I didn’t buy a lot of comics in Bristol, because not a lot stood out. Only one thing seriously caught my eye (as opposed to things I got told about, or which I was looking for anyway). It was in the small press expo in the Mercure, and judging by the table there was something seriously Gothy going on. But these days there are different types of Goths. Not all of them are gloomy and depressive. Whatever was happening here was also seriously cute.

I bought issue #1 of Vampire Free Style on spec, and I loved it so much that I went back on Sunday to try to find more. The event in the Mercure was over, but fortunately someone in the Ramada had copies (thank you, Chebbo!). I now have all four issues published to date, and I still love it.

The story? Well, there is a boy called Pandroncino who is training to be a witch but isn’t very good at it. Part of this is because his girlfriend has vanished without trace, and he’s very upset. His main comfort is a stray cat that has adopted him. She’s called Micia and that’s her in the graphic. There is also a vampire called Edward who is very old and who sees a young girl whenever he looks at Micia…

It isn’t just cute and romantic, however. There is a lot of humor in the strip. In particular Micia suffers from the attentions of Pandroncino’s Aunt Margherita who owns a witchcraft shop and has a passion for dressing up dolls, or anything else to hand that is cute and roughly doll-sized, much to the amusement of the other local ferals.

The artist, Jenika Ioffreda, is Italian, and her English is not always spot on, but it is good enough to convey the story and art speaks in all languages. Jenika has a wonderfully fresh and uninhibited style that won’t pleased those who insist on strict naturalism but will delight just about everyone else.

So yeah, Vampire Free Style is cute and funny, but there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if it is done well. You can find out more about Jenika and her work at the Neptune Factory web site.