Bleed Them Dry #1 is due out June 24. — **Bleed Them Dry #1** is due out June 24.

By Jarred A. Luján — Cyberpunk vampire ninjas is one hell of an elevator pitch, and it’s also the best way to describe Bleed Them Dry, the new book from Vault Comics, due out at the end of this month. Created by Hiroshi Koizumi, written by Eliot Rahal, drawn by Dike Ruan, and colored by Miquel Muerto, the series is set in the year 3333, in a world where vampires and humans have co-existed for centuries. Unfortunately, someone begins killing off the Immortals and a police detective is caught in the middle of the conspiracy.

The first thing I like about Bleed Them Dry is that it doesn’t feel the need to overexplain itself from the jump. The story’s world is built. You play a little catch up, but there isn’t an entire several hundred years of lore thrown at you. Instead, we open right on our characters, we start at the beginning of the story instead of the history. I dig it, I love it. From there, I’m a huge fan of the pacing in this book. Rahal writes it out to where this story has its own set of small twists to keep the narrative flowing well, and then punctuates the book on a big game changer.

Furthermore, I think an easy sell for Bleed Them Dry is that (as previously mentioned) it’s a freaking cyberpunk vampire ninja story. That sounds dope as hell, I know, and making it even better, the book is far more layered than that. It’s got that incredible, unique base and Rahal backs it up with a story and characters that are equal parts investable and intriguing. The book has the brains to back up its brawn, essentially.

Dike Ruan creates some incredible art here. The way Ruan draws these futuristic cityscapes is really some of the best visuals in the book, with credit due to Miquel Muerto whose color work breathes its own air of life into those shots as well. There is a lot to take in on those pages, some great and clean work. Furthermore, the sort of zoomed in panel shots on the sword draws are so good. We get to see a lot of Ruan’s work on characters in this issue. A lot of close shots on expressions, and capturing all those good heart to heart moments, which makes the issue’s big twist at the end even more shocking. It’s just excellent narrative storytelling.

Overall: This issue is a slow burn, but it does what all new #1s should: leaves you wanting more. Each page raises the stakes (vampire pun intended), and it’s cleary going to have so much to offer in a big way, potentially shaking up the vampire genre. Jump on this one at the start, because it’s something special. 9.0/10

Bleed Them Dry #1
Created By: Hiroshi Koizumi
Writer: Eliot Rahal
Artist: Dike Ruan
Colorist: Miquel Muerto
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
The year is 3333. Earth is in a state of recovery. Vampires are real, and though far less populous, they thrive alongside humans in the Japanese-engineered mega-city known as Asylum. People have come to understand that some Immortals are good, some are bad, and most navigate the world without incident. There is peace. That is...until now. Someone is brutally murdering vampires. And Detective Harper Halloway has been assigned to the case. To solve it, she'll have to unearth a much deeper truth: The future of humanity has been edited.
Release Date: June 24, 2020
Pre-Order It: Click here!

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Jarred A. Luján makes comics, studies existential philosophy, and listens to hip-hop too loudly. For bad jokes and dog pictures, you can follow him on Twitter.