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. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

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.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

"You know what would be awesome?" muses Goth-girl Rosa. "If I could be a vampire.... I picture this vast network of dark, beautiful, intellectual and artistic people, living forever with only the best things." But not true, alas—Abel and Soria's vampires are caught in the capitalist system like the living, wage slaving forever in crappy night-shift jobs for jerkwad masters, hiding from the law their need for human blood, bursting into flames at the slightest sunlight. And so twenty something Dave works his dead-end job at the Last Stop convenience store, subsisting on plasma and blood-bank heists while pining for Rosa. His principles and his love prevent him from turning her into a fellow vamp, but macho scuzzball Wes, also hot for Rosa, has no such scruples. Hilarious and bittersweet, this story turns vampire clichés inside out with a compelling tale about alienation, friendship, love, being true to oneself...and compromise. Abel (La Perdita; Artbabe) and Soria deliver clever plotting and dialog, while Pleece's color art has a slightly hyperpedestrian quality well suited to the fantastically mundane life of these vampires. A sequel is reputedly in the works. Recommended for older teens and adults.—M.C. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

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 From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.