Pay no attention to the Frank Quitely cover. This story isn't about sex, and it's not even about vampires, not really. No, writers Howard Chaykin and David Tischman offer up a combination whodunnit mystery and old-fashioned organized-crime drama, set in a world in which vampires are known to exist and live alongside regular human beings. This script brings with it the sort of gratuitous sexual content one usually expects from Chaykin's work, but the plot and social backdrop make up for it. Another strength is the unusually soft pencilling style employed to bring this edgy story to life.
There are two sides to every city, and Miami is no different. On the one hand, there's the community we all see, the public face of the city that makes its way onto postcards. But like every other city, there's a darker side, the side run by crime families and their underlings. In Miami, the Del Toro family reigns supreme, and underworld politics are thrown into disarray when the Eduardo Del Toro Sr. is killed. It takes on an even graver tone when one realizes that all the members of the Del Toro family are vampires, each with different goals and agendas.
David Hahn's art reminds me of the styles of Pia (Y: The Last Man) Guerra, Paul (Chronos) Guinan and Chris (Tom Strong) Sprouse. I had been expecting a darker and grittier look from a vampire book, such as what we get in Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's 30 Days of Night comics. The simpler, clearer approach employed here works well, as it reinforces the everyday quality of the characters and setting as opposed to the supernatural. The colors are surprisingly warm as well.
There's always been an inherent sexual component to vampire stories, even going as far back as Bram Stoker's Dracula in the 19th century. The premise of a vampire lends itself to the exploration of danger and an allure that's comparable to sex. Chaykin and Tischman ignore the subtleties of those sexual elements, though, and go overboard with the seemier side. Their sexual story elements don't actually advance the plot, and they seem to be included solely to titillate.
What really drew me into the story was how well developed the writers' vision of a vampire-inclusive society is. It makes perfect sense that they'd be drawn to crime, given the inherently corrupt origins of the species, so to speak, but I also enjoyed how the writers also include scenes with regular vampire folks just enjoying their day. The incorporation of vampires into the Catholic Church was particularly intriguing, as it creates an instant conflict between the innocence of the cloth and the violence of the fang.
