Ryan Benjamin does his best Tony Daniel impression in part 1 of this 6 part vampire love and redemption story.

Narrated by Death (not of the Endless, more like the grim reaper kind) we are introduced to Jonathan Romero or as he calls him “Dead Romeo,” a rock n’ roll vampire who doesn’t drink blood. Romeo has recently joined the land of the living (or dying as Death calls it) after a stint in hell. Immediately out of the grave Romeo meets a hot street urchin named Whisper. He tries to charm her but to no avail. Later Romeo joins a band of blood drinking vampires who go on a killing spree to please the demons of hell. Romeo, being the hero of this tale is reluctant to kill, a point overstated when he’s left to kill…guess who….Whisper, the very same girl he met earlier that night.

This plot is contrived and the dialog is dumb. When Death tells Romeo that there’s only two people he’s ever met with that name but How is That Possible? He’s Death?! Plus the inference that the other Romeo is the Montague – a fictional character. And! His name isn’t even Romeo, it’s Jonathan Romero. That sort of sloppy writing  leads me to wonder if anyone read this before it got to press.

How does something like this get published by DC?