Graphic Novel Review: Life Sucks

Life Sucks takes a long hard look at the life of a teen vampire and finds it's not what the mythology promised. The glamour, the cool clothes, the superpowers--they're all missing from teen vampire Dave's life. Instead Dave works at an all-night convenience store for a terrible vampire boss in Los Angeles and whiles his days away sleeping and watching Mexican soaps.

When a super hot Goth girl walks into Dave's convenience store, he's smitten. But even under the best of circumstances asking a girl out when you're a vampire is not easy. And the best of circumstances end early for poor Dave. He's challenged by his much cooler vampire "brother" Wes (they were bitten by the same Romanian vampire boss Dave works for) to a dating duel. Dave knows he's at a disadvantage: He's a sensitive, geeky guy, while Wes is a big blond surfer Dude who just happens to be completely amoral and will stop at nothing to win Goth girl's admiration.

Life Sucks plays with vampire stories, class and race relationships in Los Angeles, and teen stereotypes. Writers Jessica Abel and Gabriel Sora get teen speak right--which means it's not always politically correct and self aware, especially when the loathsome Wes opens his mouth. Illustrator Warren Pleece's panes are moody, dark and beautiful--they'll draw that teen reader right in to the story. Life Sucks is highly recommended for teens ages fourteen and up.

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Other Blog Reviews:

A Fuse #8
Ich Liebe Comics
Comics Worth Reading
Precocious Curmdugeon
Shuffleboil
Read About Comics
TangognaT
Beaucoup Kevin
Finding Wonderland
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This is part two in a two-review celebration of Vampire Month. You can check out all the festivities at First Second's blog!

Grapic Novel review: Little Vampire

First Second is issuing three of Joann Sfar's Little Vampire tales in one beautifully produced volume out May 12. Little Vampire includes "Little Vampire Goes to School," "Little Vampire Does Kung Fu!," and "Little Vampire and the Canine Defenders Club."

Sfar's Little Vampire tales feature two heroes, one important sidekick (a flying red dog ghost named Phantomato), and a multitude of creepy-funny secondary characters. The two heroes--Little Vampire and a boy named Michael--meet in the first tale when Little Vampire decides to go to school. Because he can only attend school at night, he amuses himself by doing Michael's homework. When Little Vampire's collection of ghostly guardians discover what he's up to, school is over for Little Vampire and he is sent to convince Michael to never tell about the Vampire and his world.

Michael, however, is a lonely little boy who lives with his grandparents and is bullied at school. As soon as he arrives to Little Vampire's crazy house with ghosts and ghouls of every shape, size, and color, he never wants to forget Little Vampire and his world.

The Little Vampire stories combine the wacky with the sweet, traditional folkloric tropes with more modern jokes, serious thoughtful passages with pure frivolity. Take a look at this exchange between the Captain of the Dead and Michael when he first arrives to Little Vampire's house:

Michael: I swear to devote my life to protecting the dead and keeping their memory. And if I break my word, may a thousand curses befall me.

Captain of the Dead: Now do the sign of the cross.

Michael: No. I can't do that.

Captain: It would give more strength to your oath.

Michael: But I'm Jewish, Captain. The cross doesn't mean much to me.

Captain: Do the sign of the star, in that case.

Michael: We don't do that either. And I don't believe much in God. 'Cause my parents are dead.

Captain: You're a bit young to believe in nothing.

Michael: Well, maybe he exists, Captain, but after what he did to me, I don't feel like I owe him anything.

Captain: You should think about all that some more. Sad times often open miraculous doorways.

Next up? Taking a bath--or not--jokes.

Sfar fills each page with colorful, compelling hand-drawn boxes. He'll also interrupt from time to time with "important information"--names of ghost monsters, for example. Each page and every panel gives the child reader something to think about, something to laugh at, an adventure to follow.

Little Vampire is highly recommended for readers ages 8 to 14.
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This review is part of First Second's Vampire Month. Check out First Second's blog for more!

Poetry Friday

You know, I love Poetry Friday. I really, really do. You can post your own poetry--say, about spring, or about (hellish) winter, or about graduation--or you can just post a picture of your cat and link it tangentially to a Poetry Friday book review.*

Today I review a rhyming picture book over at Book Buds for Poetry Friday. [ETA: The review will be up next week at Book Buds.] The book in question is the utterly fun Someday When My Cat Can Talk, by Caroline Lazo and illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker. In Someday When My Cat Can Talk, the little girl protagonist imagines what her cat would say if he could talk. And, guess what? He takes a witty trip around Europe and has great things to say. Check out this fabulous stanza, which is my Poetry Friday entry:


He'll speak fondly of the snail he met
while camping out near Cannes.
And he'll whisper why she's hiding
from the chef at Cafe Sands.

Oh, snap! That's one smart cat. (And one smart picture book.)

My cat, however, pictured above, is a different sort of animal. I imagine his thought process as follows: Paper! R-i-i-i-i-p! [Blank] What's that sound? Food? [Blank] What's that sound? Food? Food? Food? [Blank] [Blank] [Blank] [Blank] R-i-i-i-i-p!

And, yeah, that's pretty much it for poor Norbert. He's a book killing, pear-shaped, dim witted, sweetheart of a cat. We love him, but he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

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* Speaking of original poetry...can I just say that I am getting several hits per day from people searching for "pedicure poems"? I'm honestly truly shocked by this.

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Also, did you know it's Vampire month? I'll be back in a few hours with a Vampire graphic novel review!
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Writer2be is on the roundup. Head on over and leave your links!