Book Series Review: The Carmilla Series by Amy Chu and Soo Lee
Athena Lo, a social worker-turned-amateur detective, gets forced into a hidden world of supernatural terrors from various Asian folklore traditions while being stalked by none other than one of the first vampires- Carmilla.
In 1990s New York City, Athena Lo discovers that some of her LGBTQIA+ young female clients are being murdered. She worries over it incessantly, and decides to take matters into her own hands when action from the police is too slow. Her sleuthing points her to Carmilla's, a nightclub in the heart of Chinatown, where she stumbles into Violet, who she fears may be the killer's next victim. But when Violet starts spinning a manipulative web, Athena finds herself enraptured and ensnared, much to the chagrin of her grandfather, the man who raised her, and her girlfriend. As secrets from Athena's past and the death of her parents collide with a supernatural underworld that had been kept hidden from her, Athena finds that Violet may not be as hapless as she appears to be.
I'm a sucker for a good Carmilla retelling/continuation. This is the first one that I have come across that brings the story to life through another folklore tradition. In looking more into the author and illustrator, their care and love at looking into stories of the undead across Asian mythologies feels so incredibly authentic and meaningful. The series embraces the queer 90s in all its flaws, explores themes of immigrant identities, and espouses feminist ideas while supporting female rights as well as female wrongs. Further on in the series, the audience is introduced to more of Athena's family, additional locations in the US and abroad, and more mysteries to solve.
The first graphic novel in the series was definitely my favorite, and the rest sort of petered off from there. The second installment expanded the world in such a cool way, focusing on San Fransisco's Chinatown and and its traumatic history. The third installment features a time jump and a focus on Athena's daughter, Ella, as she accepts a mysterious job in Oxford, England and gets tangled up with the party scene. Additional themes of mother-daughter relationships, ancestral trauma, race, and mortality exist beside the queer and obsession themes from the first installment. All of the books were a bit fast-paced, so some of the more important points felt a bit rushed. Overall, these were great reads because of their new take on the classic character, and I enjoyed them a great deal. If you like comics at all, definitely check these beauties out!
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