Pinocchio Vampire Slayer Vol. 1

Written by Van Jensen
Art by Dusty Higgins

Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer.  Is there a simpler, yet more enticing high concept description than that?  It's one of those concepts that makes so much sense, it's hard to believe that no one ever thought of it before.  The wooden puppet whose nose grows when he lies uses those same long protuberances as a weapon in the fight against the undead.  Frigging brilliant.

And, in the hands of writer Van Jensen and artist Dusty Higgins, the concept really works.  In this book, they are working off the original story of Pinocchio, as written by Carlo Collodi in 1883.  This story picks up a while after that story ended, with Pinocchio seeking out vampires as a way to avenge the death of his "father" Geppetto at their hands (or would that be fangs?). 

Pinocchio is an angry little puppet, and he is assisted in his quest by a carpenter named Master Cherry, the Blue Fairy, and the ghost of the cricket that Walt Disney named Jiminy.  There are some cool action sequences, and many genuinely funny scenes where Pinocchio's nose betrays his bravado.

The art is pretty different.  Higgins makes liberal use of ziptones, which is cool, and has given the cartoonish characters a dark twist.  This is a quick read, but a rewarding one.  I look forward to the second volume, which is coming out soon.