Thursday, October 11th, 2007
Poor Murdo.
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October 11th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Nice Comic; but damn his own moms blood damn Nice work Bobby and Owen
oh and First! woots!!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
That was a little…gicky. Makes you wonder if you could do the same thing in that situation…Mom blood…blegh. Remind me to stock up on studly man-blood if I’m ever going to get vampirific. Cuz that’d happen.
You still ruleness!
October 11th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Nothing like Mom’s… literally.
I just started reading this comic so maybe I miss a detail or two, so forgive my question: why did he converted???
October 11th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
OMGWTFBBQ?!!!1!!11!!!11!!!1one!!1
Sweet, Murdo is now a vampire. Although I thought that vampire’s couldn’t drink dead man’s blood. Oh well, at least your story is unique and original.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
“why did he converted???”
His whole family died and he wanted more strength to protect the rest of the survivors. Didn’t care about his own humanity anymore, just wanted to help save the others, since he failed to save his family because of his horrible human instincts. Something like that.
“Although I thought that vampire’s couldn’t drink dead man’s blood.”
Not sure what you mean. She only died like 18 hours earlier and she was never touched by a zombie — died of a heart attack. The blood is good for a few days in this story, unrefrigerated.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Yes, but in most vampire legends, if vampire’s drink from a dead human, they die.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Where are his teeth? =D
I love the way Val looks in the bottom panels.
Take care and…
5th comment w00t!
October 11th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
“Yes, but in most vampire legends, if vampire’s drink from a dead human, they die.”
I don’t care what other stories have done. This story goes against many traditions.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
“Where are his teeth?”
Right here ^,..,^
umm….I tried my best XD
October 11th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
“I don’t care what other stories have done. This story goes against many traditions.”
Props for being original, creative and having a unique kickass graphic novel then!
October 11th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I’d like to tell Cat that i have told her so. *nods*
Amazing work, i can’t get over the art work in these particular panels, stunning stuff right here.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
I just thought that the film should be black and white too. Im sorry if it was already covered in comments.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
If I make it myself, it’ll be in color. I greatly prefer color to black and white in practically every scenario.
October 12th, 2007 at 12:20 am
“If I make it myself, it’ll be in color. I greatly prefer color to black and white in practically every scenario.”
What about semi-colour/greyscale?
Much like the Frank Miller movie/comic; Sin City
October 12th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Yo Bobby, excellent work Amigo!!!
Also, yeah, colour would be much better. Damn my stupid english grammar.
Anyway, Props to you and Owen, hope the movie turns out well.
One question though, will you hav enough extras for this movies?
October 12th, 2007 at 12:52 am
I wonder – blood lasts only a few hours, then it rot, right? So how can they drink a few days blood?
Anyway – I’m reading your comic almost from the start and I’m in love with it!
Vampires are cool 
I wonder if I could buy it… I’m from the end of the world – from Poland
October 12th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Hilarious.
Murdo is now emo.
October 12th, 2007 at 1:15 am
(>;…;)> Vampire Kirby is pleased!
October 12th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I think you should dress Murdo in a long leather coat, baggy pants and big boots. He’d look generic, but freakin’ awesome.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:09 am
I love Valerie’s expressions all through the page, what with the blood (I’m assuming) dripping from her mouth and the “I don’t care” attitude. She kicks ass. I’d love the film in colour, but there won’t be much of it (besides red, of course) anyway. I can’t really imagine zombies in the sunshine, so I donno how you’ll manage it… Would be quite the challenge, both doing it and watching it XD.
Lovely as always. Lots of hugs from Europe!
October 12th, 2007 at 3:21 am
val is a Farha fan?
October 12th, 2007 at 3:22 am
“Yes, but in most vampire legends, if vampire’s drink from a dead human, they die.â€
Correction; that’s Anne Rice, not folklore. I’m always amazed that people assume a factual basis for literary precedent, or confuse the two. Seems to happen to vampire fiction more than any other genre.
HTH!
BTW, this is great work, keep it up! Thanks for a great story, with excellent non-manga art (can’t tell you how sick of that junk I am) !
October 12th, 2007 at 3:23 am
I didn’t know Val was Sammy Farha in disguise
October 12th, 2007 at 3:25 am
hm, I must be tired, that last comment now sounds catty to me – wasn’t meant to be. Apologies, Crow, I was commenting on a very pervasive trend, not ragging on you!
I was, however, ragging on manga, and for that I offer no apologies.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:28 am
” think you should dress Murdo in a long leather coat, baggy pants and big boots. He’d look generic, but freakin’ awesome. ”
or you could get some combat fatiges.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:35 am
So whens the movie coming out? I havent heard anything about. Oh and btw im a new reader
love your comic
October 12th, 2007 at 3:44 am
And with Murdo a vampire now, it opens the door for him and Val to have a long and loving relationship. Awww.
Awesome as ever Bobby and Owen.
