Life sucks

Format:

Book

Title:

Life sucks

Author:

Abel, Jessica.

ISBN:

9781596433649

9781596431072

Edition:

Collector's ed.

Publication Information:

New York ; London : First Second, 2008.

Physical Description:

186 pages ; 23 cm

Summary:

Dave is a vampire working the night shift in a convenience store, and after he becomes attracted to a Latina girl named Rosa, he soon finds himself competing for her affection with another vampire named Wes.

Subject(s):

Vampires -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Goths -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Comic books, strips, etc.

Humorous comic books, strips, etc.

Supernatural -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Genre:

Young adult fiction.

Comics (Graphic works)

Added Author:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Abel, J.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Life sucks for Dave Marshall.

The girl he's in love with doesn't know he exists, he hates his job, and ever since his boss turned him into a vampire, he can't go out in daylight without starting to charbroil.

Undead life in its uncoolest incarnation yet is on display in this cinematic, supernatural drama told with gallons of humor and hemoglobin. In striking, colorful, B-movie sty;e artwork and light-hearted, intelligent writing by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece, Dave Marshall's story comes alive - in a vampiric kind of way.

Author Notes

Life Sucks was written by Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria, with art by Warren Pleece. Jessica Abel is one of the foremost female comics creators in the industry. She and her husband teach courses on creating comics at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and have co-written the textbook based on their classes, Drawing Words and Writing Pictures , also out this season from First Second. Gabe Soria is a Brooklyn-based music journalist and has written Batman Adventures . Warren Pleece is a British comics artist who has worked on numerous projects, including The Invisibles and Hellblazer .

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Dave is a poor vampire, working the night shift at the 24-hour convenience store run by his vampire master, Lord Radu Arisztidescu, who thinks Dave is pretty much a wuss as a bloodsucker. Truth is, Dave would rather steal his nutrition from a blood bank than kill the innocent. But this choice leaves him weak and vulnerable to more predatory types like alpha-vampire surfer dude Wes, who's making a move on Rosa, the Latina gothic babe Dave has his eye on. There's plenty of humor with Dave's friend Jerome acting as a Clerks-like foil, coming over to Dave's work at night when the black-eyeliner crowd comes by ("the Running of the Goths"). Life Sucks also gets a good deal of mileage out of the ironic distance between the romantic visions that Rosa and her mortal crowd have of the vampire lifestyle and the grimy reality of Dave's life as an eternal wage slave. Even if it doesn't pan out satisfactorily (the conclusion seems particularly truncated), Abel and Soria's light approach, combined with Pleece's bright, Technicolor art, gives the book an entertaining Joss Whedon gloss to its Gen-Y bloodsucking melodrama. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Dave's life is full of the typical twentysomething frustrations. His job as night manager at the local Last Stop convenience store is retail hell. Rosa, the cute goth girl he has a crush on, doesn't even know he exists. And oh, yeah, his boss, Vlad, turned him into a vampire to make him a better employee. When Wes, his bully-of-a-vampire-older-brother, steps in as rival for Rosa's affections, his sucky life gets suckier. Dave, the vampire equivalent of a vegetarian (he only eats plasma from the blood-bank), has to find some way to outsmart Wes' evil plans. This hilarious tale strikes perilously close to the reality of the slacker twentysomething life. Abel and Gabe Soria hit their mark with plenty of attitude and just enough snark to let their characters come to life. Warren Pleece's art marvelously captures the humor of the mundane that lends the book's crew of late-night wage-slave vamps believability and energy. A really fun read!--Coleman, Tina Copyright 2008 Booklist

Library Journal Review

The REAL truth about vampires: not a glamorous elite but low-rent class of outcasts. Sad and very funny-and a YALSA top-ten pick.-M.C. (LJ 7/08) (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.