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Bloodfellas
"When there's no room left in hell, the dead will turn to crime." Boardwalk Empire meets the Walking Dead. Zombie Gangsters take over the streets of Prohibition era USA. A horror-crime mash up available from Markosia in 2014.
- GenresHorrorGraphic Novels
100 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2015
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Jasper Bark
56 books179 followersJasper Bark finds writing author biographies and talking about himself in the third person faintly embarrassing. Telling you that he’s an award winning author of four cult novels including the highly acclaimed ‘Way of the Barefoot Zombie’, just sounds like boasting. Then he has to mention that he’s written 12 children’s books and hundreds of comics and graphic novels and he wants to just curl up. He cringes when he has to reveal that his work has been translated into nine different languages and is used in schools throughout the UK to help improve literacy, or that he was awarded the This Is Horror Award for his last anthology ‘Dead Air’. Maybe he’s too British, or maybe he just needs a good enema, but he’s glad this bio is now over.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2015
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is in no way reflected in my opinion of this novel.
Bloodfellas is a noir-horror story that is loads of fun. The storyline is twisty and intertwines the lives of zombie gangsters, a fanatical mob boss, angels, cops, and a scientist. Jasper bark combines mobsters and zombies in a way that made me want more! Mick Trimble's artwork is a gritty and colorful throwback to my childhood. Graphic novels aren't my usual genre but with work like this available I may have to check out more of them! A fun 4 star way to spend an afternoon.
July 17, 2015
When you see a great dramatic performance, it allows you to appreciate the art as it is, rather than apprehending it as a collection of actors, writers, directors, and crewmembers putting on a show. That’s what makes reviewing the graphic novel Bloodfellas so difficult: I have to open it up to show you the guts of its greatness. There’s some really extraordinary teamwork going on here, from the writing to the art to the color, and in my first reading I could only absorb it all in awe.
Not only did artist Mick Trimble expertly portray Prohibition-era America in the characters and setting, but he took us much higher, giving us heartbreaking glimpses of the beauty of Heaven. A Heaven few of the characters will ever reach outside of the use of Ascension, a drug siphoned from living souls by Voodoo priests. The zombies are grotesque without descending to comedic rot and ruin, and the character Slackjaw strikes the perfect balance between brutality and smarts. You can tell by looking at him that he’s not just another undead gunsel: wheels are turning in that decaying brain of his. There are many panels you’ll take long, admiring looks at, especially the end of Dirty Double Crossroader and The Way and the Life. The style is very reminiscent of the Rider-Waite tarot deck, full of little details and symbolism.
Typically you don’t notice the coloring in a graphic novel: if it’s good, it’s good. Here, it’s great. Aljoša Tomić gave the zombies ochre eyes, for example, an inspired choice that lent them an even more inhuman look than their bilious skin tones. The flashbacks to earlier history varied from sepia to bleaching, depending on who was telling the tale, and the blood, of which there was a lot, ran in rich, dark red.
Writer Jasper Bark penned a story that made me read all the way through once, then re-read to catch what I missed, and then re-read a third time to appreciate the cleverness of the narrative. There’s a maturity in both the characterization and the theology, and he skillfully mixes elements of angelology and Voodoo into a tale that’s both audacious and internally consistent. Each chapter not only plants seeds for the next one, but also reaches into the chapter before it, weaving storylines together in a way that makes the story complex but not complicated. Nobody in Bloodfellas is all bad or all good: they’re imperfect people, warts and all. Even the zombies. And the angels. There’s a kind of dry humor in a line like, “No one mentioned he was a cocksucker, though,” and Papa Legba’s prediction of, “They’ll be here any minute,” is chilling in its implications.
A graphic novel like Bloodfellas doesn’t just happen: it was carefully put together by an extraordinarily talented team, and if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a copy, hold it close, like a feather to your chest.
(Review originally posted at Ginger Nuts of Horror: http://gingernutsofhorror.com/4/post/...)
