If you go on to Amazon.com and do a search for vampire graphic novels you get over 500 results. Over 500! So out of all those many comics which should you check out? Well according to folks all over the interwebs the graphic novel we should all be rushing to get is Blood Ninja by Nick Lake. Seriously, everywhere I look I see someone mentioning Blood Ninja, whether it’s on Twitter or Facebook. So obviously, it’s work a peek.
Currently there are two volumes of Blood Ninja:
“In the course of a day, Taro’s entire life changes: His father is murdered before his eyes, and Taro is taken by a mysterious ninja on a perilous journey toward safety. Someone wants Taro dead, but who — and why? With his best friend, Hiro, and their ninja guide Shusaku, Taro gets caught in the crossfire of a bitter conflict between rival lords for control of imperial Japan. As Taro trains to become a ninja himself, he’s less and less sure that he wants to be one. But when his real identity is revealed, it becomes impossible for Taro to turn his back on his fate.”
“Now that the vile Lord Oda is dead, Taro and his friends are safe in the mountain lair of the ninjas. Or so they think. When a homing pigeon arrives with news of Taro’s mother’s whereabouts, Taro sets out for the Tendai monastery – without stopping to consider why the pigeon, which was given to his mother months ago, took so long to arrive.
Soon, Taro, Hana and Hiro find themselves in a trap, as strange new creatures invade their lives and familiar enemies surround them – and the most deadly enemy of all is their old friend Yukiko. In the end, despite his vampire abilities, Taro is helpless to prevent the death of his mother. Furious and grief stricken, haunted by her mute and beseeching ghost, he determines to recover the object which Lord Oda was so desperate to procure before he died: the Buddha Ball, source of limitless power.
There are just two problems: first, Lord Oda is not dead. And second, the Buddha Ball is not where Taro thought. If Taro is to fulfill his destiny, he must face his arch enemy on an equal battlefield – for Lord Oda is a vampire now too. And then, to make peace with his mother, and recover the Buddha ball, Taro must go to hell and back…”
Neither sound particularly vampiric, but I hear that they are packed full of vampire folklore. Win!
If you’ve read them let us know what you thought in a comment below.
– Moonlight
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