Active Anime
The absolute last thing that goth-girl Raven and her vampire boyfriend, Alexander, need is another hitch in their night time only romance - but dark trouble hovers on the horizon when Raven and Alexander discover four freshly dug graves filled with empty coffins. When a crew of sketchy vampires takes up residence in Dullsville’s lonely graveyard, Alexander finds this motley bunch led by his very own blood-sucking cousin, Claude Sterling. Claude and his creepy crew can only spell out more problems for the pair, especially when raven finds them in daylight in the very last place she could ever imagine. The question that needs answering is what could Claude and his invaders be doing - or searching for - in Dullsville? With some help from the darkness, Raven and Alexander will hopefully be able to search the truth of this matter out, and get back to enjoying the peace of each other’s company - but not before they get to the bottom of these conflicts.

Vampire Kisses is somewhat surprising, because on the surface it looks like a lot of what we may have seen before when it comes to “vampire stuff,” but it’s actually kind of fun and different. Instead of being constantly gothic and relating to the darker side of vampire lore, Vampire Kisses throws in a number of twists revolving around romantic and awkward/humorous social situations. This series was actually first produced in an ongoing number of written novels (without the pretty pictures) by the same writer as for this manga creation. There are four separate novels to date, so the Vampire Kisses manga has a lot of material to work from for the future. Plus, if fans enjoy the manga, they have something more to look into with the novels - everyone wins! It really does have its funny moments, as well as still sticking with being a serious drama when those more serious parts pop up.

The art really stands out, especially for a North American creation. Everything is really clean and crisp, and it uses a lot of heavy contrast between black and white. It may not be everyone’s taste in style, but for those of us who appreciate the way it’s done, you’ll appreciate it a lot. Though the backgrounds and scenery are very good, it’s the characters that really stand out. Each has a unique way of dressing and most have some pretty cool outfits to show off throughout the book. Raven herself has an especially confident, non-conforming look that sets her aside from most of her high school peers. All is well presented in the art. Even the book’s cover is really attractive - done in dark toned water colour paints by the look of it. It’s a well rounded package that has the potential to do something really different with the romance/relationship genre. Certainly worth taking a look at to see if the art and story can draw you in with the first few pages!

Romance and horror mixed together is a strange mix, but Vampire Kisses knows just how to make it work - even for those that might not usually read a series like this. Just to round it off, the art is very attractive and adds a touch of fun - giving a sense of balance to a story not too creepy, but not too fluffy either.

~Scott Campbell, Active Anime
http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/1815/36/

BookLoons
Blood Relatives is a new installment of Ellen Schreiber's Vampire Kisses series, but in manga form. Even