Not only did artist Mick Trimble expertly portray Prohibition-era America in the characters and setting, but he took us much higher, giving us heartbreaking glimpses of the beauty of Heaven. A Heaven few of the characters will ever reach outside of the use of Ascension, a drug siphoned from living souls by Voodoo priests. The zombies are grotesque without descending to comedic rot and ruin, and the character Slackjaw strikes the perfect balance between brutality and smarts. You can tell by looking at him that he’s not just another undead gunsel: wheels are turning in that decaying brain of his. There are many panels you’ll take long, admiring looks at, especially the end of Dirty Double Crossroader and The Way and the Life. The style is very reminiscent of the Rider-Waite tarot deck, full of little details and symbolism.
Typically you don’t notice the coloring in a graphic novel: if it’s good, it’s good. Here, it’s great. Aljoša Tomić gave the zombies ochre eyes, for example, an inspired choice that lent them an even more inhuman look than their bilious skin tones. The flashbacks to earlier history varied from sepia to bleaching, depending on who was telling the tale, and the blood, of which there was a lot, ran in rich, dark red.
Writer Jasper Bark penned a story that made me read all the way through once, then re-read to catch what I missed, and then re-read a third time to appreciate the cleverness of the narrative. There’s a maturity in both the characterization and the theology, and he skillfully mixes elements of angelology and Voodoo into a tale that’s both audacious and internally consistent. Each chapter not only plants seeds for the next one, but also reaches into the chapter before it, weaving storylines together in a way that makes the story complex but not complicated. Nobody in Bloodfellas is all bad or all good: they’re imperfect people, warts and all. Even the zombies. And the angels. There’s a kind of dry humor in a line like, “No one mentioned he was a cocksucker, though,” and Papa Legba’s prediction of, “They’ll be here any minute,” is chilling in its implications.
A graphic novel like Bloodfellas doesn’t just happen: it was carefully put together by an extraordinarily talented team, and if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a copy, hold it close, like a feather to your chest.
(Review originally posted at Ginger Nuts of Horror: http://gingernutsofhorror.com/4/post/...)
August 16, 2017
As far as graphic novels go, this one is fantastic. I've never read a graphic novel, which I recently learned is a collection of story arcs in one book, and I'm happy to have been introduced to graphic novels via Bloodfellas. While it took me a minute to get used to the format, I don't regret one minute of reading this novel.
Bloodfellas is a unique take on zombies. Zombies, as we all know, are the undead and what better monster to be in charge of a sophisticated crime world where drugs, murder, and avenging death rules.
Mr. Bark has always had a unique take on zombies and I've always enjoyed that. That's what makes this graphic novel a page turner. I read this novel while on a flight, and it was a great distraction of turbulence. I was disgusted at what I was reading but it was a good disgust. I cringed but it was a good cringe. This story is just full of gore but the humanity behind it makes it a worthwhile read. Everyone deserves love, compassion and understanding, even the undead.. well Mr. Bark's version of the undead.
Do I recommend Bloodfellas? I do. If you've never read a graphic novel and don't have an aversion to reading about gore, drugs and murder, go for it.
Bloodfellas is a unique take on zombies. Zombies, as we all know, are the undead and what better monster to be in charge of a sophisticated crime world where drugs, murder, and avenging death rules.
Mr. Bark has always had a unique take on zombies and I've always enjoyed that. That's what makes this graphic novel a page turner. I read this novel while on a flight, and it was a great distraction of turbulence. I was disgusted at what I was reading but it was a good disgust. I cringed but it was a good cringe. This story is just full of gore but the humanity behind it makes it a worthwhile read. Everyone deserves love, compassion and understanding, even the undead.. well Mr. Bark's version of the undead.
Do I recommend Bloodfellas? I do. If you've never read a graphic novel and don't have an aversion to reading about gore, drugs and murder, go for it.
December 19, 2020
Average.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews