This is definitely an unusual take on the usual heartwarming holiday tale, as Linsner explores what Christmas is like for a vampire. Tonally, I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Dark horror with a sensual edge, like Linsner's Dawn fare? Screwball comedy, as the cover and the very idea of a vampire Christmas might suggest? Something else? Turns out it's the third option, because while there are definitely darkly humorous elements and certainly some of the same sensuous (but refreshingly realistic) female forms as those found in Dawn, this is neither an uplifting holiday tale nor a horrific flipside to such a thing. Linsner's story meanders a bit, missing some interesting potential and playing other elements out for too long, but it's definitely compelling, and makes absolutely essential reading for the goth set.
Linsner's story follows a grumpy vampire, born of the '70s, who doesn't much like life in general and who really can't stand the celebration of life at Christmas time. This sets up a sort of expectation of a Scrooge type tale, where the holiday doubter discovers the true meaning of Christmas. And to some extent, The Vampire's Christmas delivers on that classic format, but it also takes the reader through some pretty dark places during that story. Esque, the vampire protagonist of the story, is self-centered and surly, but he carries with him a sort of loneliness that is easy to relate to, especially when we see that his unlife has forced him to pass up opportunities for happiness.
The story is structured as three chapters and an epilogue, and it feels like the kind of thing that would have worked as a three-issue miniseries as easily as it does a graphic novel. There's a story thread that runs through all the chapters showing Esque's increasingly desperate need for a blood fix, but each chapter also has a pretty self-contained story that shows an element of Esque's life. For my money, the strongest story is the second chapter, which finds Esque at a goth party, visiting with a girl who obviously loves him more than he cares for her, and who is as good-hearted as Esque is selfish. Her gentle, friendly nature seems to melt Esque's heart a little bit, and it is during that story that the protagonist feels the most sympathetic. This is also the chapter with the strongest art, as Linsner and Dubisch present Sally as a big and yet beautiful girl reminiscent of Terry Moore's Francine, as well as depicting a sort of charming weird backdrop with the goth Christmas party.
The strange tone of this book was a little bit off-putting to me, to be honest. For every sort of funny gag, there's some real darkness, such as Esque's brutal methods of feeding. For every hopeful moment or nice thing Esque does, there's an ulterior motive. In the end, I sort of felt like he hadn't earned his strange Christmas redemption, because it seemed like everything he did was out of a selfish desire. The story succeeds in building up interesting characters and telling an interesting story, but the theme and moral of the whole thing, a fairly crucial element to a Christmas tale, is a little shaky.
Overall, though, Vampire's Christmas is a beautifully painted and curiously engaging little tale. It's setting, existing in the world of the forgotten and the freaks who aren't often the focus of Christmas stories, is an intriguing choice, and Linsner definitely succeeds in making these characters interesting. I found myself wishing for a little more consistent tone, and a stronger moral than "if you look long enough, you'll fall backwards into what you want," but it's an interesting change of pace from the usual holiday fare.