October 12th, 2007 at 4:23 am
ohh, movie in colour, deffinately!! As DP, I don’t have anything at all against black and white, but for most things, I prefer colour. Sin City being the exeption to the rule (for obvious reasons – which no doubt only exist in my deranged mind (;
Anyways, as always: WONDERFUL work you two!! Really. And I love the last panel…
‘why does it taste so good?’ … *shivers*
looking forward to the next page!!!
the HummingBird ~ here one moment, gone the next
October 12th, 2007 at 4:55 am
HA! I knew it! I thought about where he wanted val to do something for him lately, and I knew this was it! After all, he doesnt have anyone left in the world now, and he needs to protect everyone. I love this webcomic so much, you rule!
October 12th, 2007 at 5:11 am
Hi everyone, long time reader, first time poster here.
Glad to see Murdo is a vamp now, but I can imagine that the other vampires might not be too thrilled about this. Now there’s one more mouth to feed, and one less human to supply the blood.
Not sure about the exact count, but since MM is going zombie in a few hours, and now Murdo isn’t human, aren’t there more vamps than humans by now?
October 12th, 2007 at 5:18 am
Urk. That is a seriously disturbing scene.
I *don’t* think the audience is going to be expecting that to happen.
His own mother’s blood as his first ‘meal’?!?
Eeeeeewwww…..
***
Question to the writer if you don’t mind – If it is that easy to create a new vampire, why were there only fifty in the whole world? Did they keep killing each other off or something?
October 12th, 2007 at 5:27 am
OK now Murdo owes his mom WAY more than normal kids… Great twist though, truly disturbing! Keep up the great work! I can’t wait for the movie!
October 12th, 2007 at 5:46 am
They runnin low on supplies? Murdo seems a bit drained? Mann.. If Val wasnt just a tad scary before.. she sure is here… cold… ice cold.. yeah..
Maybe there arent so many more vamps, considering theres millions of Zombies, cause they couldnt all run away? Eventhough Vamps are kickass, a couple thousand zombies surrounding one would prolly end up bad for the vamp… And didnt some dude drop a lot of bombs, on survivors if needed? Which means there arent that many people to make Vamps off either..
PS: No im not the writer.. lol
October 12th, 2007 at 5:47 am
Huh, there are a whooole lot more mouths to feed now.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:13 am
so,she just happens to have a quart of blood handy,and one guy so emotionally distraught that he wants to convert to save his friends ..sounds like a “i love it when a plan comes together” moment to me”..they only have 50 or so vampires cause they only want the ones they don’t have to watch 24/7 365 in case he reverts to a feral state and sucks the world dry .. like the zombie master is right now cause 50 years underwater masked his smell from them long enough for him to start the zombie wave (a stadium full of zombies doing the wave ..lol) .. just a guess on my part unless it has been covered in an earlier post
October 12th, 2007 at 6:15 am
pint not quart my bad
October 12th, 2007 at 6:29 am
“If it is that easy to create a new vampire, why were there only fifty in the whole world? Did they keep killing each other off or something?”
i’m obviously not the writer, but there are a number of possible reasons as to why the vampire population is low.
1) The vampires purposefully kept their population low in order to prevent humans from knowing about them, or in order to keep the “food” supply from dropping too low
2) i imagine it might be dangerous to just go around everywhere making vampires. It’s probably a very powerful state to be in, and so could be dangerous to give to just anybody
…okay, well, i can actually only think of two, but i’m sure there are other reasons as well.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Bobby, not to criticise, but did you really just have hardcore, ice queen, uber-bitch Val say “raisy daisy?” Srsly?
I think I need a second glass of vodka……..
Beyond that, just put Murdo in fatigues and combat boots. No shirt. Chicks love that.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:08 am
To crow:
Basically, I understand that you are perhaps american, living alone in your mothers basement, using black lipstick and bleeding lifejournal about how dark and mysterious it feels when you cut, while being a vegetarian.
Now, I have nothing against emos (The crow, I just think this guy is a disgrace for all disturbed young men)
BUT, please, if you like vampires that much, I have to say to you:
Anne Rice does write fiction. If she writes in her deranged emo little lifestyle that vampires cannot drink “dead blood”, she has invented it. Now, I may be wrong, but I write this seminar paper in Literature about Vampire myths and legends, so I may have heard and been looking through about all there is to hear about vampires in literature (and yes, Last Blood is mentioned, I will post the paper if it is ready).
Now, never ever have I heard in the LEGENDS that stupid bullcrap about dead blood. From Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole (google them if you want to know who they were) to present day, no one ever mentioned in the legends ANYTHING about dead blood. In the literature only after Anne Rice. Anne Rice invented that “fact”. I wish each of her fans would stop taking what that woman writes for fact, or as the absolute truth.
Now, as for the scientific part, do you know about blood transfusions? Basically, yes, it is dead blood, because frankly, it is outside of a body. Blood has no life, thus can not die. It can go stale, or clump together, but it can not die. You can insert it into a person, and it is fine again.
