Pinocchio Vampire Slayer: Pinocchio and the Great Puppet Theater
Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins, SLG (www.slgcomic.com), $14.95 trade paper (176p) ISBN 978-1-59362-203-9
This second volume in the series sees a vengeance-obsessed Pinocchio joined in his quest to rid the world of vampires and their mysterious, off-stage master by a troupe of similarly magically animated puppets. The vampires are themselves obsessed with Pinocchio and possibly in possession of information that Pinocchio himself lacks about the origin of the magical wood used to make the puppet. While vulnerable to Pinocchio and his fellow puppets' wooden weapons, the vampires have the advantage of numbers and the ability to easily convert Pinocchio's human friends into monsters like themselves. As allies fall or are converted, Pinocchio oversteps and is faced with the consequences of a marvelous but inconvenient transformation. Higgins's art does a nice job of capturing the story and creating strong characters. Although inflicting the current fad for adding vampires and other undead to the settings of classic works of literature may annoy some, the original Pinocchio was itself both fantastic and filled with nightmare fuel; this is one of the few examples of this new genre that is arguably justifiable. (Nov.)
H Day
Renée French, PictureBox (www.pictureboxinc.com), $30 (200p) ISBN 978-0-9820947-0-9
Without the back cover informing readers they are about to embark on a journey about migraines and Argentinean ants, French's nearly wordless latest graphic novel (after 2006's The Ticking) would be difficult to penetrate. But perhaps that's the point. The two stories run concurrently: on the left, an unpleasant-looking stinger takes up residence in a faceless body, causing the head to growing incrementally larger, while on the right, a fog-shrouded city is slowly overtaken by a swarm of tiny black ants, the only surviving witness being a small black dog. Both stories are rendered in French's haunting, unique pencil drawings but are distinct from one another, with the migraine pages remaining primarily white with line drawings and little shading, and the ant infestation saga relying heavily on shading and myriad tones of grays. Those afflicted with migraines will recognize a fellow sufferer as French depicts the intense cranial pressure and the feeling that something is clawing around inside one's skull trying to escape (which, in French's world, it does). But despite the intriguingly postapocalyptic feel of the ant invasion, the link to the plight of the migraine sufferer remains elusive. (Nov.)
Celadore
Caanan Grall, DC/Zuda, $14.99 trade paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2835-4
Legendary vampire hunter Celadore's luck finally runs out when she runs afoul of a powerful vampire in Grall's entertaining if overstuffed debut, originally a Web comic. When Christian, the vampire leader, gets the Day Candle, allowing vampires to roam freely in the sun, Celadore is outnumbered. Instead of killing her, Christian transfers her soul into the comatose body of 11-year-old Evelyn Massey, to the dismay of Evelyn, whose own soul accompanies her Celadore-inhabited body as she breaks out of the hospital. Hot on their heels is Sam St. George, Evelyn's neighbor and ninja-obsessed friend. He turns out to be a worthy sidekick when Celadore realizes that he's been sneaking onto her property and eating her magical berries for years, giving him amazing healing properties. Along with Jams, a Frankenstein monster, and Ness, the randomly psychic tooth fairy, Celadore tracks down Christian to destroy the Day Candle and retrieve Celadore's original body so her soul can be returned to its rightful home. Celadore is a hard-hitting heroine, but the almost endless plot overpowers her, and all of Grall's intriguing characters are lost in the shuffle. (Oct.)
The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Good Book
Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig, Ben Yehuda (www.behyehudapress.com), $36 (128p) ISBN 978-1-934730-53-9
An irreverent and occasionally amusing interpretation of sacred texts, this imagines the Jewish Lord as a green-skinned woman, one of many deities; a god whose personal failings are all too human, more akin to those of a spoiled child playing with its toys than the actions of an all-knowing, all-powerful god. Familiar stories are recast in this light; we see JHWH manipulating both Moses and Pharaoh to make them play the roles she has assigned for them and her interest in the Land of Milk and Honey--personified as an open-minded platinum-haired blonde--is not territorial but rather overtly sexual. Some people may find this imaginative approach offensive, even heretical; although not as specifically focused or as detailed about this specific period as this work, Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe covered similar ground decades ago and did so more skillfully. While theologists may be puzzled, the hyperactive, colorful art brings the story to life far more than more reverent versions. (Oct.)
Harbor Moon
Ryan Colucci, Dikran Ornekian, and Pawel Sambor, Arcana, $19.95 trade paper (156p) ISBN 978-1-897548-95-0
The protagonist of this graphic novel, Timothy Vance, does a great job of shaming all of us who complain about family reunions. After receiving a mysterious phone call from his absentee father, Tim shuffles off to the sleepy town of Harbor Moon, Maine, in search of the father he never knew. What he discovers is more disturbing than what one typically experiences when forced to spend some time with relatives. The story that ensues mixes noir with survival horror to good effect, thanks in large part to Sambor's compelling artwork, although he excels more at illustration then storytelling, which is often jumbled. Basically a pretty straightforward smalltown mystery with a monstrous twist in the second act, it's unmemorable but entertaining while it lasts. (Oct.)