Dragon*Con 2012 – We’ll be there!

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Dragon*Con 2012 is right around the corner and both Greg and myself will be there in the Artist Alley. We will have separate booths, but we will be very excited to have you drop by and say hello (and buy something). Aside from us, there are going to be some amazing guests this year; Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, and Jewel Staite (Firefly), John Barrowman and Eve Myles (Torchwood), a bunch of actors and actresses from Star Trek and many other awesome shows. They’ll also have some amazing artists and authors.

This Atlanta convention covers everything from comics, sci-fi, pirates, crafts, steampunk, anime, manga, and Renaissance. And you can bet your bottom there’s going to be some fabulous cosplayers there! Don’t miss it!

A Smattering of Vampires in Graphic Novels

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Hi folks! I was planning on doing a big post of Vampires in Print Comics, but that’s kinda even more huge than I thought. So I think what I’ll do is a continuing series of posts about my fave vampire and genre comics, and also movies, TV shows, webcomics, plus whatever other stuff I run across. I’ll start with three graphic novel series and post more later. I’ll keep it short so there are no spoilers. :)

First off, one of my favorite comic artists Emma Vieceli, is working on the Vampire Academy graphic novels. The adaptation is written by Leigh Dragoon, from the Richelle Mead novels. Having not read the prose novels I wasn’t sure what I was getting into but I really like the first one. Yeah, it’s high school stuff, which is very hit-and-miss for me, but it wasn’t the angsty teen drama type story that I can’t stand. It’s a bit of action, romance, and drama all rolled up into one nicely-paced package. Simply titled: Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel, the first book has been out for a while. The second book, Frostbite: A Graphic Novel is available for pre-order now. (And I can’t wait until it gets here!)

One of my all-time favorite series may be a little harder to find, since it was released years ago from the defunct (as far as I’m concerned) Tokyopop. The Japanese title is “Hitsuji no Uta” but was released in English as “Lament of the Lamb“. This is really more of a psychological thriller with horror overtones, but it’s so well written and creepily drawn that I love it. THAT is the kind of horror I like, not splatter and gore.

Another series I am liking a lot is Sherrilyn Kenyon’s The Dark-Hunters with art by Claudia Campos, and adapted by Joshua Hale Fialkov. There is an extremely complicated mythology at work here and Fialkov has done a great job whittling it down and still keeping it well-paced. This is a fun series to read. I’ve heard the novels are fairly erotic, I haven’t read them, but the graphic novels are easily PG-13.

Who’s YOUR vampire?

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If you have read this comic before, you know that we don’t follow the typical European vampire mythologies. Instead, we are taking inspiration from the Sumerian myths and legends for Love is in the Blood. The rules for this tale will differ from all other vampire stories you have probably read to date.

However, Greg and I are both fans of “regular” vampire movies and literature. I am personally a big fan of the The Southern Vampire Mysteries, aka the Sookie Stackhouse Books, by Charlaine Harris. They are the origin of the True Blood HBO series. They’re great for curling up on the couch and spoiling yourself with a good romantic, sexy, mystery book. The first four books in the series are by far my favorites. I am still following the series, but so far the first four are the tightest as the cast hasn’t expanded too far at this point. One of the things I really respect about this series is the main character, Sookie Stackhouse. She is an incredibly strong, self-reliant woman with a disability that makes it troublesome to interact with normal people. She reads minds whether she wants to or not and that leads to a frustrating life of ALWAYS knowing what something is thinking, even if it’s about her. Imagine dating someone and knowing what they were thinking all the time. She’s not always waiting for someone to come to her rescue her, but instead will try to take you down herself. She’s also not afraid to dump a guy who treats her poorly. That’s an extremely respectable trait for a fantasy heroine!

So, what is YOUR favorite vampire novel, series, and/or movie? What is it about the story or characters that makes it your favorite? With so many different vampire tales out there I am excited to hear your answers!