The premise for this graphic novel is really almost too good to be true. Basing their puppet on the darker original by Carlo Collodi rather than the sanitized Disney stiff, Jensen and Higgins' Pinocchio never becomes a real boy, and although there is a cricket, he is no Jiminy. Here, Pinocchio looks on in terror as Geppetto is killed by vampires. The puppet, who vows vengeance, is equipped with the world's finest vampire-slaying weapon: his regenerative wooden stake of a nose. Heavy shadows and thick lines dominate the panels and provide a midnight-black atmosphere for all the gory mayhem, but it's the humor that makes this so memorable. Zingers come fast and furious as Pinocchio peppers the combat sequences with lies, and the art can land a chortle with little more than a well-timed facial expression. There's also surprising heart at the story's center that plays with the core theme of fatherhood. There won't be many teen (or adult) graphic-novel readers who won't want this book for its concept alone, and the execution doesn't disappoint.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2009 Booklist

This enjoyable reworking of Carlo Collodi's classic tale drops the magically animated puppet into a horror movie plot. After his maker/father Geppetto is killed by vampires, Pinocchio tries to protect the disbelieving inhabitants of his village, aided only by woodcarver Master Cherry, a greatly aged Blue Fairy and the ghost of the nagging cricket he squashed some time ago. As that last reference indicates, this is not the sentimentalized Disney version of the story; the protagonist of this book is one tough little puppet. Furthermore, although he's no Buffy Summers, as a vampire fighter Pinocchio has the advantage of a built-in wooden stake-as long as he remembers to tell lies at the right time. Jensen's script is clever, full of irreverent irony. But the highlight of the book is Higgins's b&w art that offers page after page of amazement. Swirling, whirling, jittery, skittery, the story dances gracefully from grin to grimace and back again. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved