Exiles writer Judd Winick is under exclusive contract to DC for the next year.  As I've said before, that means the next year of Exiles is going to be an interesting mix of fill-ins and stories written months in advance.

But what about his DC work?  Well, Blood & Water is a five-issue Vertigo miniseries about vampires, with art from the excellent Tomm Coker.  According to Winick, his take on the vampire mythology is trying to get away from the idea that they're all tortured souls (goths, in other words).  In his version, being a vampire is fun.

There are practical problems in reviewing this story.  If you've read the publicity material, you've pretty much seen the entire plot of this first issue.  In fact, Vertigo's house adverts have a two sentence description of this issue, and the comic itself only gets halfway into the first sentence.

Adam Heller used to be athletic and popular, but now he's been reduced to mortal illness by hepatitis A.  Fortunately for him, though he doesn't know it, his friends are vampires who want to help him out.

And that's really the entire first issue.  Most of the rest of it is Winick stressing just how unpleasant terminal illness is, and just how cool his vampires are.  Both of which he does very well, albeit that he could be accused of hammering the point.  Still, an excellent job from Coker sells the contrast well - granted that Adam starts off looking pregnant rather than bloated, he's certainly grotesque.  And his vampires look cool without straying too far into cliche.

Winick's strength is traditionally in characterisation and snappy dialogue.  The beleaguered Adam gets most of the characterisation here, and Winick does a pretty convincing portrayal of chronic illness before shifting gears.  I'm less sure about the vampires, whose role in this story forces them into a lengthy power demonstration that seems a little at odds with their supposed desire to help their friend.

The catch is that while Winick and Cocker sell the concept strongly, the issue never really gets that far beyond that.  To the extent that there are any surprises in this issue, they're blown by the cover.   It's a pacing problem, really.  I'll give it another issue to see if it picks up, but this first issue feels like reading a twelve inch mix of the solicitation.  Well done, but no surprises.

Rating: B

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