Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

Wow, I can’t believe I am just now hearing about the comic Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by the title, it’s about the little wooden puppet Pinocchio, killing vampires. Looks like anyone and anything can be a vampire slayer – teenage girls, US presidents, vampire bloggers, and now a puppet.

From the official Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer website:

Drawing inspiration from the original story by Carlo Collodi, in which Pinocchio remains a wooden puppet at the end, Jensen and Higgins imagined a dark continuation to Pinocchio’s story. Vampires overrun the peaceful town of Nasolungo, and the only one who is willing to fight them (and even believe that they exist) is Pinocchio, who has discovered that his growing nose comes in handy for impaling the undead. While avenging the death of his slain father, Pinocchio discovers the vampires have a deeper agenda than the mere sucking of blood.

Jensen and Higgins manage to craft a grim story story without being too heavy-handed — it is, after all, the story of a wooden boy killing vampires — with moments of grim humor that reflect how the book was created. “What started out as a simple joke about Pinocchio shanking vampires with his nose grew into a book filled with drama and pathos,” said Jensen, who is the writer on Pinocchio, adding, “Yep, drama and pathos… and Pinocchio using his nose to shank vampires. Lots and lots of vampires.”

Artist Dusty Higgins, who created Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer, sets the tone with heavily shadowed pages matched with delightfully designed characters, such as the heavily mustachioed Cherry, the carpenter who creates a crossbow he dubs “The Monsteriminator” to help Pinocchio fight the vampires. Still, Higgins notes, “We approached the story as if perhaps Pinocchio wasn’t meant to live happily ever after. Maybe because of his ‘abilities’ he was actually meant to slay vampires. With a continual supply of wooden stakes and no flesh or blood to worry about, he’s the really the perfect weapon against the undead bloodsucking menace.”

Look! There’s a trailer too:

I gotta say, this looks radass, even if it is a puppet… but it’s a puppet that stabs vampires with its nose. Win!

– Moonlight