Life Sucks, by Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria

For those people who genuinely believe that their lives cannot get any worse, I give them the pitiful existence of Dave Miller. Dave works the night shift at the Last Stop convenience market, with virtually no change to improve his station. His main competition for the lovely goth chick Rosa is Wes, a blonde surfer with little respect for authority and fair play. Dave's boss is Radu, an old-school type from Romania, who doesn't understand why something like a gunshot wound to the chest should prevent Dave from feasting on his assailant.

You see, Dave is a vampire, forever condemned to work six nights a week under Radu, the one who turned him into a creature of the night. Since Radu is Dave's master, Dave has no choice in the matter. Wes is also a bloodsucker, a one-time employee at the Last Stop whose disobedience on the job made Dave's "unlife" possible. Rosa is human, though her rather romantic concept of vampire life runs counter to what Dave has to go through.

Life Sucks is a stark contrast to co-author Jessica Abel's last graphic novel, the relatively grounded La Perdida, Abel and Gabe Soria (making his graphic novel debut) craft a dark comedy, where vampire mythology is turned on its head. The undead do have impressive abilities, but Dave the vegetarian can only bear to drink plasma, making displays of vampire power few and far between.

While "loser" might be too harsh a label to use for Dave, "wishy-washy" fits just fine. Readers might be turned off by that, as well as Rosa oscillating between Dave and Wes, even as she finds out what a jerk Wes can be, and Radu's stereotypical accent, which makes you wonder if the Last Stop is located on Sesame Street. On the bright side, Dave has good buddies like Carl (his human roommate) and Jerome (another young vampire who rolls with his undead life better than Dave) to keep the story entertaining. The journey to the story's conclusion is worth the read, even if it's not the happiest of endings.

On the artwork is Warren Pleece, late of Incognegro. Pleece goes from the Deep South in the Thirties to present-day Los Angeles without missing a beat. The characters look good living and dead and the atmosphere is nicely complimented by colorist Hilary Sycamore, who keeps things dark, yet not so dark as to obscure the characters. Like in Incognegro, Pleece keeps the gore to a minimum, which might surprise those weaned on the violence of tradition vampire fare.

In the end, Life Sucks makes for a very entertaining book, whether your heart is still beating or not. As for a follow-up book down the line? I'll bite.

By Jason Borelli

Check out the publishers at http://www.firstsecondbooks.com/