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Apr 12th, 2011, 11:23 am
Undying Love by Daniel Freedman, Tomm Coker and Michael David Thomas
Requirements: CBR Reader. 23 MB.
Overview: A horror-action tale, equal parts vampire mythology and Chinese folklore, set in modern day Hong Kong. Ex-soldier John Sargent has fallen for a beautiful Chinese woman named Mei.
The only thing keeping the star-crossed lovers apart: Mei's a vampire. To free Mei from the curse, Sargent sets out to destroy the vampire that made her. The only problem: Mei was turned by one of the most powerful vampires in history...

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Review
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Undying Love
    Writer: Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman
    Art: Tomm Coker
    Colors: Daniel Freedman
    Letters: Michael David Thomas
    Publisher: Image Comics. 2011

    Plot:
      Undying Love, Part 1
        A horror-action tale, equal parts vampire mythology and Chinese folklore, set in modern day Hong Kong. Ex-soldier John Sargent has fallen for a beautiful Chinese woman named Mei.
        The only thing keeping the star-crossed lovers apart: Mei's a vampire. To free Mei from the curse, Sargent sets out to destroy the vampire that made her. The only problem: Mei was turned by one of the most powerful vampires in history...
      Undying Love, Part 2
        To save Mei from her vampire curse, John Sargent sets out to destroy the infamous Shang-Ji. His first stop: Club G-Boss, nightclub, casino and notorious vampire hangout. But after being bitten himself, Sargent is forced to contend with a curse of his own.
      Undying Love, Part 3
        John Sargent's past is revealed as the story is told as to how he met Mei and came to become her protector. He frees himself from the vampire curse, but soon discovers that trouble is out to get him as soon as the soon goes down.
      Undying Love, Part 4
        With shape shifters, vampires, spirits and drunks hot on their tail, Sargent and Mei make a daring escape. But are they headed towards salvation or something much worse...


      Review by Larry King, Posted on March 21, 2011
        A TALE OF LOVE, GUNS, AND BLOOD. From a temple in the countryside of Mainland China, to the bustling streets of Hong Kong, John Sargent and the love of his life, the undead vampire Mei, journey far and wide to get to a point of safety. While Mei and John are from two different worlds, John will not let the forces that seek to end their union get the best of them, as he searches to return Mei’s humanity.

        The tone of the story can be described easily as the mix of the vampire movie “Near Dark”, with the Gun-Fu John Woo film, “A Better Tomorrow”. But though the action is heavy in some parts, the heart of this comic is the love between John, and Mei, and at no point does it forget that.
        John comes off as a man that will do whatever he has to do to secure a future for himself, and the woman he loves. The honesty of his character is very evident when he takes on a horde of Ancient looking Chinese Warrior Vampires, with the odds clearly against him but John will not stop, because he simply can‘t.

        Using the almost blasphemous .45 caliber pistol to dispatch the vampires, and their warriors is something that works well. John was a soldier, pistols, and other military hardware is something he is accustomed to, and the way the scenes are choreographed is very reminiscent to the way John Woo would construct them.
        Now I have mentioned the John Woo connection a lot, and I don’t want anyone to mistake that as a bad thing, or that Coker is ripping him off, it’s probably a inspiration, and a good one at that. The only thing that the comic is missing is a scattering flock of pigeons.

        Once in Hong Kong, John’s interactions(since Mei is mostly out of it, due to her need of blood) with the people at the Hotel, and the “kid” Tong, who runs a apothecary is a fun little back and forth that was at times so easing, and smoothly paced I kind of wanted to set back and watch it like a movie, but alas I had to turn the pages.

        The story is a different take on the Vampire Romance genre, and it’s kind of odd to say that it’s a genre, but it’s not the story you’d expect. Within Undying Love you won’t find Emo Vampires that brood due to their existence, these vampires are old, rich, and powerful, and won’t recoil at the sight of a cross. They hide in the shadows, they don’t live in the spooky castle on the hill, these vampires actually come off as pretty realistic, and all of it is actually a practical way to “live” as one of the immortal undead.


