Hashtag Comics 2015
Written by Martin Dunn
Co-Plot, Art & Letters by Derrick Fish
Coloured by Challenging Studios
Alright folks here we go with this little independent company that’s trying their hand at a modern day horror story. So we are all familiar with Vampires and the supernatural creatures that seem to inhabit their world. There are so many variations on vampires the trick is to find your own niche and cull what you think will work in their myriad of mythos in the story. Martin has chosen a few and so far it’s off to a nice start.
There are a number of things i’m excited about with this book, it takes place in Las Vegas and the name of the book also happens to be the name of hottest club in town. Right off the bat we meet Jace he’s a vampire and his date Ashley just threw a body over the balcony. What an auspicious start this is off to already the dialogue has humor, insight and shows who they are and it’s done very well.
Next up we meet Chelsea Nobles she’s a very disillusioned young woman who works her day job all the while wanting to write her first novel. You certainly get the impression she’s an unhappy woman as if she’s stuck in a rut and sees no real way out right now. Otherwise there doesn’t seem to be anything else remarkable about her but remember appearances can be deceiving.
Before we round out the cast of characters in this story we head back to Jace at Carpe Noctem where he invites a couple young ladies in early to spend a little quality time with him. Nothing better than a couple young women. It’s nice to see that some things never change and here is the first time I see Derrick really flexing his artistic chops. The transformation and the imagery we see is spectacular! More creepy than I bargained for and it’s extremely effective so yeah I will admit i’m more than a little intrigued to see what he can unleash.
So as luck would have it Chelsea’s day job is covering the big bout, yes a boxing match, where Jace’s brother Dante is seen for the first time. He’s very much a man of excess and of little care and I have to say that we learn much here about the rules and such and we see his rival and the Auditor’s who come in judgement when you’ve violated the rules. There’s a huge surprise here and it does wonders to shake up the status quo and make you think you may not know what is going to happen and that is a great thing.
This is a very pleasant surprise I like the world these characters inhabit and we’ve gotten just enough to make things interesting and leaving the door open so we want to come back for more. Yeah this could very well join the other Vampire books while holding it’s own. Plus it isn’t overcrowded character wise it seems the triangle is now set and we’ll see how they all play part in each other’s lives.