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Review of Blood Lust by Mike Grace This review (by me) was one of a number published in the Harris Horrornet 1998 e-zine about the 2-issue series. I am quite proud of it because it was pure emotional writing (I really loved that series as visitors to this site may have gathered by now) but I am especially proud of the fact that a quote was used by Harris for the reverse of card #58 of the Blood Lust trading card set. To see the quote click here. |
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I first saw Joe Jusco's Blood Lust in October 1996 when I chanced upon the Queens of Halloween Ash Can #1. It is perhaps a cliché to say it was a heart-stopping moment - but for me it was. The art was stunning. This was the Vampirella I knew from my youth as an avid Warren collector (I used to buy Warren Vampirella's every month, quite difficult in England where the comics were banned from news stand sale) and I was totally won over. The close-up of her eyes as Adam showed her the bleak, fiery Drakulon landscape haunted me. Here was a comic that surpassed all others. Eagerly I waited. The months crept by, with promises, promises. Even the Blood Lust Showcase in January was a disappointment because only one new page of art was added (although the full size page made it bigger, better and bolder). |
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Spring and summer came and went, and then as English autumn chill frosted our mornings I went across to the comic shop and saw Issue 1 on the shelves. Not one copy, not a few, but dozens. Imagine the moment. This, the book I had been waiting for these last twelve months, was suddenly there, real, waiting for me. I was suddenly almost afraid to look in case it was a wicked trick of the light, a glimpse of what I wanted - not what truly was. The rest, they say, is history. Blood Lust #1 was more than I could dream of. I bought about 6 copies and hurried home. I glanced at the art, drank the richness, soaked in the atmosphere. Several times I started to read, then put it aside. This was art, and art should be a full experience. I would wait for Blood Lust #2 before reading the story. |
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Exquisite self-inflicted torture? Perhaps. Superb self-discipline? Absolutely. To be recommended? Only if you believe in the importance of story-telling, as I do. And only if you are very busy. I did it. Another month of eternity. The mornings grew darker and colder, the world seemed to hang, waiting, slowing, almost pausing to taunt and test me. Then came Blood Lust #2. |
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If anything the art was better, Vampi's ferocity and ecstasy spilling out of the comic and into my mind with a vivid reality usually missing from a comic. Images made me catch my breath, drew me into the story, swept me into the dreamworld ... I could feel the heat of the desert, smell the dank caves, hear the drip of blood, slit my eyes against the sandstorm. Even the bones oozed menace. |
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Exhausted I put the second issue down, still marvelling at the expression on Adam's face in that final panel, the gleam in his eye, the joy as he walks towards his destiny. The power of art and story has rarely been bettered. I feel almost complete. Waiting was vindicated. I am whole again. Except for one tiny niggle, an itch almost. In the advertisement for the hardcover are the words "an all-new chapter". It begins again. And somehow, I wanted it all along. |
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All images on this site are copyright © 2000, Harris Publications, Inc. VAMPIRELLA ® and other characters are trademarks of Harris Publications, Inc. Text and concepts © 2000 Mike Grace. All rights reserved. |