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Vampire Loves

Joann Sfar

Published 2006          187 pages

Synopsis

Vampire Loves is a graphic novel and it contains four stories, “Could Cupid Care Less?”, “Mortal Maidens on My Mind”, “Lonely Heart Crossing” and “Moonstruck Post-Mortem.”  All the stories follow the strange romantic adventures of Ferdinand a “square and Nosferatu-like” vampire who only bites his victims with one tooth in order to pass as a mosquito, who likes the music of dead folk singers and who has a lot of trouble making sense of his relationships.

Ferdinand is looking for love but is really bad a dating.  He has just broken up with Lani (a mandragora) after she slept with one of his friends.  He goes off with a pretty red-headed vampire named Aspirine but it doesn’t work out any better with her because he likes her but doesn’t love her and prefers her sister Ritaline anyway.

From there he has many adventures, going to Paris to see paintings in the Louvre, going on a cruise and investigating a murder, all while trying to find love - or just get a date…

The Review

I don’t normally review graphic novels but once I read Vampire Loves, I felt it deserved a mention because I liked it so much.  Unfortunately, I don’t normally even read graphic novels, so giving this book any kind of meaningful context is going to be hard.

What can I say?  The illustrations are quirky, colourful and charming and incredibly detailed.  Looking at the book a second or third time it is possible to pick out new details that you missed first time around.  

The characters are strangely realistic even though they are all ghosts, ghouls, witches, vampires, golems, mummies or murderous dentists.  The problems Ferdinand has with his relationships are uncannily realistic and anyone who has ever had a relationship will find some of the characters and scenarios familiar.

Aimed at the young adult market, Vampire Loves has a lot to offer adult readers too.  Vampire Loves is humorous, edgy and completely adorable, check it out if you get the chance.

LoveVampires Review Rating: