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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5944 EAN: 9781596430938 ISBN: 1596430931 Label: First Second Manufacturer: First Second Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 192 Publication Date: 2006-05-02 Publisher: First Second Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: 2006-05-02 Studio: First Second
Meet Ferdinand, a vampire who bites his victims with only one tooth in order to pass as a mosquito, who loves the music of dead singers, and who has no end of trouble trying to make sense of his relationships--some with the living, some with the undead. Vampire Loves follows the strange and comically romantic adventures of Ferdinand and his friends as they flirt with, seduce, cheat on, break up and make up with all manner of strange creatures, including ghosts, other vampires, tree-folk, and golems. Edgy, charming, and filled with Joann Sfar's inimitable blend of tenderness, comedy, melancholy, and philosophy, the four stories in this volume are drawn as much from the Jewish mysticism of eastern Europe as from twenty-first-century Goth culture.
At once silly and serious, wild and poetic, Joann Sfar’s disquieting tales are filled with intelligence and rich humanity. Vividly illustrated and sensitively written, Vampire Loves is alive with color, wisdom, and humor.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Good for some, but not for all... Comment: Vampire Loves centers around a shy vampire named Ferdinand & his rather unsuccessful attempts to find love. With loves that range from a dryad (female tree nymph) to a beautiful young asian woman vacationing in Paris, this guy can't seem to get a break. The only time he has a girl that's willing to chase after him, he finds that he just can't be as interested in her in return. Still, you can't help but be a little enchanted by the stories.
However, this collection won't be for everyone. Some people will get bored from the tales & others may only get one or two reads out of the book. I've found that some of the stories lose a little something after a few readings while others in the book get better over time.
I'd recommend this with a few reservations. Like I said, it's not for everyone, but the people who are into strange indie comics should like it. Customer Rating: Summary: Fun! Comment: The vampire Ferdinand's love life is a mess, and he mostly cares about his cat and his vinyl record collection. Yes, Ferdinand is sort of a grown up version of Sfar's "Little Vampire" character, but this is not a book for kids, it about the messed up life of a 20-something that only live by night. This is a bit like a Daniel Clowes 'alienated hipster' comic, but funnier and sweeter. And with vampires, werewolves, golems, ghosts and mummies. A little bit melancholic sometimes, but mostly it's a lot of fun! Customer Rating: Summary: Who knew vampires were into emo? Comment: "No, Granny, in life there are some things you can't solve with a wave of a magic wand."
This line of Ferdinand the Vampire to his grandmother sums up the various little plots of Vampire Loves, a collection of Joann Sfar's series translated from the French. Drawn with a shaky style that reflects the neuroses of the characters, Vampire Loves traces the personal and romantic misadventures of Ferdinand the Vampire, a shy, quiet bloodsucker timid with polite manners who is inept at finding love among the various girls he tries to date.
With the main character being a timid vampire, and with supporting characters ranging from a confused tree-girl to snaky embodiments of sighs and mostly-human scoundrels, symbolism is a key to figuring out characters, and what might make everybody tick. Some are obvious, and sharply observed, such as the womanizing wolf-man who transforms when on the prowl for his next score. Unfortunately Ferdinand himself is confusing as a symbol. Does he really want to be a dangerous vampire, but is too afraid? A hint is given when he gives his limiting conscious away, but in typical Ferdinand fashion he makes a mess of things with his new-found freedom.
The feel of the book is claustrophobic. Part of this is the monotonous six-panel layout that runs the entire length of the book. The artwork itself feels crammed, with the Gothic graininess hiding detail in the small panels. And you feel trapped as Ferdinand does in his constant quixotic efforts to find love, in which all the stories end with Ferdinand just as lonely as when they began.
Perhaps a good read for the soap-opera crowd, or maybe some will find the vampiric setting charming. But the lack of character progress, though probably reflecting Sfar's real-life experiences, make the stories ultimately unsatisfying.
Customer Rating: Summary: Love that vampire Comment: If Edward Gorey and Tim Burton collaborated on a comic book, the result might be something like "Vampire Loves," which shows that even the undead have romantic troubles. Joann Sfar's quirky undead story is a charming little read, with some wonky humor and tender moments.
A "square and Nosferatu-like" vampire named Ferdinand has broken up with Lani, a sultry mandragora who slept with his pal. After a quarrel with her, he encounters a pretty goth vampire Aspirine, while Lani heads off to stay with the lumbering Treeman.
The following stories follow Ferdinand's adventures -- he goes to Paris and looks at sunlit paintings, stays with an old Jewish bookseller and his golem, embarks on a ghoulish cruise and is taken captive by evil mummies, accidentally creates life from monster putty, and is called on by the police to help find a serial killer.
And along the way, he dances with a pretty Japanese tourist, flirts awkwardly with the vampire-and-witch sisters Aspirine and Ritaline, dates a wailing phantom, and confronts the ex-friend who slept with Lani. But though the women adore him, his heart is still hooked on his forlorn, unfaithful tree-girl.
"Vampire Loves" is a very sweet book, and in some ways the supernatural edge doesn't affect the main story. Everyone has had that one relationship like this -- you love each other, but you're also angry with each other, and that is what is happening for poor Ferdinand.
The pages of "Vampire Loves" crawl with all sorts of beasties: werewolves, ghosts, mummies, witches, vampires, specters, invisible men, monsters with braces, lonely androids, golems, and various nature spirits. Sfar's artwork is simple and angular, but full of colours, kooky action and strange dialogue. ("My skin's all mushy!")
And the stories are funny as well -- Sfar spoofs gothic pretensions, clubbing, spy movies, and detective work. It's a bit too much when Ferdinand's conscience starts buzzing around, but fortunately that peters out. And Sfar can include sweet moments too, like Ferdinand telling the tourist how he loves to look at paintings with sunlight, since he can't go out in the sun now.
Ferdinand is also a unique vampire -- meek, scrawny, gray-skinned and fond of cats and old folk recordings. He won't even really bite, using one fang so the victims will think it's a mosquito. There's a lot of winning supporting characters -- the grandmotherly witch who housesits, the unhappy tree-man, the amoral ex-pal, and so on.
"Vampire Loves" may star a vampire, but it's a quirky, twisted love story at heart. A delicious little gothic read. Customer Rating: Summary: Vampire Loves Comment: Absolutely amazing artist. Wonderful light hearted story. Joann knows how to take something down to earth, such as a man's desire to find love, and threat those feelings through a magical dance with tree spirits and vampires. Wonderful.