As far as I have had to endure the countless tales about Vampires in literature, I can tell you that even most “scientific” novels offer a solution for this problem. Basically, it goes that the vampiric body is not able to produce enough Hemoglobin, thus they are forced to drink blood and thus get their fix of the stuff.
Now, just for a quick word. The short German poem The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder is as far as I know the first account of vampires in literature. Now, between that, and the first americanized vampirism “I Am Legend” by author Richard Matheson in (1954) are:
206 Years
206 Years before you have stolen the story of the original vampire. Now, do me a favor, folks, and do not piss on the history of old europe. Do not try to raise Anne Rice on the podest of historical fact. Bobbys and Owens vampires have ten times the character depth that the trashfictions of Miss Rice has.
You wanna know the second reason why Last Blood made it in the List as good, and Anne Rice as bad?
Quite simple. Go to page 81. Look at the fat dude. Look at the beard-monkey. Last Blood is the first attempt in modern literature to promote ugly ass & bearded vampires.
Guys, you are great, and I just want to thank you for creating this wonderfull piece of comic. By the way, would it be possible for you guys to fill out a little form /questionnaire about why you have decided to make an ugly /bearded vampire? If yes, where should I sent it to? I believe you guys have my email adress.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:30 am
To Baltazaar:
No, i’m not emo. I don’t wear lipstick, i’m not a American and I haven’t read a single Anne Rice novel. I am not some big vampire freak or anything like that, I mean who’s the one writing a paper on it right?
*laughs at Baltazaar’s stupidity and continues*
Over the years, I’ve seen many vampire movies, most depicting the “myth” that you cannot drink dead man’s blood. I praised Bobby and Owen for being creative and not going down the generic road.
I’m not saying that I believe this, because it’s created by the writers of the movies right? I’m just saying, no one knows the full details about a vampire’s lifestyle/survivalness, therefore, I was wrong, and you were wrong.
Dude, seriously, the fact that you even wrote that long of a psot proves that you are perhaps american, living alone in your mothers basement, using black lipstick and bleeding lifejournal about how dark and mysterious it feels when you cut, while being a vegetarian.
And no, I did not get my name from the crow movies. I just like the birds.
P.S. You got one thing right though, I am vegetarian. Good for you for at least trying.
P.S.S. Legends aren’t all 100% true.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Wow. Awesome twist guys.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Any way enough with the cat fight…back to the ocmic. awesome comic though…Im more of Lycon person though…zombies are bad ass too…Vampires…meh… Where are all the were wolves during all this?
October 12th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Well, at least I get my satisfaction. Movies are not, as far as I am concerned, literature. As far as for the “OOh, I am not american, perhaps you are….”-part:
WWell, I already mentioned that I am german, a seminar paper in germany is something you write in the university, and after all, Legends are what formed the entire myth of the vampires, so, after all, they are the only reliable source.
And just for the vampire freak part: I did not bash vampire-freaks in general. As you have so brilliantly concluded, I myself belong to that group. I speciffically bashed Emos , Anne Rice fans, People who can’t distinguish between bad fiction and legends, and people who are unable to do good research.
Most gladly that at least your ability to fight back remained (allways suspected vegetarians are too weak for that….)
Baltazaar.
P.S.
I would gladly enjoy to continue this conversation privately, as to not spam this wonderfull commentboard. Email adress is herrkahr{add}yahoo{d.o.t.}de
October 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
“What about semi-colour/greyscale?”
I greatly prefer full color.
“One question though, will you hav enough extras for this movies?”
Who knows. Depends on a million factors, most notably the budget and where it’s filmed (which is based on the budget) and how many fans like you we could get to show up. Very good chance now that I’ll be selling the rights and not making it myself, though.
“I wonder – blood lasts only a few hours, then it rot, right? So how can they drink a few days blood?”
Don’t know what you mean. Were you aware that there weren’t zombies or vampires in real life either? Also, it’s October 30 in South Dakota — temperatures have been near freezing probably in the 18 hours since her death, so that’s one other thing to consider, but it doesn’t matter at all.
“I wonder if I could buy it… I’m from the end of the world – from Poland”
Anyone with money can buy it.
“val is a Farha fan?”
Yes, she is. Farha is one of the vampires on the plane.
“Glad to see Murdo is a vamp now, but I can imagine that the other vampires might not be too thrilled about this. Now there’s one more mouth to feed, and one less human to supply the blood.”
It doesn’t really matter. None of them have any hope of survival, really. There’s no chance basically. Their only chance, in their mind, is to somehow get TFZ to change his mind and choose not to kill the humans, but they’ve never even seen him and don’t know if they’ll get a chance to see him. They’re basically just doing a last favor to Addison Payne by going on the plane and trying to help, and some of them want to go out fighting anyway. Some trust that Addison Payne couldn’t let them down and will always find a way, but they have no idea how. I think just holding that case, cuffed to his own wrist, gives them hope, even if it’s empty.
“If it is that easy to create a new vampire, why were there only fifty in the whole world? Did they keep killing each other off or something?”
