noysh's review
4.0
Having read and loved other Trillo/Risso books, I'm very excited to embark on this massive tome. Argentine comics REPRESENT!
rickklaw's review
3.0
Best known in the United States for co-creating (with [a:Brian Azzarello|17029|Brian Azzarello|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg]) the popular crime series 100 Bullets, the Argentinian Risso previously established a reputation during the 80s and 90s in his native country and throughout Europe. Vampire Boy (Boy Vampiro) first appeared in 1992 and features the culmination of the many millennia confrontation between the unnamed son of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) and the Pharaoh's favorite concubine Ahmasi. Not traditional vampires, the immortals only occasionally require blood and the sun actually replenishes them. The Prince, physically trapped at the age of ten since the time of his transformation, reawakens after 50 years buried under the streets of New York to challenge his eternal nemesis. Risso's moody, graphic work and Trillo's nuanced characters elevate this unusual horror tale beyond the typical vampire story, collected here for the first time in English.
hollowspine's review
3.0
Quite a tome for a graphic novel, this hefty book chronicled the life and times of 'unnamed boy' and his adventures throughout time as he fought with a similarly long-lived and completely psychotic foe. I would immediately note that although it is called vampire boy, and the kid is immortal and has fangs and drains blood, the 'vampires' represented here are not your classic coffin dwelling undead, but more like a cross between vamps/highlander and the mummy.
Although the story mainly takes place in modern (or relatively modern) times, there are many flash-backs to previous eras where the two endless foes battle each other, but never successfully. Now, however, the boy is tired of fighting and watching those he loves die. He's ready to find out the secret of ending both of their immortality curse.
His foe, a crazy priestess, is a total psycho. Her one desire is to destroy the boy so that she will be the only immortal, and become a goddess. There is absolutely nothing likeable about her character at all. In fact, I really detested her. She used her very well-endowed body to seduce every man she met and no man was a match for that (except one gay guy). It was very insulting.
However, there were other likeable female characters in the story which somewhat redeemed it. There was also a lot of death. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone, there were some interesting aspects to it, but mainly it was gratuitous violence and sex.
The boy was opposite to his psycho stalker in nearly every way. Being 10 when he became immortal he would never reach puberty and therefore love (and sex) remained somewhat a mystery to him. He often became frustrated when characters showed love, as it was something he was and would always be denied. He was also, unlike the snake goddess, not completely sure of his identity or goal in life, he had not even a name to form an identity around.
Overall, some interesting thoughts, but mainly wouldn't recommend to book-clubs or casual fans of vampires or comic books.
Although the story mainly takes place in modern (or relatively modern) times, there are many flash-backs to previous eras where the two endless foes battle each other, but never successfully. Now, however, the boy is tired of fighting and watching those he loves die. He's ready to find out the secret of ending both of their immortality curse.
His foe, a crazy priestess, is a total psycho. Her one desire is to destroy the boy so that she will be the only immortal, and become a goddess. There is absolutely nothing likeable about her character at all. In fact, I really detested her. She used her very well-endowed body to seduce every man she met and no man was a match for that (except one gay guy). It was very insulting.
However, there were other likeable female characters in the story which somewhat redeemed it. There was also a lot of death. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone, there were some interesting aspects to it, but mainly it was gratuitous violence and sex.
The boy was opposite to his psycho stalker in nearly every way. Being 10 when he became immortal he would never reach puberty and therefore love (and sex) remained somewhat a mystery to him. He often became frustrated when characters showed love, as it was something he was and would always be denied. He was also, unlike the snake goddess, not completely sure of his identity or goal in life, he had not even a name to form an identity around.
Overall, some interesting thoughts, but mainly wouldn't recommend to book-clubs or casual fans of vampires or comic books.
More...