Feldman, Steve – Vampspew Volume 1

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Vampspew Volume 1

A suggestion to Steve and everybody else putting together graphic novels of their work: don’t make the cover to your graphic novel the same as the cover of one of your comics.  Seriously, I don’t care how great of a cover it is, resist the urge and make something brand new, or people are likely to pass right over it in stores, in online images or (in my stupid case) when I received it in the mail to review.  I saw the cover, thought that I had already reviewed the book, and by the time I uncovered it in my move and saw my error Steve had already sent me another copy.  So… oops.  This collects the first four issues of this series (the only four according to his website), in which a young man is turned into a vampire through an odd set of circumstances and begins a journey of self discovery.  You can see what I thought of the first two issues below, and in case you were wondering, I’m a fan of “random” and “meandering” comics, as that’s where some people are able to make their best points.  The third and fourth issues in this series continue in this vein, and really, Steve could have just chucked the whole vampire idea after the first issue, as it’s not something that comes up again.  Aesthetically speaking I’m all for his total abandonment of word and thought bubbles, choosing instead to stick to small blocks of text over the images, especially with such an introspective story as this.  It helps while reading this if you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of philosophy and some of that science stuff, as he veers in all sorts of interesting directions in trying to learn the secrets of the universe.  These sorts of stories always seem to circle back and start eating their own tail, so to speak, as chances are Steve isn’t going to solve all the mysteries of the universe here.  Still, it’s not a story of conclusions but one of a journey, and Steve manages to make it engaging and extremely thought-provoking throughout.  Check it out if you’re into trying to figure out what makes people and the universe tick, if all you’re looking for is a big vampire fight you’ve come to the wrong place…

Posted on April 23, 2010, in Reviews and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Feldman, Steve – Vampspew Volume 1.

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