This is actually an anthology of three different graphic novels, Sweetmeats by Steve Tanner & Pete Venters, Sugar Virus by Warren Ellis, Martin Chaplin & Garry Marshall and Night Vision: Intermezzo Bette Noir by David Quinn & Hannibal King. Then, there’s some naked vampire artwork by John Bolton thrown in at the end and you know, you just can’t go wrong with that. Sweetmeats, the first in the anthology is by far the best of the bunch. We follow a young vampire from her days as a child prostitute (don’t worry, the would-be sexual predators ended up getting more than they bargained for) through her adolescence in an asylum to her liberation by a young doctor. The characters are very complicated and interesting and the story has several effective surprises. Sugar Virus leaves a lot to be desired, from a storytelling standpoint. It’s more than a little muddied, but the artwork really makes it worth checking out. At one point, we get to see what happens when somebody tries to see just how far he can go in torturing a vampire while keeping her alive. (Okay, since we’re talking about vampires, alive really isn’t the right word. Animated probably fits better.) At any rate, the pictures of that poor, tortured vampire are the stuff that nightmares are made of. Very chilling, disturbing imagery.
The third story, Night Vision just isn’t very good at all. But,
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