The Blood Sucking Mafia

books:

	• The Complete Bite Club Howard Chaykin, David Tischman Vertigo, 2007 - 272 pages view larger image
	for more information click here

Not bad, not great

This graphic novel depicts several comic runs involving a Miami based set of vampires in our modern world. In this world, vampires live and breathe along humans and are known to exist.

The feeling that I had was more of a Grand Theft Auto Vice City combined with vampires.

The first collection of stories is probably the best with the best art and writing. And it heads south from there. So you've got about half of the book being pretty decent, and the other half being pretty forgettable.

The Blood Sucking Mafia

This volume collects both the "Bite Club" mini-series
& it's sequel "Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit"

First Landis did it with "Innocent Blood"
and now Chaykin does it with "Bite Club"
Of course I'm talking about the combination of The Mafia & Vampires.
But whereas Landis's movie was a horror-comedy,
Chaykins tale is more like a sexed-up drama, soaked in blood & bullets.
Make no mistake though, this is not your typical vampire or mafia story.
Yes it's about family & betrayal.
And Yes it's about violence & incest.
And of course it's about the hunger for blood, sex & power.
But the Vampires are not monsters here,
they're instead treated as ethnic minorities.
And Miami is bustling with them.
Chaykins writing makes the pages turn, his ideas are inventive, and his pacing is tight.
This is complimented by Tishmans art,
which is inked in blue, pink, yellow, and green pastels, giving the comic that neon glow of Miami afterdark.

The first tale is kicked off with the death of Eduardo Del Toro,
who is shot to death with wooden bullets and thrown out a window.
This brings a torn family together,
but it also starts disputes about naming the next boss of the Del Toro crime famiy.
The story basically centers around 2 main characters, and their struggles for power, reason, and acceptance.
Leto, who left the family to join the priesthood,
has now returned after hearing about his fathers death.
(Sound familiar?)
And the strong-headed Risa who has stuck around in hopes of taking over the family business.
Aside from which she is easily the hottest female villian in all of comic book history.
(Honestly I fell in love with this character a few pages in.)

The second story is about the Del Toro's family business and how it's crumbling around them.
Their plans to go legit, have blown up in their face.
And the cops that are trying to take them down (The VCU), are hungrier than ever.
Fortine (the cop who was introduced in the first story)
has a personal vendetta with vampires,
because his family was killed by them.
Along with him, are DeSalvo & Yama who are each screwed-up cops with deep emotional problems.
DeSalvo's addicted to drugs,
And Yama is into self punishment (for reasons I'm not about to reveal)
There's also a rookie with them.
Who nobody pays much mind to.
Nobody except Risa, who shares a mutual lust with him.

All in all,
I'd say this is an excellent purchase.
It's a great series that flew under alot of peoples radars.
And now that both stories are collected in one volume,
now's the time to get it.
You don't have to like vampires of the mafia.
I don't particularly care for vampires and I loved it.
Expect alot of sex, and expect alot of blood.
But most of all expect, to love all the characters.
Specifically Risa.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
When visiting Miami, make sure to pack flak-jackets & turtle-necks

for more information click here

The Sopranos have nothing on the Del Toros, a vampire clan that has run organized crime in Miami for nearly a century. Beautiful, rich and immortal, these bloodsuckers are also masters of backstabbing and in-fighting.

This collection includes both the original critically acclaimed BITE CLUB series and its sequel, BITE CLUB: VAMPIRE CRIME UNIT.

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