Okay, yea I know another vampire story but this isn’t your sparkling brooding vampire love interest. Actually it’s some pretty heavy shit, man. Jonathon Maberry brings on the heartache and I’ll admit I got really attached to his characters and had a lump in my throat just from the first few pages. The narration follows a teenage boy, Trick, battling cancer while he tries to use a cynical sense of humor to cover up how afraid he is. It’s kinda got that same choke your tears back feel as 50/50.The relationship between him and his twin brother, Kyle, makes it even more heartbreaking. Kyle is nothing short of supportive and when Trick feels like he’s ready to give up Kyle is there to tell him it’s not over and to be brave; if that doesn’t just tug on your heart strings then good luck without a soul. And so what if maybe I was caught reading this in the fetal position. So wait, what does this even have to do with vampires? Don’t worry, I’m getting to that the vampire doesn’t make an appearance till later. Kyle and Trick have this touching moment and that’s when the vampire steps in. I know the name of the comic is called Bad Blood, but the vampire twist kinda caught me off guard since it came later in the issue. I do love though that this vampire actually looks like an evil fucking monster and uh he’s wearing some kind of religious robe. Hey whatever floats your boat, vamp. Maybe, he’s a got a freaky side.
Major kudos to the artist, Tyler Crook. I’m usually pretty picky about this but his illustrations complement Maberry’s script with an eerie vibe that suits the story well. He uses a lot of grey tones to capture Trick’s sickliness and which is also used to create a kind of juxtaposition against the crimson blood.
Overall, I’m looking forward to the next one and even though I was really impressed with this issue, I am worried for the rest of the series. It’s got that whole losing yourself in revenge predictability about it. Supernatural, has been there and done that every season so I’m hoping Maberry can conjure up some more surprises.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Jonathan Maberry Artist: Tyler Crook Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 12/31/13