BITE CLUB #1

**MattBrady** · 02-13-2004, 06:06 PM

DC has provided Newsarama with the first four pages of Howard Chaykin and David Tischman’s Bite Club shipping from Vertigo in April.

When we spoke with the creators about the new series which tells the story of organized crime run by vampires in Miami, the creators said:

The roots of the series lie in both Tischman and Chaykin’s love of three types of stories, those dealing with the mob, vampires, and families. “Frankly, I like immigrant novels as well, and to a certain extent, this has that sensibility too,” Chaykin said. “We’re dealing with a family that’s been in the landscape we’re talking about, but they’re still newcomers to a certain extent, and the world is just getting used to them, and they’re getting used to the world. But they’re not aliens in terms of the vampires that we’ve seen before. These are very much culturally, part of the landscape in Miami. It’s a very South Beach story.”

The “version” of vampirism in Bite Club, given the presence of SARS, monkey pox and other viruses that are jumping the species barrier, is fairly relevant. “Our view on vampirism comes from the vampire bat itself, which is indigenous to Central and South America,” Tischman said. “Our vampires began as people who were bitten by these bats. The ‘vampirism,’ then is a virus that jumped from the bat to humans.

“This virus/condition means that our vampires are not the undead. They have a reflection, they can go to church. Some of them are very religious, as could be expected having come from Central or South America. Garlic does not bother them. What the virus does do however, it enhances human strength, prolongs the lifespan a great deal, and makes their eyes very sensitive to light – they must wear sunglasses during the day, and we’ve somewhat fetishized the sunglasses to reflect that. Because it is a hormonal change, it can make them prone to bursts of violence.”

For the full interview, click here.

Christian Otte · 02-13-2004, 06:11 PM

The art sure is beautiful... I might have to look into this.

Sammycomic · 02-13-2004, 06:20 PM

looks keen... must read!

PopCulture · 02-13-2004, 07:55 PM

Looks like Vampire tales are back full bore. The 30 Days of Night, Dark Days, Criminal Macabre, etc have started a comeback of these cool blood sucking folk.
Count me in. The art looks good and these guys should be a good team-up as always. They do not do crap. If this is half as good a read as the DC mini-series BLOOD + WATER (Judd Winick/Tomm Coker), I'll drink it up!

mc (_(\/)_)achete · 02-13-2004, 08:58 PM

i've been digging the vampire books lately... all those books you mentions, popculture, were spectacular. not that there's ever been a shortage of vamp fiction, there seems to have been a few great ones as of late.

i live on south beach, so this one in particular really catches my attention...

but i do have to say one thing to mr. frank quietly: miami girls tend to have bigger butts than that. i should know, i'm something of an expert.

El Argentino · 02-13-2004, 10:10 PM

Maaaan!!!!!, I love that cover!!!!!!

Where is Quitely ultimely?....the interior art looks good, too...I´ll check this....

mrhelm · 02-13-2004, 11:42 PM

This series should be damn good.

Now if we can only get a new Vamps series from Vertigo, I'll be happy.

skywatcher · 02-14-2004, 12:42 PM

The Quitely cover is excellent, but I don't have the same level of enthusiasm for the interior art I'm afraid!

Hdefined · 02-14-2004, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Christian Otte
The art sure is beautiful... I might have to look into this.

Not to go off-topic, but Christian, this might be a good time to give your banner a makeover. Sentinel's gone dude.

bignappi · 02-14-2004, 03:26 PM

now where is I vampire , dc????

Christian Otte · 02-14-2004, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hdefined
Not to go off-topic, but Christian, this might be a good time to give your banner a makeover. Sentinel's gone dude.

Yeah, I've been thinking about doing that, but I have yet to figure out what I should put there instead... feel free to come up with suggestions

.

COREMARK · 02-15-2004, 01:33 AM

Looks interesting, think I'll give it a tryout. I really hope Vertigo decides to put out another Blood and Water mini though, that was a great read.

Fazhoul · 02-15-2004, 10:51 PM

Am I the only one who doesn't find Quitely's women all that attractive?

DFlynn · 02-15-2004, 11:33 PM

I hope this is better than the most recent vampire books that have come out. They've done nothing for me. Neither did American Century, which started out promising, but got caught up in its own desire to be more shocking than it needed to be.

I thought having Quitely on covers would automatically cast the interior art in a poor light, but Hahn looks good here. I'll have to give this a shot.

ZakK · 02-16-2004, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fazhoul
Am I the only one who doesn't find Quitely's women all that attractive?

Well his women have been getting better. I'd say this piece, and the Endless piece he did were outstanding. This one looks more like a real woman. Even if she is thin, she still has little pudges here and there. I love the composition as well.

But you're not in the minority, trust me.

CATMAN3 · 02-16-2004, 12:01 PM

Looks good. Nice Cover.
I've got issue 1 on order.

Mr. Nova · 02-16-2004, 02:34 PM

Always loved Quitely's art, and I enjoy vampire tales as well. One of the companies I work for sent me some free copies of a series called Phang and Mäk (AKA Vampire Gangsters) that came out last year. The story took place in St. Louis and featured a pair of former mafia hitmen (a one fanged vampire and his drug addicted vampire dog) that were caught up in the middle of a mob war.
I'll pick up Bite Club (the art looks great), and I will also pick up Vampire Gangsters (the OGN sequel to Phang and Mäk) when it comes out.

grphxkindaguy · 02-16-2004, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Christian Otte
Yeah, I've been thinking about doing that, but I have yet to figure out what I should put there instead... feel free to come up with suggestions .

How about Help Save Inhumans or Elektra?!?

pmginn · 02-16-2004, 05:28 PM

sounds like a really good book, but I'm not impressed by the artwork.

I wish Chaykin was drawing it.

Fazhoul · 02-16-2004, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pmginn
sounds like a really good book, but I'm not impressed by the artwork.

I wish Chaykin was drawing it.

Doesn't he have like two other projects that he's working on right now? The new Challengers and I can't remember the other title.

Greg Basore · 02-17-2004, 09:09 AM

Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I really dig the interior artwork. This may be because I'm a fan of David Hahn from his work on Private Beach though. Anyone interested in reading an interview with him that mentions Bite Club can check one out at:
http://intoofar.shorturl.com

It even has some pictures of his artwork and what not.

David Hahn · 02-18-2004, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pmginn
sounds like a really good book, but I'm not impressed by the artwork.

I wish Chaykin was drawing it.

Yeah, but my art is at the other end of the spectrum from Howard's that's why I was picked to do the art (by Chaykin himself). Give the first issue a shot at least.

David Hahn
Artist on Bite Club