Charley is a man who is torn in many directions. One hand he is a vampire hunter, and on the other he is a vampire himself. He is also an aspiring Catholic Priest despite his damnable existence and keeps himself on the side of redemption by not feeding on humans but instead on his vampire master Johnny. Johnny is a confident playboy (read: open-shirted bishonen) who enjoys teasing Charley in between bouts of homoerotic feeding frenzies where it’s not just necks that get bitten. Charley also happens to be a cyborg, something mostly ignored beyond the occasional rocket punch although you’d think it an important point. In this first volume we get to know our flamboyant vampire duo and see them in action, both on the field and in private.
What follows are a couple of short stories of vampire hunting where Charley keeps things serious and Johnny does his best to wind him up, waiting for only the most opportune moments to look damn cool. The plots are mystery-tinted as they try and figure out who their targets are, as well as considering potential conspiracies at the Vatican, but at the end of the day all they need to is the job and the cast aren’t too fussed if they haven’t filled all the gaps in the plot. Emotional journeys take precedence over the whodunnits as Vassalord hints at the origins of Charley and Johnny’s partnership. It is certainly something to look forward to fully further down the line, but in terms of everyday events they boil down little more than some pretty boys having a laugh on the job. There’s nowt wrong with that as the jokes are often funny and the artwork while clean is grim enough for the bloodier scenes, and things do get bloody. It’s appealing and inconsequential gothic shininess. Oooh, shiny…
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"FAKE meets Hellsing, an unlikely combination but it certainly does the trick. Good stuff. "
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