        24 FRAMES PER SECOND. The artwork of this comic is by Tomm Coker, I first took notice of his work when he did the eye catching covers to Marvel’s “Agents of Atlas”(may the rest in peace) mini-series. His style reminds me of Alex Maleev, but out of the two I prefer Coker’s style much more, it doesn’t look like he ran it through Apple’s Comic Life “Sin City” filter

        Coker successfully takes the concept of “Widescreen” comics, and actually makes it flow like a movie, and not just look like story boards. To be fair, Tomm Coker wrote and directed the 2007 horror film, “Catacombs” starring Shannyn Sossamon, and the singer, Pink. I think this work in film allows him to be able to cut to the chase visually, showing the crucial points in a characters physical movement, as well clearly defining the background, and environment they interact with.

        The detail shown on the characters, such as the Ancient looking Chinese Vampire Warriors is clear, and almost mesmerizing, the beauty of Mei is astounding, I can clearly see why John fell in love with her. Coker really seems to be able to depict women without objectifying them, I can really respect that. With the vampires depicted being from China they are not wearing all black and looking like wanna-be members of The Sisters of Mercy, they come off as regal, and definitely mysterious.

        The color that is provided by Daniel Freedman, who is also the co-writer, is somewhat reminiscent to the color that John Van Fleet employs. The color is smooth, and makes the page sing with a celluloid like hum that brings to mind film, and with the combination with the rich black and white artwork, makes the whole of this comic come together.


        LOVE GROWS WHERE BLOOD FLOWS. It’s the details of the comic that made me fall in love with it, like the drunk bum in the lobby of the Hotel who is singing to himself. It felt scene appropriate, but if you took the bum out it’d be missing something, like there would be a hole there, and I think that’ the point. The didn’t just write a story, and illustrate it, they crafted a world, a living breathing entity that has unique beings that are sometimes comical, sometimes, aggravating, and sometimes scary.

        I have read through Previews many a time, had the words “Offers Something for Everyone…”, or something very close to that, thrown at me. But I rarely found that promise to actually have any teeth, and be anything other than a marketing ploy. Undying Love does in fact leave itself open for nearly anyone to jump on in and enjoy it’s tale of romance, gunplay, and or course, vampires.


        FINAL VERDICT. Undying Love #1 receives 4.5 Stars, out of 5. But as always ladies and gents, “Your Mileage May Vary!”

#Note: Ongoing serie. Visit regularly to see the latest update.

Download Instructions:
Undying Love, Part 1 -- http://oron.com/d8ctihjo6bmi
Undying Love, Part 2 -- http://oron.com/f5pwfz3oc9bx
Undying Love, Part 3 -- http://oron.com/2qfovzm05n5m
Undying Love, Part 4 -- http://oron.com/fflllcu66bg5

Mirror:
#1: (Closed Filehost) https://ul.to/irxnc45j/Undying Love 01 (2011).cbr
Apr 12th, 2011, 11:23 am

Labor Omnia Vincit Improbus... Hard Work Conquers Everything!
Apr 12th, 2011, 1:35 pm
Nice release, Uroj, thanks! Rewarded 2 x 5 WRZ$. Category: Comics.

Guy1731 Image
Apr 12th, 2011, 1:35 pm

Image
Jun 30th, 2011, 6:22 am
very cool first issue! intriguing story line!
Jun 30th, 2011, 6:22 am
Aug 2nd, 2011, 5:19 pm
Added new issues:


Undying Love Part #2 - #3


Image Image
Aug 2nd, 2011, 5:19 pm

Post rewarded by merry60 on Aug 2nd, 2011, 7:56 pm.
+10 for updates 2-3

Labor Omnia Vincit Improbus... Hard Work Conquers Everything!
Oct 22nd, 2011, 1:16 pm
Added new issues:


Undying Love Part #4


Image
Oct 22nd, 2011, 1:16 pm

Post rewarded by merry60 on Oct 22nd, 2011, 2:18 pm.
Thanks for the update!

Labor Omnia Vincit Improbus... Hard Work Conquers Everything!