First Second Books - Doodles and Dailies

Vampires for Everyone!

The Comics Should Be Good vampire alphabet continues with C is for Cassidy (my favorite comics vampire ever!), D is for Dracula, E is for Eric Brooks (aka Blade the Vampire Hunter), F is for Deacon Frost (also part of Blade's universe), G is for Greenberg the Vampire (who seems very peculiar!), H is for Adam Heller (the star of Blood and Water), I is for I . . . Vampire (or, as he seems to be more commonly known, I . . . Vampire! -- the exclamation mark clearly being a crucial part of his name), J is for John Falsworth (aka Baron Blood) and K is for Hannibal King. 

I can't wait to see the rest of the alphabet (especially X)!

Another vampire book that I've been hearing about lately is Claudia Gray's Evernight.  Evernight is "the story of Bianca and Lucas, two seemingly ordinary teenagers who are actually neck-deep in a struggle that goes back centuries. It's not another badly-written epic fantasy, however, where the characters could be anyone and all that matters is the plot: these kids not only have to face insurmountable odds that hit close to home, but deal with young love and vampiric cliques to boot." [from here]

Also: a review of Little Vampire from Greg McElhatton at Read About Comics.  "It’s just fun,  pure and simple," says Greg, and we second that! 

Kelly at Big A little a reviews Life Sucks (and likes it, apparently).  "Writers Jessica Abel and Gabriel Sora get teen speak right--which means it's not always politically correct and self aware, especially when the loathsome Wes opens his mouth. Illustrator Warren Pleece's panes are moody, d ark and beautiful--they'll draw that teen reader right in to the story."

Plus: Newsarama does vampires!  Including Bessie the Hellcow, who I'd never even heard of!

Vampires By Number

Finding Wonderland did a comprehensive, interesting post on vampire fiction last week -- you can read it here.  My favorite part?  Robin McKinley's Sunshine inspiring baking -- because it did the same thing for me!  I learned how to make cinnamon rolls because of that book.

Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good is doing a vampire alphabet, which is impressing me to no end!   So far, A is for Alex Elder; B is for Batman (who, yes, is a vampire in this story!).   

SuperPlus Vampires

Weather in New York today is overcast and drippy, the perfect weather for the daytime vampire. 

I'd never heard of Christopher Golden before Little Willow wrote me about how awesome his vampire novels are, but now I want to go out and read them!  She's put together a piece about his work, and -- as a bonus -- begun a three-part interview with him. "You never know what he'll create," says Little Willow, "but you know it's going to be good."

Kelly at Big A little writes a pull-quote-tastic review of Little Vampire.  Says Kelly, "Each page and every panel gives the child reader something to think about, something to laugh at, an adventure to follow."

Jeff VanderMeer over at Ecstatic Fiction asks his readers, "Vampire fiction is one of the most mined-out, debased subgenres in horror. But like any form, it has its dangerous, edgy, and experimental incarnation. Eschewing the ordinary, what’s the strangest, weirdest, craziest vampire fiction, in book or short story form, that you’ve ever read–and why?"  One of the comments mentions Suzy McKee Charnas' The Vampire Tapestry, which makes my list of bizarre vampire novels -- the vampire is an aeons-old anthropology professor who sucks peoples' blood through a stinger on the bottom of his tongue.  (Tor is re-issuing this book this August, if you're become wildly curious.)

And Jeff also talks about James Howe's Bunnicula over at Omnivoracious Reader.  Vampire bunnies for kids are clearly one of humankind's best imaginative creations. 

Plus!  NYMag likes Life Sucks!

Even More Vampires

Vampire Month continues on its lumbering, blood-sucking way here at First Second, with some great blog posts about exciting pieces of vampiric literature. 

You can find the Excellent Colleen Mondor on Elizabeth Bear's New Amsterdam (with vampires in an alternate US) here. 

Seven Impossible Things reviews Life Sucks here. 

Jackie at Interactive Reader reviews Eighth Grade Bites: The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd here.

Vampire Month Update!

Johanna (from Comics Worth Reading) has inaugurated our Vampire Month with a lovely post about her vampiric favorites.   (And she likes our books, too -- that's always a good sign.)

And Unshelved (the librarian comic to end all librarian comics!) has done a comic format review of Life Sucks with a most excellent punchline. 

More vampires to come!

Vampire Month

Here at First Second Books, May is Vampire Month.

We got a bit tired of May being about flowers and springtime and small cute animals growing up (though all of those things are certainly very nice in their own place).  So we thought we'd inject May with some dark, broody, gloomy, sarcastic things -- namely, vampires. 

There will be some vampirically interesting things around the internet this month, and features on our blog of some of the world's lesser known vampires (vampire squid, anyone?).  Stop back by and check it out.   

[If you're a bookseller or a librarian, just click on the Vampire Month logo above for a kit to dress up your store or library vampirically.  And if you do dress up your store or library, send us pictures!]