Written by Darin Henry,
Jen Lloyd, Kevin Bonani
Art by Jeff Shultz
Published by Sitcomics
I’d seen Super Suckers around but never dipped into it before now. Your first thought is, inevitably, “Hey, there’s an Archie comic I’ve never seen before!”But then you realize it isn’t. “Oh, I see it’s a PARODY of an Archie comic!” But no, not really.
What it is, in fact, is a light-hearted, PG-13 vampire comic that just happens to be drawn by Jeff Shultz, a man with a long history of drawing Archie comics in the classic Montana/DeCarlo/Parent style.
Written by Darin Henry, Jenn Lloyd, and Kevin Bonani with tongue (and fangs) firmly in cheek, the book starts with a quick introduction to the characters for those of us who came in late.
Our vampire protagonists are Jess and Kelly, who, if you squint, can be seen as Veronica and Betty as (possibly?) lesbian bloodsuckers. They’re both freaked out when they realize that, being undead, they can never have children.
The pair encounter their sire, Dragos, who has been turned into a tiny half-human/half-bat by an encounter with Connie, the Vampire Supreme. Dragos gets several of the book’s best lines including, “I vould have called myself Bat Man, but, you know, copyrights.”
A secondary story follows Stewart, an Archie/Jughead type and my favorite character in the book. Stewart is in a relationship with a fun, sexy, plus-sized African-American lady named Vera. He also, we are told, makes his living selling his blood to vampires.
All in all, a cute mix of silly humor and storytelling. The Archie-style art is a tad distracting but does suit the tone of the book and there are more than enough touches throughout to keep reminding you this is most definitely NOT taking place in Riverdale.
Booksteve recommends.
