The Accursed Vampire

The Accursed Vampire is a quite oddly appealing all-ages appropriate graphic novel with story and art by Madeline McGrane. Released 27th July 2021 by Harper Collins, it's 176 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook (comiXology) formats. 

This is such an oddly appealing and nerdy graphic novel with some subtly important messages. On the surface, it's a group quest narrative with three small monster "kids" who are trying to recover (steal) a grimoire for the witch who sent them out. Main character Drago is accompanied by their two friends in small-town midwest USA and the themes of support, solidarity, kindness, trust, honesty, respect, and found family are done well and without being preachy or strident. 

Drago is apparently non-binary,  their friends are different ethnically and morphologically, and it's no big deal. The main adult characters in the story are compassionately rendered with a loving and normal partnership (and are also a same sex couple, again, not turned into a spectacle in the book). The antagonists are sufficiently scary and mean that it's easy to cheer for Drago & co, even when they make less-than-ideal decisions. 

There is a lot to like here. The art is also whimsically appealing and does a nice job of telling the story alongside the well written and appealing text. The language is simple and will be easily understood by middle grade readers.  

Odd, but appealing. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.