Review: Bleed Them Dry #1

One of grand daddies of the horror world is back this week, as Vault Comics launches Bleed Them Dry.Â But with the popularity of the Angel and Buffy comic series have they ever really gone away; and really, what more can be done with the undead?

Bleed Them Dry is set in the year 3333, where in the Japanese influenced and engineered mega-city, Asylum, the undead, the living and those in-between all live in a semi peace.Â For many, there are no interactions as each go about there lives.Â That is until a vampire killer starts making a name for itself by killing some pretty high brow immortals.Â It falls to the heavily flawed human detective Harper Halloway and her vampire partner Atticus to find the killer and give all the inhabitants of the Asylum their safety back.

Created by Hiroshi Koizumi and written by Eliot Rahal, the book is a clear mix of ideas.Â Vampires, cyber-punk, ninja and cop drama all merge to make a pretty cohesive whole.Â Being a vampire book, there are rules to follow; here those are alluded to rather than followed explicitly, though I did have a wry smile for the unwritten rule that permeates all vampire stories that have a female lead, be it Dracula, Twilight or Buffy!Â The various parts work well, with each influence building on each other.Â The dialogue is fun, though cliched at times; is every police captain a pain in the ass?Â There are surprises in store for the reader; though these may not hit all the notes, as being quite pacy, there isn’t a great amount of time for the reader to feel comfortable in this world.Â This give the book a kindÂ of”anything can happen” type of vibe, which is exactly the kind of thing to expect.

The art, provided by Dike Ruan is gorgeous.Â There is a Rafael Albuquerque feel to proceedings, though that is not a sleight in any way or shape.Â Ruan’s panels are evocative of cinema in loads of ways.Â This is shown in the panel in which a vampire gets killed is reflects the method of the vampire’s demise.Â As with the story, the art conveys other influences, with manga being probably the most recognisable, especially with Atticus. Ruan is helped out massively by the atmospheric colors of Miquel Muerto whose work is outstanding as it moves through the bright lights of the big city, to the loneliness of sleepless nights to anti-septic offices.Â Both Ruan and Muerto try to pull out the stops for the final act; if there was any critique of the art and colors it would with the last couple of pages where both lose a little cohesion, though this is minor quibble.Â Finally AndWorld Design is on hand providing contrasting fonts, that hopefully will come to emphasise the difference in what the characters think and the things that they say.

I love how versatile a vampire story can be; it is a trope that can be used in feudal Japan, modern day Los Angeles, the wild west and even the Blade Runner-esque future.Â Making it work here; Koizumi and Rahal have shown that for the flexibility to work, vampires need to be grounded at the core, every Dracula has a Mina Harker for example.Â Throw in deceit, flaws and the darkness of night shrouding darker acts and you have yourself an excellent first issue of an exciting series.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art 4.5 Stars
Colors – 4.5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Created by; Hiroshi Koizumi
Written by; Eliot Rahal
Art by; Dike Ruan
Colors by; Miquel Muerto
Letters by; AndWorld Design
Published by; Vault Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network