A comic this unique doesn’t come around too often. That isn’t to say the issue was good solely on account of its uniqueness; it was just very different from any other comic I’ve read. Can the unusual premise continue to impress as much as the debut issue did? Is it good?
Bad Blood #2(Dark Horse Comics)
Trick is on a mission from God; or just hellbent on killing some of the undead. He’s convinced that vampires are real and were the cause of his injury and the behind the killing of Kyle. His first step in tracking down the evil undead is to go to a vampire fetish club and track down real vampires through people who only pretend to be like “the dark ones.” With his new ally/guide Lolly he journeys through many a freakish nightclub, observing disturbing and insane vampire rituals that all share a demented theme of pain. Although he wants to be hunting real vampires, he is stuck with just mock-vampires, yet another of the book’s many ironies.
Lolly is a delightful new character, with both dignity and humor. She is fine taking Trick on a tour of the underworld, but defends herself when he starts to insult her practices and people. She is a sad case, being forced into working as a stripper because of a rough childhood and a lack of work. At some points it gets a bit weepy and boring; (for instance, when Lolly says: “My life is crap. It was crap when I was a kid and my dad couldn’t keep either his hands or his belt off of me.” If that’s not a cliched, “my life sucks” statement, I don’t know what is. It also takes away from the desolation of Trick’s story by adding in a character debateably worse off than he.
This issue as a whole just seemed a little more dramatic than the first with a little less drive to it. In Bad Blood #1 I was really feeling the story; it was something new and a fresh concept not explored before. Bad Blood #2, although featuring poignant themes and lessons to be learned, is not nearly as subtle or meaningful as it’s predecessor. This isn’t to say it isn’t a great read. Buy Bad Blood for its beautiful artwork and lovely characters and it will be worth your money — all I’m saying is that this second issue didn’t quite have the impact of the premiere.
Is It Good?
Yes, it is. As Jonathan Maberry said in my interview with him, “It’s not the feel good story of the year… but we don’t hit anyone over the head with it.” This is a depressing, interesting, contemporary look at a different side of the vampire genre.
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