The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Vampire Free Style 5

by Jenika Ioffreda

Self Published

More cute goth stylings with a manga touch from Jenika Ioffreda. I looked at issues 1-3 here and issue 4 here.

In this issue we venture 300 years into the past to a forbidden love between a vampire and a human girl; a girl looking to master the Umbra Luna spell capable of restoring things to their original forms – possibly even vampires?

In the present day we rejoin Micia the cat with the ability to speak to the stars, Padroncino the witch boy in training searching for his recently disappeared girlfriend Elea and a coven of vampires that includes Edward, a vampire who sees Micia the cat as a beautiful girl very similar to Elea.

Connections, connections, connections….. even bonkers Auntie Margherita, previously only here to dress Micia the cat in daft costumes seems to have some role to play in the drama’s conclusion. It’s too close to the end to try to explain without giving away plotlines, but there’s a lovely preview image on Jenika’s website that serves the purpose quite nicely:

I’d previously described Vampire Free Style as “an absolutely delightful book“, with “a lightness and playfulness throughout” where “the cuteness coexists happily with a sense of loss and sadness that, if Jenika handles it right in forthcoming issues, will make this book far more than the cute Manga Goth book it superficially resembles“.

And based on the 5 issues so far I think she’s managed it. In this penultimate issue all of the tangled, tantalising threads of the comic’s story are beginning to come together. The manga-esque style fantasy is losing it’s comedy and cutesy factor but this is replaced by a strong story where everyone and everything is falling into place.

It’s looking like it will all come together as a lovely, well drawn, gothic fantasy fairy story – and that’s gothic more in reference to the genre combining horror and romance than the obvious gothic elements of vampires and dark haired young women with top hats and black dresses.

Vampire Free Style is available from Jenika’s website. With one issue to go it’s a perfect time to catch up.