The Sidekick Report - Vampires!

This week we continue our Halloween-themed look at comics we might recommend for those looking to add a little horror to their comic collection this month. Last week we covered some of the great Zombie books available, so this week we're going to focus on Vampires in comics.

Female Force: Stephanie Meyer - It will suck

Sorry, Twilight fans, there has not yet been an adaptation of your beloved movie into a comic book, but according to various sources on the Internet, that will change in 2010. I wonder if the first issue will have a "Edward glitter variant"? About the closest we can get to a Twilight comic book in the foreseeable future is Bluewater Comics' "Female Force: Stephanie Meyer" comic hitting shelves in November, profiling the life of the Twilight author. But before you rush out to your local comic shop to pre-order a copy, let me save you some time and money: it will suck - and not in the way vampires do.

30 Days of Night

Before it was a major motion picture, "30 Days of Night" was a 3-issue comic series published in 2002 by IDW. Written by Steve Niles and penciled by Ben Templesmith, it tells the story of a sect of Vampires that have the ingenious idea to spend some time in a small town in northern Alaska, where the sun does not rise for around 30 days. The series was very successful and launched the careers of both Niles and Templesmith. It has since spawned several sequels, some novels, and of course, the film. A sequel to the movie is also in the works.

Blade

The character of "Blade", the vampire who walks in the daylight and hunts his own kind, will perhaps best be remembered from the trilogy of Wesley Snipes movies that bears his namesake, and less from that TV series on Spike that lasted like one episode. However, many are unaware that the character had his start with Marvel Comics, first appearing in "The Tomb of Dracula" #10 in 1973. Appearing in several different titles and miniseries over the years, most recently Blade was found in the pages of "Captain Britain and MI: 13", a series which has now come to an end.

Angel: After the Fall

No write-up about vampires in comics is complete without mentioning "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". Fans of the series have long-enjoyed comic tie-ins to the popular television show, but when both shows ended in 2003, there was a noticeable void in their lives. Series creator Joss Whedon recognized this, and in 2007 he took the unprecedented step of continuing both storylines in comic form, right where the TV shows left off. "Season Eight" of Buffy is currently published by Dark Horse, and "Angel: After the Fall" is published by IDW.

All of the above-mentioned titles should be available at your local comic shop, such as ours (shameless plug), and if not, most stores can special order them for you now to have them in time for Halloween!

Now, on to a philosophical question - do you think Vampires make good role models? The folks at Bite TV's HoTTTTopiXXX recently debated that very question! Take a look at the video below before deciding for yourself!

- Kevin



Kevin Hickey and Rob Sinnott are the owners of Stadium Comics in Brampton, Ontario. Check them out on their website at www.sidekickcomics.ca or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stadiumcomics