Life Sucks by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece

A bad first impression may doom a relationship, but a bad third act does far worse things to literature.

Life Sucks, a graphic novel written by Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria with art by Warren Pleece (and lovely color by Hilary Sycamore), explores the notion that being a vampire in the modern world is no more exciting than being a human.

Part slice of life drama and part situational comedy, the first two thirds of the book introduces us to the charming cast of characters. Dave (our protagonist) and Jerome are young vampires. They work for their ‘masters’, the old-school, ‘ve talk like zees’ vampires who turned them. Then there’s Wes, the Hottie McHotpants surfer boy vampire, who thinks of Dave as his brother, since they were both turned by the same man.

Ah, and then there’s Rosa.

It’s always the girl, isn’t it? Their mutual interest in Rosa is what causes Dave and Wes to bump heads. And for a good part of the book, Dave, Jerome, and their human friend Carl have good times going to clubs, flirting with girls, and generally trying to find ways to get Dave and Rosa together. The dialogue between the friends is fun and the courtship scenes are enjoyable too.

It’s that tricky third act that has left this sour taste in my mouth.

The book takes a very odd turn. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but suffice to say that the humorous, fun nature of the first half of the book is not present in the last thirty pages or so. And maybe that’s the point. After all, the idea from the beginning was that vampirism is not pretty, and it’s not fun, and it’s rather tragic. But I still felt disappointed.

Over all, though, it was an admirable effort. The last thirty pages or so just kind of killed it for me, and I can’t say I’ll be recommending it to many people. I really wish I could, because the art is nice, and some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud.

My favorite part:

Dave, Jerome, and Carl have gone to a goth club to see Rosa. The bartender asks Jerome: Can I get you anything? Jerome says: Yes. I’d like to buy everybody in the house a sense of humor and a better wardrobe.