I don’t mind when people ask repeated questions, but it’s slightly annoying when it’s someone like you who has posted on almost every single page. I’ve answered this in detail. Don’t feel like searching for it at the moment — Google can probably find it.
achrin: Don’t understand your comment at all. Just happens to have the blood? As has been said in the comic, they don’t need much blood at all, so they’re obviously conserving Murdo’s mom’s blood — not gonna drink it all right away. Math hasn’t even had any of it yet. They store it in water bottles, like Math was drinking from on I think Page 29 (that “red Gatorade”).
“By the way, would it be possible for you guys to fill out a little form /questionnaire about why you have decided to make an ugly /bearded vampire?”
I asked Owen to draw a couple cool looking vampires as WOWIO-exclusive sketches and he came up with Rage (and another guy). I liked it.
Jampski: No werewolves in this story, sorry.
“I would gladly enjoy to continue this conversation privately, as to not spam this wonderfull commentboard.”
Feel free to have fights here — I don’t give a shit. It’s about vampires at least.
October 12th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Please tell me you’re not kidding about Farha the Vampire. Oh man, that’d be awesome. The first panel leads me to believe you have a genius plus.ev lastblood crossover coming. Something like Scooby Doo and the Harlem globe trotters or Jetsons meet the Flinstones?
October 12th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
LOL. Was just kidding, but I guess Owen could draw Farha in there somewhere, but we just wouldn’t mention him by name. Well, I don’t know, could mention him by name, just Farha, but he’d have to be a very minor character, like only have one brief appearance and that’s it — no mention of poker playing. Eh, probably won’t ever say his name.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Wow – what a twist. I love how you drew this – none of the “beautiful mystery of the transformation.” Just lots of blood and pain
I also love that you left blood all over Val’s face – one thing that drives me absolutely MAD in all the vampire movies and the TV series (a la “Buffy” and “Angel”) is how vampires can usually drain a victim dry in seconds and get not a single drop on them (noted exception is “Innocent Blood,” which was VERY bloody – love it). It’s like – oh, yeah, this vampire just drained all the blood out of this guy – or at least enough to kill him – in two seconds FLAT – and swallowed it all without gagging – and didn’t get any on itself nor left any behind. Riiiiight. 
Talking about the film, B&W vs. Color. Anyone see the movie “The Breed” starring Adrian Paul and Bokeem Woodbine? It was filmed in color, but they used some kind of gel or screen on the lens that washed most of the color back out – it was a beautiful effect. Go to Amazon.com and read my review – it is the star review (placement #1) if you’re interested in learning more about that movie. It also used a unique concept of vampires.
Kudos, guys – I can NOT wait until you get this onto film – it will kick bottom!
October 12th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Oh, BTW – “Raisy Daisy” by Val . . . BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH *snerk* Beautiful . . .
October 12th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Note to self: Turning into a vampire makes you extra-ripped.
I know Murdo was pretty built before, but appearantly turning into a Vampire makes you rock a 300-style build.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
It’s amazing how many ways the transformation between human and vampire is depicted, from the simple bite on the neck, to surviving the bite’s virus attacking at your immune system, to draining the blood from a person and giving it back mixed with the vampire’s own. Freaking incredible. And for all of you people who say “vampires can’t drink blood or they’ll die.” blood as a whole lasts for a week in regular conditions, then the platelets die, then the red blood cells, then the white blood cells, till it’s nothing but plasma.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Oh man, this comic was AWESOME!!! Math and Murdo are not BOTH totally hott vampires. And the drinking the blood of his mom thing? CRAZY AWESOME. And Val is insane, but that works for her. Excellent work, excellent writing for this comic!
October 12th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Is it just me, or does Murdo look rather emaciated until after he chugs down a pint of Mom’s Finest? AFAIK they haven’t had any real shortage of food so far, so if it’s not just in my head, then that means either he’s been on a hell of a diet, has had very little appetite since seeing the dead walk, or becoming a vampire uses up a lot of the body’s resources. (Which would explain why he needs a full pint minimum right away, rather than the spoonful a day needed to stave off zombieness. I can’t quite remember how much blood was needed to keep vamps at fighting strength, but I’m pretty sure it’s way under a full pint.)
October 12th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Nekokaburi: He looks emaciated because Val just drained a ton of his blood, killing him in the process, then he rises from the dead (“raisy daisy”) and he’s still not yet a vampire until he drinks a pint of someone else’s blood, not his own. The vampires need almost no blood to stop from becoming a schaemiac — a very small amount — but that’s of course after they’ve already become a vampire, which Murdo hadn’t yet done until he drank his mom’s blood.
October 12th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
damn.. tough choice:, drink you mom’s blood and completely turn into a vampire or don’t and turn into a vamp/zombie…??? what would you do??
October 12th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Just to let you know, he actually wouldn’t turn into anything if he didn’t drink the blood. He’d just be some weird other undead creature in constant pain with no chance of anything else ever happening to him. It’s a similar pain to the torture of becoming a schaemiac, but he’s not yet a vampire until he drinks that pint of someone else’s blood.
