I started reading a comic called Undying Love from Image Comics. It’s a little bit like Let the Right One In in that it’s got a romance between a vampire girl and a human, but not the kind of sickly sweet stuff you’d get with something like Twilight, so pass this up if you’re a teenage fangirl whose interests stop at sighing over undead hotties. This vampire girl doesn’t have hot man abs, either, so there you go.

It’s an interesting comic because it’s set in China, so the art style is rich and has a painted effect, like something you’d see on rice paper, but with a hardened edge because it’s got an undertone of cynicism and some gunplay. Speaking of that, these bullets go “pop.” It’s unusual, but it’s easy to get used to.

The man who’s in love with the vampire girl has brought her to Hong Kong, hoping to find a cure—which for any vampire is particular to her sire. So this guy has to kill the vampire who created her and give her the ashes to consume. The hard part is this particular vampire is the meanest in all of China. Tough luck.

I like it because it has a personal touch; it’s not just vampires are flashy and sexy and sparkly, which seems to be the modern perspective. It’s more, “Wow, I really, really hate being a vampire and killing to survive, or taking blood like a leech to survive,” which, if applied in thoughtful and less plainly worded doses, can be much more intoxicating than a vampire with—excuse the pun—killer abs.

So check out the comic if you see it. Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman share credit for the story, and Coker also handles the art while Freedman does the coloring. Their fourth issue of Undying Love hits stands Wednesday, July 27.

Let me know what you think if you buy it.

UPDATE: Or get it digitally at imagecomics.com. Thanks, @Tweek_Robles, for asking!