DayBlack: A Vampire’s story

This is another “older” article of mine that was originally published elsewhere. Actually, it combines two separate articles as well as an interview with the creator, Keef Cross. I’m choosing to (re)present the consolidated articles here as I continue to gather my work under a unified umbrella. 

Vampires. We, as a culture seem to have a fascination with these blood-sucking creatures of the night, from Nosferatu and Vlad Tepes to Marvel Comic’s Blade, to the vampires that populate Bon Temps, Louisiana, Vampires have taken many forms and continue to inhabit both the night and our darkest fears. Author Keef Cross also has a vampire story in his head, and, well, in print. DayBlack is the story of Cross’ vampire, named Merce, who is a 400-year old former slave who now lives in that town of DayBlack, Georgia, which lies beneath the polluted clouds of decades of industrial waste that has literally obscured the sun. In fact, the town’s sky is so dense with pollution that the sun is nowhere to be seen, allowing Merce to move about freely, night or day.

Merce’s story is that, after hundreds of years of killing to survive, Merce no longer wants to simply exist...he desires to actually live. DayBlack then, is the story of how Merce, attempts to do just that. As the tale opens, we meet Merce; he works as a tattoo artist in the small town and has been able to successfully hide that he is a member of the undead. However, even darker than the black clouds that cover his town, are the dreams that Merce has been having more and more frequently. As if the hallucinogenic dreams aren’t bad enough, he is lately suffering from narcolepsy, causing him to fall into a deep slumber at the oddest moments (even while he’s tattooing someone). As Merce attempts to decipher his dreams, his adopted son, whom he hasn’t seen in years, returns with plans for him — plans that threaten his new way of life turning him back into the cold-hearted killer he once was.

Cross himself, is not only the writer/illustrator of the tale, but a tattoo artist as well (which is how he pays the bills). There are currently two volumes of DayBlack, with each B&W issue offering spot coloring throughout and tipping in at just over 100 pages. Cross’ approach to graphic illustration is decidedly different from what most of us are used to seeing. Many of his panels are full-page illustrations, often with no dialogue, while others are essentially text and art on the page unbound by traditional panels. Needless to say, this unique style of his greatly enhances the tale as it gives the reader the feeling that they are not so much reading a comicbook, but a real graphic novel series.

In fact, nothing about Cross’ tale can be considered tradition, as a tattoo artist, Merce has develops a decidedly unique way to acquire his blood, via the tools of his trade (his tattoo needles extract some of his client’s blood which Merce uses to sustain himself). The art on the book is very distinct and engaging, drawing the reader into the story by presenting imagery that we as “comicbook” readers are so totally not used to seeing. Cross indicates that his art has been influenced more by his own life experiences than by his formal art school training. “I feel that my art benefited more from life experience, music, and film,” he told us. “I don't make decidedly ‘Black art.’ It just so happens that the subjects of my pieces are Black people, but not in the same cultural backdrops that the rest of the world is used to seeing us in.”

The story of Merce, the vampire tattoo artist flows along easily, fluidly, leaving the reader wanting for more when the too-soon ending occurs for the first volume. Personally, we have only just read the first issue of this seriously minded vampire tale and anxiously awaiting being able to dive into the next issue(s). [This article and the following interview were conducted early in 2015. We recently acquired the second volume of DayBlack, and will review that volume once we have read it.]

This first story is neither the blood and entrails of Near Dark, nor is it the sparkly, pansy vampires of Twilight, this is a whole new take on the legend of Vampires. To be sure, this is actually more like a story about a man who is searching for meaning in his life (death), than “just another” vampire story — which makes it well worth reading.

What follows is an interview with Keef Cross that was conducted in January of 2015:

RJS: Tell us a little bit about DayBlack, where did the idea originate?

Keef: The idea for DayBlack came from working in a tattoo shop, and meeting so many colorful characters, and having conversations with people that I normally wouldn’t, simply because I’m doing their tattoo.

RJS: I understand that you are a tattoo artist, how did that figure into the creation of DayBlack and its characters?

Keef: So in the beginning it was just a tattoo artist character I would draw, talking with customers, sort of like a Sunday comic strip, this was before I added the vampire/slave aspect. Then during the winter months, the tattoo business slows down considerably, allowing me the time to work on the story.

RJS: Tell us a bit about your artistic background.

Keef: I’ve been drawing since middle school, and in high school I attended the Tri-Cities Visual and Performing Arts Magnet Program. When I graduated, I got a full scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio where I majored in illustration, but the crazy thing is, I was taking a comicbook design class. At the time, I didn’t want to do comics, so I didn’t really take the class seriously, so 15 years later, as I’m doing my book, I’m racking my brain trying to remember those jewels my teacher used to drop on us. This may have contributed to my approach on my book, because I really just do it the way I want and don’t try to follow an accepted standard, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but that’s how it worked out.

RJS: Why vampires? What is it about vampires that attract us as a culture?

Keef: I don’t know what it is about vampires! They refuse to go away! We can’t seem to get enough… I’ve never been particularly partial to them.

RJS: How did you come up with the story itself? What prompted you to do this particular story?

Keef: As far as DayBlack goes, I really think the idea came from being in the tattoo industry and dealing with things like blood-borne pathogens, sterilization, needles, pain, and being exposed to the subculture of tattoo life. Leaving work at 2 a.m. and being out all night with real vampires. All of that rolled around in my head, until I came up with Merce [the main character in DayBlack].

RJS: Do you tend to watch (or read) other vampire tales? If so, which are better than others? Which would you recommend?

Keef: I was never into the whole, “blah, I vant to suck your blood” vampires, if I did it, it had to be something socially and culturally relevant, this also where the HIV angle came to play.

RJS: How did you get hooked up with Rosarium publishing?

Keef: I linked with Rosarium publishing from Facebook, would post pics of DayBlack pretty regularly, and Bill Campbell, the publisher of Rosarium, reached out to me, explained that he was a new publishing entity and asked if he could publish DayBlack. He already had John Jennings on the roster, who I admired, so it was a no-brainer, that and self-publishing was kicking my ass.

RJS: What, if anything, can we as humans learn from the experiences or the events of a vampire living among us?

Keef: I really don’t see anything valuable that a human could take from traditional vampires, there isn’t too much common ground there. I really wanted Merce to be relatable especially to someone who has been told their entire life that they could only be one thing but strives to be something more.

RJS: Do you think it is OK to “screw with” the mythology of vampires or similar characters?

Keef: I think it’s absolutely OK to screw with the mythology of anything that doesn’t really exist. Nothing should be off limits, as long as core traits and characteristics are respected to some extent, then it’s all good. That keeps it fresh. That’s why I don’t really mind stuff like Twilight because even though it’s kinda pussyfied, it’s original. Since I began DayBlack, I try not to watch a whole lot of vampire stuff with the exception of True Blood, which I love, and I’m a huge fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the Blade movies, but if I had to liken DayBlack to any film, aesthetically and tone wise it would be a Jim Jarmusch film mixed with Spike Lee.

RJS: Will this be an on-gong series of comics or do you have a definitive end to it?

Keef: I do have a definite ending to this particular story arc, but it definitely has the potential to be an ongoing series focusing on not only Merce but other supernatural characters who inhabit DayBlack.

Currently both volumes of DayBlack are available from Amazon (Vol. 1; Vol 2).