Created by: Adam Cadwell
Published by: Great Beast
UK based Adam Cadwell is taking vampires down a notch in his funny, laid back comic Blood Blokes. The six-issue comic, published through the small independent press Great Beast, is about a slacker named Vince who is turned into a vampire after an already awful day. It follows him as he navigates through his first few days as a vampire, with the help of fellow vampires Mike, Arianna, and Douglas. It reads like a British sitcom, and is definitely different than any other vampire story you’ve read.
In the first issue, we are introduced to Vince, a university drop-out who has quit his dead end job, been dumped by his girlfriend, and turned into a vampire all in one night. Cadwell does a great job pacing the introduction to Vince, showing us that he might have gotten what was coming to him. The script is wonderful; each character has a unique and identifiable voice. The plot of the first issue is pretty simple, but Cadwell ends the issue Vince waking up in an interesting manner in a room full of vampires.
The second issue follows Mike, Arianna, and oddly hilarious, gloomy looking Douglas as they party on New Year’s Eve and come upon Vince. The first issue and the second issue end in the exact same place and the story of how Mike and Douglas get Vince into the apartment is a weird one. The dynamic between Mike and Douglas is especially funny, and the witty banter between them is the glue that holds the group together. 
Finally, the third issue follows Vince through his first day as a vampire, including a run-in with people from his human past when he returns to his apartment to grab his stuff. The art in all three issues is really great. Cadwell inks the entire series in black and white, the lines are clean, and the characters are just cartoon-y enough.
My favorite panel in the series so far is a page where the vampires are all dancing. There is no dialogue, but Cadwell packs elements of each vampire’s personality into how they are dancing: Douglas is at a piano, Mike is enthusiastically playing air guitar, Arianna is into her moves, and Vince is snapping along.
Overall, the first three issues of Blood Blokes are a quick, fun read. This isn’t a vampire action comic, and while Vince is dealing with the social fall-out of becoming a vampire and missing his ex-girlfriend, it’s not a vampire romance either. The plot can be a little predictable, and it’s not moving at a lightning speed pace, but a vampire comic that focuses more on the day-to-day is a nice turn-around. It’s light, funny, and clever, and it’s worth a read.
You can get these issues of the comic through the Great Beast online store.
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