Life Sucks

Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece. 2008. New York: First Second. 192 pages. ISBN 13-978-1-59643-107-2

Plot Summary: Dave’s a pretty nice guy for being an undead wage slave. He’s stuck in a dead-end job (get it?), working nights in a convenience store for his vampire boss, Radu. It’s bad when your new boss tells you that you have to be his blood-drinking, immortal wage slave, working the night shift 6 days a week (p.77). But Dave somehow manages. An unwilling vampire, he only drinks plasma from the blood bank, refusing to kill people or turn them into vampires. This makes him a very weak vampire, prey to aggravations from Wes, his surfer-dude psychopathic vampire brother. And when he falls for Rosa, the beautiful Goth girl, his life goes haywire. She wants to be a vampire, thinking that vampire life is rich, beautiful and romantic. Little does she know. And Wes wants her too. What’s a vampire guy to do?

Critical Summary: Yes, it’s another vampire book, but this one is really funny. Capturing the dreariness of dead-end jobs and no prospects, this novel touches on the everyday. It takes on racial and social stereotypes (Chicanas, surfers) and parodies the romance behind so much of the YA vampire literature—Dave does not have a glamorous life. In fact, it sucks. I’m not a student of the graphic novel, but Life Sucks got really good reviews both for the storyline and for the art.


About the author: Jessica Abel teaches at New York’s School of Visual Arts. She is the coauthor of a book on writing comics, has published another graphic novel (La Perdida) and is the author of the comic book Artbabe, which was published between 1992 and 1999. She also coauthored a non-fiction comic on the making of the public radio show This American Life. She has won the Harvey and Lulu awards for “Best New Talent” in 1997 and in 2002 La Perdida won the“Best New Series” Harvey Award. Visit her website at http://www.jessicaabel.com/.

Curicula ties: N/A

Reading level/Interest Age: 15 and up.

Challenge issues: Some bad language. Violence and blood. Decapitation. It’s comics, but still. It is, however, for older teens and has received good reviews.

Booktalking Ideas: Being "undead" is the ultimate dead-end job.

Why Chosen: Life Sucks was on the ALA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Young Adults list and the Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, 2009.