October 13th, 2007 at 4:16 am
To the whole dead blood thing:
“blood as a whole lasts for a week in regular conditions, then the platelets die, then the red blood cells, then the white blood cells, till it’s nothing but plasma.”
Red blood cells last a total of 120 days.
White blood cells last from 1 hour to a week.
Platelets last a maximum of 9 days.
Now, when blood is kept in blood banks it is usually centrifuged to separate the parts into the following: plasma, red blood cells and a buffy coat consisting of white blood cells and platelets.
The bags of red blood you see would be the red blood cells and they last for 120 days, these won’t clot since the platelets have been removed.
Tapping blood from a human (like we see in the comic) would after a while end in a two phase system: Plasma on top, red blood cells in the bottom.
Following the comic it would probably be possible to keep blood in a bottle for a short amount of time if you just kept shaking it once in a while – to keep it from clotting and dividing.
As for vampires won’t drink dead blood. I think it’s rather a question that it wouldn’t be possible to drink blood from a dead unless you had quite some strong sucking muscles: Blood won’t squirt out after death, it’ll stay in the veins.
This would explain why drinking blood from dead people wouldn’t be as much fun as living but merely hard work getting the blood out.
Also this could be a possible explanation to why some vampires wouldn’t spill: Biting the larger arteries in the neck causes the blood to squirt out so fast that the body would be drained in nothing but a minute. Why vampires wouldn’t gag or react to 4-5 litres of blood being shot into them can’t really be explained by anything than guesses:
We know little of vampire anatomy and physiology (eg. its a myth, doh)
So all in all: It’s a myth anyway, chill, relax and enjoy the comic.
October 13th, 2007 at 5:20 am
awsome
October 13th, 2007 at 6:59 am
Thanks! I was just wondering, no offence.
It’s a great comic, I’d like to see the movie
October 13th, 2007 at 6:59 am
“Very good chance now that I’ll be selling the rights and not making it myself, though.”
I take it you have a different company in mind now/negotiations are getting better?
October 13th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Sammy Farha anyone??
Bobby you’re confusing Last Blood for +EV here!
October 13th, 2007 at 9:04 am
If i was going to be converted, I would want to be bit by Devian, bacause flying is awesome.
Granted he probably doesn’t know how the whole vampire geneology thing works just yet,
October 13th, 2007 at 10:38 am
WOW is he ever skinny in the top right panel supermodels ain’t got nothing on him!
October 13th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Nice comic there man. Just wondering though, whered did you come up with the term “Raisy Daisy?”
October 13th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Stolen from Sammy Farha, a professional poker player who often says “raisy daisy” when he raises, most famously on the show “High Stakes Poker.”
October 13th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
whoa. awsome. and i know its kinda weird,but raisy daisy suites it lol
October 13th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
It’s a shame really. If these are the last surviving humans on the planet, Val just turned a young man in his prime from a good blood donor into another mouth to feed.
October 13th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
SPOILERS (all said before already) –
There’s almost zero humans left, almost zero hope of any of them surviving another few hours, and almost zero chance of them sustaining the human race for another 500 years even if they did somehow survive the night. As I’ve said many times, I think it’s important enough that any of the humans somehow actually survive the zombies, which seems completely impossible. Why do certain people have to care so much about “mouths to feed” and repopulation? It’s important enough that all of Jimmy’s school mates (or even just one of them) doesn’t get eaten by a zombie and actually lives a normal life span. That’s a victory by itself. Also, as the comic states, the vampires need very small amounts of blood, almost none. One human could probably keep 50 vampires from becoming schaemiacs without even getting sick from the loss of blood. The vampires would go through some degree of torture in that rare scenario, having to go maybe 10 days between getting a spoonful of blood, but they’d “survive.”
As I’ve also said many times, though, the comic will touch more on repopulation and it will seem possible at the end of this first graphic novel, and the sequels will focus on that to some degree.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:19 am
To Baltazaar: Just thought I should let you know that you have a date wrong in your earlier post. Vampires have been in American Literature since at least the pulp-fiction magazines of the early 1920′s. I believe they may have made appearances in the so called “penny-dreadful†novels in the US as early as the 1880’s or 90’s, although I’m not certain of those dates. Either way you are at least 30 years late in with your 1950’s date. It should also be noted that many of misconceptions of the vampire myth in the US and much of Europe stems from Bram Stokers Dracula, and he supposedly spent over eight years researching the old legends. Furthermore, I would like to point out that it is not only Americans that have diluted the “factsâ€, as you call them, of the vampire legend. “Pop-culture†vampires that defy the traditional vampire legends are common throughout much of the world.
