Girlfiend

The Panders (Exquisite Corpse, Triple-X) return to comics after an absence of several years, penning a black-and-white tale of romance gone wrong in a world secretly infested with vampires. Morgue worker Nick, reeling from his girlfriend's infidelity, stumbles into a passionate affair with Karina, a vampire on the run. While Nick and Karina try to sort out their peculiar relationship, they accidentally enter a web of murder and intrigue involving the Blood Brothers, a murderous biker gang who are in turn pursued by two tenacious homicide detectives. Despite its gritty crime-story foundation and urban fantasy nuance, it doesn't take long for this graphic novel to lapse into bland cop drama. The Panders' distinctive visual style%E2%80%94a jagged, high-contrast look akin to that of Mark Bagley crossed with Michael Avon Oeming%E2%80%94is certainly dynamic and action oriented, but it's severely lacking in finesse, as evidenced by sketched backgrounds, confusing inks, and 1990s-era exploitation poses. Without compelling characters, interesting art, or a satisfying plot (the book's resolution is completely unearned), this novel is something of a disappointment from these veteran creators. (Apr.)