Bite Club

Infobox comic book title
title = Bite Club


caption = Cover to issue #1 of "Bite Club" (June 2004). Art by Frank Quitely.
schedule = Monthly
limited=y
publisher = Vertigo
date = "Bite Club": June-November 2004
"Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit": June-September 2006
issues = "Bite Club": 6
"Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit": 4
main_char_team =
writers = Howard Chaykin David Tischman
artists = David Hahn
pencillers =
inkers =
letterers = Jared K. Fletcher
colorists = Brian Miller
editors = Karen Berger
Tony R. Rose
creative_team_month =
creative_team_year =
creators = Howard Chaykin David Tischman
TPB = The Complete Bite Club
ISBN = 1-40121-272-7
subcat=Vertigo
sort=PAGENAME

"Bite Club" is the name of a Vertigo comic book series created by writers Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. It is essentially a crime story in which all of the protagonists are vampires living in Miami. Chaykin has said the comic was a metaphor for racial profiling and the immigrant experience.Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Bite Club | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 30-31 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015]

Publication history

The first limited series "Bite Club" debuted in June 2004 and ran for six issues. It was followed by a sequel series "Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit" in June 2006, which was four issues. [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=5358 CCI, Day 2 - Taking Another Bite: Chaykin talks "Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit"] , Comic Book Resources, July 15, 2005] Both series were drawn by artist David Hahn. [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2499 From 'Private Beach' to South Beach: Artist David Hahn of 'Bite Club'] , Comic Book Resources, July 23, 2002]

Plot

After the murder of vampire crime boss Eduardo del Toro, his heirs and relatives begin to make a play for control of his organization. To their dismay, Toro in his will named his youngest son, a Roman Catholic priest and vampire named Leto, as his successor. Leto announces that his family will get out of the illegal-drug business and begin investing in legitimate industry. This endeavor earns Leto the support of Zephraim Klein, the Del Toro family "consigliere", and the enmity of his other relatives, like his siblings Eddie and Risa, and his cousin Victor. Risa later assassinates Eddie. Risa then teams up with Victor to assassinate Leto, and is successful, although Victor also dies during the attempt, and Risa takes control of the family with her girlfriend Carrie.

Risa soon finds that running the Del Toro family is not as fulfilling as she had expected. Their legitimate businesses are the subject of myriad lawsuits, and Risa herself is being investigated by the police as the suspect in a string of murders. Homicide detective Paco Macavoy develops an obsession with Risa. He confirms that Risa is innocent of the murders, and also that the Vampire Crime Unit is riddled with corruption. After discovering that it was Risa's girlfriend Carrie who did the killings, Macavoy is himself turned into a vampire. Sick of the entire affair, he abandons both the Del Toro family and his job on the police department.

Collected editions

The two series have been collected as a trade paperback:

*"The Complete Bite Club" (collects "Bite Club" #1-6, and "Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit" #1-4, 272 pages, August 2007, ISBN 1-40121-272-7)

Notes

References

*gcdb series|id=11925|title="Bite Club"
*gcdb series|id=17691|title="Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit"
*comicbookdb|type=title|id=525|title="Bite Club"
*comicbookdb|type=title|id=6504|title="Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit"

External links

* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=4673 Joining Chaykin & Tischman's Bite Club] , Newsarama, July 19, 2003
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=11897 "Bite Club" #1 review] , Newsarama, April 18, 2004