I also wanted to mention your repeated use of the word “fact†while referring to the vampire legends of Europe. Myths and/or Folklore involving vampire-like creatures are found on almost every continent, including Africa, Asia (particularly in China) Europe, and even North America. What we now call the “classic†or “traditional†vampire has traceable roots in Greek mythology, and even back then had counter parts in Scandinavian, Celtic, and African folklore. The origin of the myth predates the word itself. Also, most accounts of vampires or their multicultural equivalents were passed down orally for hundreds or thousands of years, constantly changing and expanding, long before they were ever mentioned in the literature of any culture. My point is, you should consider being a little less liberal with the term “fact†when discussing things of folklore and legend. From a literary viewpoint, it is arguable that the vampire legend is still growing, just like it did from it’s origins until the point that you consider “factâ€, and all new additions are just as valid as the old “factsâ€. In 200 or 300 years what is considered the classic or true vampire might be based more on “Buffy†or the movie versions of “Draculaâ€. I guess my point is that “fact†is a tricky word when discussing literature or folklore. If you lived in the time period that your vampire facts come from, you would probably find dozens of variations on the legend, even within the same culture. The ones that were written down first simply lasted longer.
Lastly, while I’m not a big Anne Rice fan, your belittling of Crow for falling into a common misconception (regardless of where the misconception cam from) is rather juvenile, especially since you have studied the topic and most people have not. Likewise, the assertions that any American that likes fantasy or vampire related things must be emo, living in there parents basements, or just stupid, shows incredible ignorance on your part, about both American culture in general, the subcultures you insult (although, I must admit, I don’t get the emo thing either) and about how most of the world (not just Americans) view vampirism and the vampire mythos in this day and age.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:14 am
To Micah:
Yeah, especially since I’m NOT American and everything…
October 14th, 2007 at 7:46 am
People are so focused that survival and repopulation because the humans somehow surviving is what makes this interesting.
For the humanity to face such an impossible scenario and somehow survive is what is expected. It’s what makes each page something I look forward to. You want to read the account of how shit got bad, shit got worse, shit got near impossible, but they somehow did it anyway, or found an unexpected and creative way to solve their problem.
Look at it this way. If the comics over, and I have all of the issues on my wall (yes, on my wall, I’m a nerd) and a friend of mine asks if that comic is awesome, I will have two possible responses.
1) Fuck yeah, dude. The entire comic is awesome, borrow them and read them.
2) It’s pretty good, but everyone dies at the end.
Ever seen Evangelion? Same deal. It rocked so goddamn hard, until the last few episodes, where instead of an unexpected victory, every just dies. Instead of telling my friends Eva rocks, and they should buy/rent/download it, I tell them it’s the biggest letdown I’ve ever sat through.
It’s all about the climax, and naturally we, the readers, who all happen to be human, want the humans to come out of this with hope.
October 14th, 2007 at 10:04 am
SPOILERS –
Thesis Matt: You apparently didn’t comprehend my comment (s) at all? I’ve already said many many times from the very start that the humans will win and I said very clearly in my last comment that humanity will beat the zombies and survive. The only thing I have an issue with is people caring so much about 500 years down the line and REPOPULATION, as I’ve said, which I think is fairly pointless. To repeat, it’s victory enough for these last humans to survive and have the chance to die decades from now of natural causes. Sure, it’s nice if humanity can go on forever, but I don’t think it should be a major concern. Some people have acted like the story is shit because there’s not enough humans to repopulate the species, as if that’s the whole focus.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
1. Robert Kirkman
2. Bobby Crosby
3. God Himself
4. Warren Ellis
My list of favorite writers ever. Congrats
October 14th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
He gave his life that we may live.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
DUDE!What if you saved your OWN blood for after you changed and drank THAT?
October 14th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I think I already said so, but if not: Wouldn’t work — gotta be someone else’s blood.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Bobby, I have to say that it amazes me that you can write an incredibly dark and creepy comic like this and then turn around and write such a lighthearted and funny comic like Marry Me. Great job, man.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Thanks.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I want two things to happen in the next few panels.
PLEASE show a zombie or six getting the shit speared out of them by a vampire. I mean I want him to pick up a long, steel rod and ram it into the fuckers and make it a big panel in the middle and all graphic and stuff.
Also I can not wait to see what powers the other vampires have. I especially can’t wait for Murdo to kick the shit out of some zombies.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Dan,
Are you a 300 fan?
October 14th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Yo if TFZ dies, will another “schameatic” be able to take over the zombies that he created? And will the zombies have any degree of individualism or will they just vegetate?
October 14th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
No, no one could take them over, and they’d just be like regular zombies, which is how they are at most times anyway right now. Only when TFZ is specifically controlling them (which he can do for large groups at a time if the commands are simple enough) do they act differently than normal, traditional zombies. Also, can no one spell schaemiac right? Sad.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
RANDOM QUESTION:
Can vampires reproduce? In this story or in any other I know this doesn’t effect this story but its been annoying me ever since my friend brought it up at work.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
They can, yes. It’s been asked many times. Devian was born a vampire, as her dialogue in this page makes fairly clear –
http://www.lastblood.net/main/2007/07/31/page-66-the-schaemiac/
I currently don’t have an answer for if a vampire can reproduce with a human. Doesn’t come into play in this first graphic novel.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
No, no, I got your comments totally. I understand all of this, and all of what you’ve said, I was just saying that the people who keep coming on here and saying things about how they don’t see repopulation and all that jazz being realistic are worried about it because they can’t accept that the ending isn’t going to be perfect for the humans.
