the Vertigo imprint with a story about a vampire crime kingpin Eduardo del Toro whose murder brings his three children back together - the sex-fiend Risa, Eduardo Jr., who is following in his father’s footsteps, and the black sheep of the family, Father Leto del Toro.
Crime dramas are big right now. Vampires are big right now. Sex is pretty much always big. What’s impressive, though, is how Chaykin and Tischman have blended these elements together into such an interesting story. The idea of a world where vampires are public figures, treated like another ethnic minority, is not a new one, but to see it mixed with the crime and sex genre is a nice twist that works very well. Still, this story wouldn’t be quite so original were it not for the twist on the last page. It’s a twist you can see coming from pretty far away, but that doesn’t lessen its potential for some great stories as the story progresses.
David Hahn and Brian Miller do a good job on this issue, with artwork that reminds me of great crime comics like Gotham Central in tone, if not in style. At times sensual, at times gory, it always fits the scene, and the image of a priest with vampire fangs is one that is quite amusing, but integral to the storyline.
This has the potential to be another solid hit for Vertigo if the comic manages to stay interesting without lapsing into the absurd. Hopefully the book will find the audience that American Century didn’t and enjoy a good, long run. There’s always room for another great vampire story, after all.
Rating: 4/5