*I was given an ARC of Dracula’s Brunch Club in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Oni Press, Brian Gonsar and Keenan Gaybba for my copy of this graphic novel*
Synopsis:
Have you ever wondered how vampires got their taste for blood? In Dracula’s Brunch Club, it all started with a crimson-red donut, dripping and oozing with spooky secrets—I mean, jelly. Dripping and oozing with non-spooky-tasting JELLY.
Count Dracula is not your average vampire. Well, sure, he’s undead, hates garlic, and will burn up in sunlight—but unlike other vampires, he has a knack for baking. And it’s his brunch club’s famous blood-orange-jelly donuts that give his fellow vampires the energy source they need to live forever. But when Transylvania experiences a mysterious jelly shortage, it allows his nemesis, Constantine, to swoop in and steal the brunch club—and the vampires’ loyalty—from Dracula. But it’s not just jelly donuts at stake. When townsfolk start to go missing, Dracula suspects Constantine has far more sinister motives lurking that could threaten everything vampires and humans have worked for. With the help of his chef and human friend, Elena, Dracula must find a new energy source before every vampire and human turns on him and he loses his coveted brunch club forever.
Review:
I really wanted to love Dracula’s Brunch Club as I love paranormal graphic novels, but it severely missed the mark for me.
One thing I really liked was the art style. It reminded me of old school Cartoon Network shows and that’s what I grew up watching so it feels very nostalgic. What I didn’t love about the visuals was how flat everything felt. I get that Dracula’s Brunch Club is set during the night as it’s about vampires but there’s just no colour in it whatsoever – the whole thing is blue toned which made every panel look the same to me.
The style and bold colours of the cover made me really hopeful about what this would look like inside but I’ve once again been tricked by a cover that looks nothing like the contents. As I said above though, I did like the actual illustrations.
I also felt like this was a little too long. It took me three different attempts to get through Dracula’s Brunch Club and I’m the type of person that will read a graphic novel in one sitting. There’s just so much dialogue and a lot of it felt redundant. Instead of talking about something, show it. The second half was definitely better as there was more going on than just talking about jelly and I did think Dracula discovering he can drink human blood for sustenance was pretty funny.
Sadly, I really didn’t enjoy Dracula’s Brunch Club as much as I thought I would. This is all entirely personal preference though. This graphic novel didn’t work for me but that may not be the case for you.
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