Naturally the first idea for a “good” ending is the zombies are all defeated, the vampires and the humans hold hands and sing songs, and all of humanity is restored in an overly happy epilogue with candy and cake for everybody.
When they learn that they’re likely not going to get their good ending, they think “well what the fuck? why even read this if everybody is dead at the end?” they just assume that just because it isn’t the perfect ending they want it to be, that it’s bad.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
“When they learn that they’re likely not going to get their good ending, they think ‘well what the fuck? why even read this if everybody is dead at the end?’ they just assume that just because it isn’t the perfect ending they want it to be, that it’s bad.”
But no one is saying that. Everybody is dead at the end? I’ve said a billion times from the start that the good guys win and the humans (or at least a good number of them) survive. Does anyone (you possibly?) think that this story might end in the far flung future where we might see Earth with a human population of one million again or something? The first graphic novel (possibly only) ends just hours from now (in the story). We will not know what will happen with repopulation. Anyway, again, many people are upset specifically because they think repopulation will be impossible and many of them think that’s some sort of error on my part, like that the story’s pointless because there’s not enough humans to repopulate. People aren’t upset because they think “everybody is dead at the end” of this story, meaning the humans we already know of at the school. I don’t recall anyone even talking about if they’d live or die — mostly because they’ve assumed they’ll live, since I’ve said that the humans win many times.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
to be a bit critical… I like the story, but its a bit frustrating when you keep on defending your work to people who are being critical by giving away spoilers and stuff XD Not to mention getting annoyed at people repeating questions.
People are bound to be critical, because vampires and zombies both have a huge amount of history in our culture, and people come in with preconceptions about what vampires and zombies can and can’t do.
Plus alot of people don’t take the time to read through the hundreds of comments already on the site.
In *my* opinion, it would be better to clearly define your version of zombies and vampires in the comic, rather than getting frustrated at answering the same question a million times.
Plus, if people keep asking something or get annoying, you can just not respond =P
that said, I look forward to reading more of this.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
“but its a bit frustrating when you keep on defending your work to people who are being critical by giving away spoilers and stuff”
I’ve defended nothing.
“Not to mention getting annoyed at people repeating questions.”
You clearly haven’t read many of the comments. I’ve never once been annoyed simply because of a repeated question, as I’ve said many times and as is obvious to anyone with a brain.
“People are bound to be critical”
What could your point possibly be by saying that? Obviously people will be critical of anything and I have zero problem with criticism.
“Plus alot of people don’t take the time to read through the hundreds of comments already on the site.”
Who the fuck cares? You’re now the 300th person to say this as if it somehow means something. Feel free to search for my previous responses to this.
“In *my* opinion, it would be better to clearly define your version of zombies and vampires in the comic, rather than getting frustrated at answering the same question a million times.”
Your opinion counts for nothing, since you have no brain in your head. Obviously they’ll be clearly defined in the comic. The comic is not done yet, as many “critics” like you seem to completely ignore, which makes your “criticism” pointless.
Obviously insta-banned for wasting all our time talking and whining about me instead of talking about the comic, as I’ve warned against dozens of times.
October 14th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
If Vampires can reproduce, do they stop growing up at a certain age or do they get wrinkly skin, grey hairs and continue living like that in a normal aging process?
October 14th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Stop growing at a certain age. Devian is at least 100.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I keep getting annoyed at Murdo for spilling the blood… I mean, ok, not easy to not slob if your’e in excrutiating pain, but still, there isn’t that much, don’t spill! Of course val is getting blood al over, she just drank it from his neck, but from a bottle should be easier no?
October 14th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Well, Murdo didn’t exactly like the idea of drinking his mom’s blood and he also doesn’t want anyone else drinking it, and he was in excruciating pain while drinking it, as Val said. Hard to hold onto the bottle properly while you’re in excruciating pain.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Bobby: Ah, thankyou.
Just curious
October 15th, 2007 at 6:24 am
“I think you should dress Murdo in a long leather coat, baggy pants and big boots. He’d look generic, but freakin’ awesome. ”
he’d look like a highschool reject’s idea of awesome.
or just lonely and bitter
October 15th, 2007 at 7:01 am
raiiiiisy daisy as samy farha would say!
October 15th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Random question; How did Murdo know it was his moms blood? A good guess or did he get a whiff and somehow know the scent?
October 15th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
“How did Murdo know it was his moms blood? A good guess or did he get a whiff and somehow know the scent?”
