Bite Club TPB
Written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman
Art by David Hahn
Cover by Frank Quitely
What would happen if vampires became mobsters? That’s the premise behind Vertigo’s Bite Club. The title might err suck but it’s an interesting idea nonetheless. The story follows the aftermath of the murder of a crime family’s patriarch in the mold of Don Corleone and Tony Soprano. Only this time, that family is composed of vampires.
Eduardo Del Toro’s murder sets off a power struggle within the family. If you think the Sopranos’ back-stabbing and twisted sense of loyalty is appalling, wait till you read about the Del Toros. The players include Del Toro’s children: Risa the power-hungry daughter who puts the vamp back in vampire, runs an independent record label. There’s Eduardo Jr. , considered a psychopath even for a vampire and Leto, the white sheep of the family. He’s such a white sheep he became a priest. How’s that for a twist? A vampire priest.
Vampires in this reality aren’t the brooding, angst-ridden Anne Rice types or the campy vampires of the old movies. Vampires in the book’s reality are considered a minority group. They’re so banal that Eduardo Jr’s son isn’t beyond the reach of bullies in school. These vampires go to clubs, sunbathe (with SPF 150 lotion!), do drugs, have sex, go shopping, go to the bathroom - they are your everyday, run-of-the-mill, ordinary preternatural beings. The book literally talks about sex, drugs and rock & roll.
The premise is intriguing although the one of the weakness of the book is its artwork. David Hahn did some good work in the past like Luficer and Fables. In this case, in terms of storytelling, the artwork can get confusing. I don’t know if it’s due to the book being shrunk (the tradepaperback compiles all six issues and is the size of your average manga-book) or it’s due to the POV Hahn decided to use on some panels. In either case, I found myself flipping back some pages just to make sure I’m following it correctly.
The ending was abrupt and unsatisfactory for me. I guess six-issues wasn’t enough to tell the story. Still, it was an interesting read and I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to make more stories of the Del Toro family. I wouldn’t mind if Frank Quitely, the artist behind the lovely covers, did the inside artwork as well.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
budjette
Just finished reading BITE CLUB. Would’ve also been nice if Chaykin did the art. He set-up an interesting world, but I just couldn’t sink my teeth into the characters. (hehehe) Feels like a pitch for a TV series. Great covers by Quietly!
May 3rd, 2005
markmomukhamo
Yeah I can’t help but feel they should have er fleshed out the character more. Seriously I’d love to know more about the Del Toro family. Maybe something a la Godfather 2.
May 12th, 2005
boy tusok
Ooh, Ipis Dei and I also enjoyed Bite Club muchly, bad title notwithstanding. We’re disappointed over how it slipped under the cultural radars off a lot of comic readers though.
Still, I like the art. People keep wetting themselves over Quitely or Chaykin, but I thought Tischman did a good job, and the colors were a nice complement to it. Parang HBO animated series ang dating.
May 28th, 2005
markmomukhamo
Hey Boy Tusok! Yeah I was initially turned off by the title. I mean there’s a burger joint along Katipunan which preceded them fer cryin’ out loud.
And re: artwork. I love his work on Fables. Dunno if it’s the smaller format or what but it didn’t work for me. It wasn’t Liefeld bad but stil… :)
May 29th, 2005
bslauf3
I wish they wouldnt have killed off most of the del toro family, i really liked Danny Del Toro.
Jul 13th, 2006
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