|
I'm sorry, we have no bananas... we have no bananas today!
I'll be working on my car today (I suspect I've a bad CV Joint or something along that lines) so I'm unsure if I'll have any reviews up today or not. I've one mostly done but my ride is coming and if it gets here before the review is done... I've got to go. Sorry gang. In the meantime, April's Archival Index is complete (and readable on the last day of April). I'll have May's up in a day or two.
Take care!
(Side note - my ride is running late so the first review should be done in time. Considering it's mostly written and just needs to be coded...)
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- I'd
say "love bites" but he looks more like a scared puppy!
 (From BadBlood. Click on image to see full-sized image. Warning, some scenes may be disturbing or offensive. Reader discretion is advised.)
BadBlood is a provocative and
disturbing story about a young man who has been turned into a vampire,
and follows him through his initial search for his Sire (who just
abandoned him after turning him) and then the quagmire he's found
himself in now that he's found her (and other vampires).
I've not seen too many horror comics on the net. I'm not sure if I just
haven't looked hard enough or if I just never came across them, but
most horror seems... incidental to the comic. For instance, College Roomies from Hell
often has horrific scenes in it, especially when the Devil is involved,
but it's not a horror
comic per say.
Likewise, Keenspot's growing list of comics has such categories as
"Surreal" and "Adventure" and "Fantasy" (to name a few), but no actual horror
genre. (BTW, this is one of the things I wish Modern Tales would do.
There is a diverse collection of comics there, but no real list
of what genres the comics are. Though I suspect that Joey doesn't want
to pigeonhole any of the comics as a specific genre.)
When we first start reading BadBlood, we find our young hero as he's
about to break into his home. It's been three months since he was last
seen. We soon learn that something odd
has happened to him. He heals quickly. He suffers an ongoing hunger.
It's not long before we learn that he's now a vampire.
And he feeds on his sister.
I'm not exactly sure if vampires go through this everytime they feed on
someone. If so, I'm surprised that they have survived this long, as it
seems to knock them for a loop. Of course, it seems that Liriel
McMahon's vampires aren't clones of Vampire: The Masquerade in that
they can drink stored blood instead of needing to feed on actual
victims. (Another interesting note is that her vampires use a drop of their
own blood
to stem the bleeding incurred from feeding, instead of "licking the
wound" as happens in the game. I always wondered how many vampires in
the game-world would be drinking merrily away and then accidently lick
the wound while feasting and whoops! The wound's all sealed up and that
delicious drink is done. This way works better.)
When Jared comes to, having learned of... what
his sister had gone through
(this is material that may offend readers, and Liriel doesn't pull
punches here), he realizes that he'd forgotten to seal the wound. She's
bleeding to death before him, and his attempt to turn her into a
vampire to save her seems to fail. But that's okay, he then deals with
the abusive mother and her bastard of a boyfriend (in a most messy
fashion) afterward.
The comic is now in a city, with the
Vatican having learned of this vampiric activity
and sending some vampire hunters to deal with not only Jared, but a
whole group of vampires hiding in the area. There also appears to be
other independent hunters, some of whom might be vampires themselves.
And things have gotten a bit confusing. I'm not exactly sure what's
going on at this point with the sub-plots.
But this doesn't matter too much. It's not like anyone is actively
explaining things to Jared, so he's a bit confused himself. No doubt in
time we'll learn just what is going on.
Outside of the current confusion concerning subplots (which I suspect
will be cleared up in time), I've only one real problem with the comic.
It only updates once a week. But considering the work put into the art,
this is a minor gripe. I'm also most amused at the cameos of several
other cartoonists as vampires (though CJ Burgundy's cameos have come
to an end, rather abruptly).
I've a few suspicions about the comic myself. I suspect that Jared's
sister is going to return as a vampire. She might not be happy with
what her brother did to her. In fact, if she wakes up while in the
middle of an autopsy (or worse, in a grave) she could end up quite
insane. And I'm pretty sure that finding Eve isn't going to mean
getting the answers he'd been hoping for.
So if you enjoy horror stories and the like, and can deal with some
disturbing scenes (but hey, if you can handle most horror out there, I
suspect the disturbing bits won't be that bad for you), then this comic
is definitely for you.
(Addendum: Seems the comic is named BadBlood without the space, so I went back and corrected it. Enjoy!)
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- |