He knows because he has a brain, and it doesn’t take a good guess — it’s just common sense. About 18 hours earlier he saw Val RUNNING to go after his mom’s blood after she died — that seems pretty obvious that they had no other blood at the time to drink, and Math said he would need some of his mom’s blood too. And then when Val TWICE refused to answer him about whose blood it was, that makes it all the more completely obvious whose blood it was.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
*whimpers and hides from the snarkiness of fighting comments*
Though it has been said about 50 times by now, I lurve your comic, bobby.
oh, and Baltazaar? Please don’t disparage vampire-loving americans. That’s like slapping me in the face. I’ve never once gone a day without wearing something not red-and-black, and I’m certainly not cutting myself or a vegetarian. (Though I have nothing against vegetarians- I just can’t go without my steak.)
btw, are any of you currently watching Blood Ties on Lifetime or Moonlight on CBS? They have the episodes online for free, too. at http://www.cbs.com and http://www.lifetimetv.com. check’m out, so far they’re pretty decent.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
First, a random suggestion: in order to save Bobby’s sanity – if someone who is relatively new comes on and asks a question that has been answered several times, maybe one of the “old-timers” can answer it instead?
I love the insights into the comic that come up in the comments – it’s cool. The repopulation thing – y’all would be surprised at the small number of people that can repopulate the species. I – like Bobby – am surprised at how people are snagging onto that. Then again, I have read several sci-fi books dealing with apocalyptic events leading to a need to repopulate a planet/country/whatever that gets into the genetics and so forth, showing the minimum amount of people and how best to do so. I was most amused by Anne McCaffrey’s solution in her Pern books, where each woman had to have a child by at least 3 or 4 different men . . . I’m sure the men didn’t mind that so much, though . . .;-)
I was also struck, when I first saw this comic, by how thin Murdo looked when he first “woke.” I noticed he looked better after he drank the blood, so I just figured the emaciation was due to extreme blood loss, although I am not certain of the physiological reality of that or not – however, I would imagine the writers and illustrators would have done research on the topic, so I decided not to doubt them and just went with it
October 15th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
“maybe one of the ‘old-timers’ can answer it instead?”
I have no life and usually see the comments first — I get e-mails alerting me about new comments. I really don’t mind it when it’s just someone asking a question, especially a new person. When the people who comment on every page somehow ask a repeated question, it’s a bit annoying, though. Also, people rarely ask questions here — they state something that they think is an error when it’s really not. None of this affects my sanity — no worries.
“I would imagine the writers and illustrators would have done research on the topic”
I actually didn’t give Owen any instruction on how Murdo’s body should look (other than the obvious puncture wounds in his neck and blood spilling out and such, which I illustrated in my sketch). It was my thinking that Val only took enough blood to kill him and that Murdo wouldn’t look too thin from it, but I’m fine with what Owen did and I think it adds something cool to the page. I did no research on the subject.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
“Yes, but in most vampire legends, if vampire’s drink from a dead human, they die.”
please don’t equate Ann Rice with ‘most vampire legends’. There’s literally thousands of vampire legends and not one of them completely agrees with the rest. Plenty of them allow vampires to drink older blood.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Wow, this is an amazing comic, good job to Bobby!
How long have you been doing this for? and have you done any other comics?
sorry if any of these questions were asked before, but my friend showed this to me.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
“How long have you been doing this for?”
First page went up last Christmas. Owen Gieni is the artist.
“and have you done any other comics?”
I also write “Marry Me” and “+EV” — multiple links are on this page.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
An observation; the fact that no one can figure out what’s up with the humans not-repopulating-the-whole-world, but not-all-getting-totally-killed-the-hell-out-of either, and fans keep asking about it? That means that you’re doing an incredible job as a writer. Fact is, none of us can guess what you’re cooking. It’s not predictable, and it’s not dense and inaccessible. It’s just written well enough to bug the crap out of everyone till you reveal the plot point that’s got us all hovering over the ‘Refresh’ button.
Global mass media has been on a corporate-driven downward spiral toward blandness in the last 30 years or so. It’s getting to the point that halfassed manga starts looking like art, and folks don’t even realize the depth they’ve lost till they are hit in the face by a real PLOT and find the edge of their seats to be a heady place to inhabit. Like single malt when you’ve been taught that “booze” equals “budweiser.” That question you hear over and over is really just the sound of horizons broadening.
BTW, do you know Matt R. Jones?http://www.hollywoodvampires.net? Your fictional universes should get together and make a bastard love child universe. I need it for my school project, if you’d be willing to answer a short questionnaire on what it’s like to birth a fictional mileu of kickass action-horror out of wedlock. thanks!!
Oh, and BTW, I can spell “Schematic” but I don’t know what everyone else’s problem is.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
“BTW, do you know Matt R. Jones?”
I do not, no. Haven’t been to that site.
Glad you like the comic.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
I wonder if she’ll be willing to cuddle now…
December 12th, 2007 at 8:55 am
THIS IS THE BEST PAGE SO FAR!
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 am
*whistles*
you stupid bitch…
One less human to feed on, well done.