Imagine being an outcast, feared by those around you, and stuck on an inhospitable island where you are hunted, where even the sun could kill you? That is (kind of) the premise behind the new Oni Press/EC comic Blood Type, written by Corinna Bechko and illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino. Blood Type is a landmark for the EC publishing line, because it is the first serialised story that the publisher has ever produced. Moving away from short, one-off stories in anthology comics, Blood Type is a miniseries with an extended story over several issues. The comic promises the “Terror in a Jugular Vein” that the readers have come to expect from EC, but just more of it.
The story is actually a continuation of an entry written by Bechko and illustrated by Jonathan Case for issue three of Epitaphs from the Abyss. In that short, the feisty central character Ada runs from a screaming mob and stows away on a luxury yacht that is hit by a terrible storm. Over the course of five days, stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, the survivors keep themselves alive by drinking each other’s blood. Ada is the one to suggest this course of action because her survival is paramount to her and, in the very first panel of the story, she is introduced as a blood sucking vampire.
Credit: Oni Press/EC Comics
That initial story, and this first issue of the follow up, focuses on Ada and her adventures as she is chased, at first, out to sea, and then eventually stranded on a hot, vacation island amidst holiday makers and local superstition. Bechko uses the first section of the story to give the reader some insight into Ada’s powers and needs. This leads into the vampire’s exploration of a new landscape and its inhabitants. Because the reader follows Ada, she becomes almost sympathetic, and the problems she faces just trying to survive create the drama of the story. The first issue of Blood Type leans more into creating this sympathy for the character than the initial short story. In Epitaphs from the Abyss, Ada was a nameless blood sucking party goer who happened to find herself in an awkward predicament. There is no reason for the reader to care particularly for her or those she encounters. In Blood Type #1, the stakes seem higher, as the reader is presented with a more rounded character whose survival is in jeopardy, and the creators attempt to make us care about the vampire’s life.
A large portion of Bechko’s script is engaging, especially around the character of Ada herself. Bechko gives the vampire a distinctive voice that creates a layered character who is brimming with attitude and cockiness, but there is—in moments—a vulnerable side to her. Unfortunately, this characterisation doesn’t stretch to all of the extras within the story. The opening sequence with the ship reads brilliantly and the tragedy that befalls the crew is evident. Despite some dark humour, the reader is actually conflicted between cheering for the primadonna vampire and the lives of the sailors. However, when Ada’s adventure moves to the island, not all of the characters are as well managed as the protagonist, with it becoming difficult to understand what some of them are doing and why they are doing it. Part of the issue lies with the layouts by Sorrentino, which I’ll come back to, and partly because the narrator, the Grave-Digger, is intrusive in the narrative. It is not always clear when he is present, although an occasional image of the character’s face next to a caption box helps, and the voiceover becomes muddled between the characters. The knock-on effect is that you can’t always tell if someone is talking, if it’s an internal monologue, or if it’s a third person perspective after the fact. Trying to pick this apart ruins the flow of some pages, damaging the character work that Bechko is aiming for. In short, after the Last Voyage of Demeter-esq opening, it becomes increasingly difficult to care for any of the characters, which diminishes the overall narratives effectiveness.
Credit: Oni Press/EC Comics
As I have already stated, part of the problem lies with Sorrentino’s artwork. For the most part, the artwork within the panels is excellent. The gritty, heavily shadowed present day on the doomed ship creates the perfect atmosphere for the story. Sorrentino creates a depth to the images that draws the reader in and then repels them with each act of terror. This contrasts superbly with the flashback sequences where Ada first arrived on the ship. In these moments, the line work is very fine, defined but not overdrawn, and there is a distinct lack of shadows. The colouring by Dave Stewart also helps distinguish between present day and the past. He uses dark, heavy colouring for the present where Ada is at her most destructive, and lighter, pastel colours for the flashbacks, when everything was rosier, at least for the sailors.
This contrasting styles continues throughout the comic, with Ada’s present always depicted in the same heavily shadowed way, and the flashbacks or stories told by other characters appearing in the muted, pastel format. From a storytelling point of view, this is wonderful. It makes the reading simpler and creates a distinct atmosphere between the truth of the moment and the potential narrative bias of the past. You can’t fault Stewart’s colouring or Sorrentino’s draughtsmanship. Where the problems start, however, is on some of the more ambitious pages where the layouts divert from the standard comic format.
There are a couple of double-page spreads where Sorrentino plays with the panel layouts. In the first, he attempts to create a feeling of disorientation as the ship sails into the harbour, but the feeling doesn’t carry over into the narrative at that point, causing a conflict between art and story. The second instance has to be praised for its ingenuity: Sorrentino overlays the main page artwork with a series of small panels, each representing a bat in flight, but unfortunately it makes the reading of the page very difficult. Not only does it make it difficult to follow the flow of the narrative, but it once more does not instinctively relate to the scene. Other than the vampire characteristic of turning into a bat, the narrative does not correspond with the design of the layouts. It looks really good, but does not help the telling of the story.
There are pages where the layouts work more in line with the narrative and still challenge the standard grid format. One such page consists of a single image spread across two pages, with panels picked out using thin white borders. The panels simulate the passage of time across the picture, as the narrative follows a character making her way through the landscape. It helps to show the desperation and hopelessness of the character’s journey because the landscape is all consuming; the single image demonstrates how the woman’s presence doesn’t affect the landscape. It is unchanged by her journey and her ultimate fate. There are other pages that have similarly eye-catching layouts, with some working better than others.
Credit: Oni Press/EC Comics
Overall, Blood Type #1 is a fascinating start to a miniseries, and the bold choices made by Sorrentino do succeed more often than they fail. There are some pages that have magnificent page layouts that drift from the norm and work brilliantly for both story and art. The confusion caused by occasional layouts and complicated character captioning isn’t enough to make you stop reading, because the story itself is engaging and draws you in. The opening few pages that link the original short story to this miniseries are by far the best part of the comic. They build character, set the tone, and gives the reader something spectacular to look at. Blood Type is a good dark comedy/horror comic by a team that knows how to play with expectations and against type.
