BITE CLUB: VAMPIRE CRIME UNIT #4 REVIEW

[Phil Hunn]

Reviewer: Phil Hunn, philiphunn@hotmail.com
Story Title: No Secrets

In which we find corpses, bloodlust and mindless violence. Just another day at the office, then…

Writers: Howard Chaykin & David Tischman
Artist: David Hahn
Letterer: Jared K Fletcher
Colors: Brian Miller
Cover Painter: Howard Chaykin
Assistant Editor: Angelo Rufino
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics
Bite Club: VCU Created By: Chaykin & Tischman

If you’re not a grown-up, stay away from this book. Seriously.

I love Bite Club, I really do. The mix of modern cop drama with the always-appealing vampire genre has been absolutely wonderful, involving the reader with every gruesome twist and turn (and there are some really grisly ones here, I assure you). What I really like, though, is that all the characters are so wonderfully messed-up -- none of them are overtly of the type that you can automatically root for, but they all have their own particular, peculiar charm to them: Detective Macavoy, for instance, is a very involving, tormented character wrestling with feelings he doesn’t know how to control, DeSalvo is a “functional” drug addict, and Yama is… Yama is a hot Japanese-American vampire chick with a bunch of foxy tattoos and a side-helping of virulent self-loathing; typical Goth girl, then. You might not expect these distinctly fractured characters to gel as well as they do, but Chaykin and Tischman have fleshed them out sufficiently to show the reader that despite all their monumental personal problems, they’re still police officers, and they can still do their jobs pretty damned well. And that’s not even mentioning the series’ real star, Risa Del Toro, who shines whenever she’s on panel (which she doesn’t get a lot of in this issue, sadly, but when she does turn up, it’s a slice of fried gold from start to finish).

The majority of the issue concerns the fallout from the end of the last, as Detective Macavoy struggles with the new vampiric urges he’s feeling after the vampire bat attack he suffered following his shooting. His anger, pain and confusion at what’s happened to him are expertly drawn -- the poor guy is left depressed and miserable at the facts of his new existence (he can’t even get drunk to forget, for instance). You really have to feel for the man as he stumbles through his old familiar haunts wondering just what is to become of him. Meanwhile, the other characters’ dense webs of interpersonal relations are thickened still further, with threats and counter-threats issued and received, and some vicious reprisals dealt out. This is another real strength of the issue, and the series as a whole, since it reflects the fact – obvious or not -- that life is messy, complicated, and full of double-dealing scumbags who would sell their own mother to a circus for a slice of pizza and a Coke.

Meanwhile, David Hahn’s art is, as always, atmospheric and noir-esque, with its monochrome hues and single-colour themes for every page -- although this issue differs slightly in that there are a few pages where single splashes of differing colours are used to great effect. It’s the first time this has been seen in this series or its predecessor, and as such, the impact is that much greater.

Bite Club: VCU continues to impress. It’s just a shame that this is the penultimate issue, really, as I think there is so much more mileage left in the concept. I think a regular series should at least be attempted, since -- if quality of this kind could be maintained -- the characters and situations we’ve seen here could be with us for years to come. I know I’d buy that book.

How about it, DC?

OVERALL:


Get bitten - buy Vampire Crime Unit online now from X-World Comics and save!

[James Groves]

great issue. continues to be very enjoyable.

[Ovid]

I love Bite Club too! But is this the penultimate issue? I thought it was 4 of 6...

[Phil Hunn]

Originally Posted by T. Martin

I love Bite Club too! But is this the penultimate issue? I thought it was 4 of 6...

Well, I believe the end of the issue did say "to be concluded", rather than simply "to be continued", so I thought it was the penultimate issue. I may well be wrong, though...

[Anthony Devlin]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but next issue is the last one.. for now, hopefully:

BITE CLUB: VAMPIRE CRIME UNIT #5 (OF 5)

The bloodsucking miniseries concludes as Lieutenant Fortine gets an offer he can't refuse — or can he? Carrie finds out revenge is a dish best served cold-hearted, as Risa takes a bite into crime. And the killer of he drug-addicted stripper and the homosexual tattoo artist is revealed!

[Phil Hunn]

Originally Posted by Anthony Devlin

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but next issue is the last one.. for not hopefully:

Aha! So I was right all along!

... wait. That means I was right all along, and we don't get that sixth issue

[Rictor]

i had intended to pick this up, but then i heard that this is a sequel and that the original has a truckload more Frank Quitely artwork...be this true? I'll have to get it. I haven't had a decent vampire fix since Crimson. If you like vamps, pick up the four tpbs of that. it rocked

[Anthony Devlin]

Originally Posted by Alan Bergin

i had intended to pick this up, but then i heard that this is a sequel and that the original has a truckload more Frank Quitely artwork...be this true?

he only produced the covers.

[Rictor]

dang

[Anthony Devlin]

dong?

he did the first few for vol2 as well, but his commitments to ASS prevented him from doing all 5.

[James Groves]

Originally Posted by Anthony Devlin

his commitments to ASS prevented him from doing all 5.

I like the fact this line came from you.

I wonder if the trade for this series will come out in pocket-sized format like the first one?

[Anthony Devlin]

Originally Posted by James Groves

I like the fact this line came from you.

A line like that just wouldnt have worked coming from someone else.

Originally Posted by James Groves

I wonder if the trade for this series will come out in pocket-sized format like the first one?

it'd make sense if it did.

[David Hahn]

Originally Posted by Alan Bergin

i had intended to pick this up, but then i heard that this is a sequel and that the original has a truckload more Frank Quitely artwork...be this true? I'll have to get it. I haven't had a decent vampire fix since Crimson. If you like vamps, pick up the four tpbs of that. it rocked

If you want Frank Quitely art, then get his Superman book...chock full of his art. You want mobster vampires and crooked cops in a noir style, get Bite Club VCU

David Hahn
Interior Artist on Bite Club
www.HahnDynasty.com

[impulseucf]

Originally Posted by David Hahn

If you want Frank Quitely art, then get his Superman book...chock full of his art. You want mobster vampires and crooked cops in a noir style, get Bite Club VCU

David Hahn
Interior Artist on Bite Club
www.HahnDynasty.com

How could anyone not want mobster vampires? Mobster vampires!!!