One of the most impressive things about Life Sucks is that it feels like a ’90s indie film. It’s not just because much of the action revolves around clerk-style convenience stores, but also because of its ’90s gothic aesthetic, but also because of the kind of vibe that felt so prevalent in that decade. This is because young people have a yearning for iconoclasm. A grumpy boy obsessed with a sexy counterculture girl, a longing connection, and overly confident sidekicks. “Life Sucks” is an indie kids version of a 30-year-old teen comedy.
The book was originally published in 2008 and is not too far off from a similar movie. Twilight was also released in the same year, so Vampire Courtship looks more like Anne Rice than The Vampire Diaries. This is late stage, pre-Hot Topic Goth. Knee-high platform boots, mesh shirt, ankh and cross. In fact, our central crush Rosa attends a Goth fashion show, and her work is very period in Goth history.
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The story unfolds in a comical juxtaposition between Goth’s obsession with death and vampires and a group of seedy white boys who are actually doomed. That might seem a bit obvious by today’s standards (a lame guy is just as susceptible to being bitten by a vampire as a 16th century warlord), but in the framework of this particular teen drama, a bit of nuance makes sense. Even if it’s not, it feels somewhat fresh.
Our protagonist, an unlucky boy named Dave, is turned into a vampire by an Old World vampire who comes to America in the typical send-up of an immigrant convenience store owner. He is ostensibly doomed to work the night shift forever, and during his night shift he begins to stalk Rosa, who stops by after a night of dancing. The book follows the classic sequence of boy lusting after girl, boy (inexplicably) gaining the girl, boy losing the girl.
He just happened to be a vampire all along.
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The lack of nuance comes from the fact that, like many of the films this book resembles, the story is half-hearted, the conflict is underdeveloped, and the climax and resolution feel rushed and weightless. Like many stories of this type, there is a meaning tagged at the end, but no clear lesson learned.
Nearly 20 years past its due date, Life Sucks still warns its creators of creepy unrequited love and even hints later in the book after Rosa is inevitably turned into a vampire by Dave’s nemesis. Lack of familiarity with more woke trends. She is “possessed” against her will. Even though vampire stories are essentially about kidnapping and brutality, these are real “terrible” concerns in any story published today – or at least they are in any story that currently contains them. It will be addressed and considered. But now is the time for American Pie sequels. Just because this book is “outdated” doesn’t mean it’s not good, it’s just a curiosity.
In the end, while fresh readers of The Life Sucks may be charmed (particularly by Warren Preece’s slick and ample cartoons), there’s a tinge of nostalgia for a time when stories like this were more novel. It may be best to read this book through a lens.
Fantagraphics’ “Life Sucks” feels timeless
Worst life
For better or worse, “Life Sucks” feels exactly like any late-’90s/early-2000s teen drama.
Calm and humanistic artwork.
It recreates a classic gothic version of vampireism.
Unmotivated behavior.
A lackluster conflict.
Zero gravity resolution.
