Staff Pick – Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, by Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins

I recently stumbled upon this wonderful graphic novel at the Keshen Goodman library, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer. I found it to be a winning combination of a clever plot, humorous writing and some fantastic artwork.

The title pretty much explains the basic storyline: Pinocchio is out to rid the world of evil monsters, especially those vampires responsible for the death of Geppetto. Having a naturally replenishing wooden stake always at hand is certainly an advantage.

Young Pinocchio is full of bravado and clever lines, all used to great effect when battling the vamps. He is a rather charismatic little fellow, even if he isn’t a real boy. Pinocchio does have difficulty getting the townspeople to believe that they are in grave danger, after all he does tend to tell a few fibs here and there. This is one of those books that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

The creators are very respectful to the original story, even going so far as to include a mini graphic novel summary of Carlo Collodi’s original work. This feature was great for me, as I never actually knew the real Pinocchio story, only the Disney version.

Recommended!