Eighth Grade Bites #1: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: The Graphic Novel #1

by Heather Brewer

Heather Brewer's The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series finally makes the move to graphic novels!

Thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod really hates junior high. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: His mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: He's being hunted by a vampire killer.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Vampires, Young Adult, Fantasy, Manga, Supernatural, Comics

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 10, 2013

About the author

Heather Brewer is the pseudonym of Zac Brewer…but you can call him Z.

Zac is the NYT bestselling author of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, as well as The Slayer Chronicles series, Soulbound, The Cemetery Boys, The Blood Between Us, and more short stories than he can recall.

He grew up on a diet of Twilight Zone and books by Stephen King. He chased them down with every drop of horror he could find—in books, movie theaters, on television. The most delicious parts of his banquet, however, he found lurking in the shadowed corners of his dark imagination. When he’s not writing books, he’s skittering down your wall and lurking underneath your bed. Zac doesn’t believe in happy endings…unless they involve blood.

He lives in Missouri with his husband, two children, and four furry overlords that some people refer to as “cats”.

Reviews

[Hillary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Considering the source, this adaptation really fell flat. Good fluff for boys is hard to come by so I was happy when I heard about this GN adaptation, but I honestly cannot recommend this especially to readers of the original series.

The writing was not engaging at all. I thought the first half dragged so the second half was rushed. The story from panel to panel did not flow nicely: word bubbles were not always placed in a "good" order, some action was sudden and seemed "out of the blue," and unfortunately the characters all seem boring which they're not. My biggest complaint: best friend Henry is supposed to be cool and good-looking and here he's just normal.

The art was also disappointing. To me having a semi-manga style was not the way to go. Julia Land made everyone a bit too feminine and all the adults look like they're 18-years-old. Aunt Nelly is mostly in a bun but that still doens't "age" her enough. All I can say is I'm sure Land did exactly what Tony Lee wrote because the layout, design (characters and backgrounds), and content is boring too.

Not a waste of time, but seriously, read the original series and forget about this GN book.

[Mark Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I havent read any thing else in this series and rarely read graphic novels. However I really enjoyed this. My only complaint is that the writer explains whats going in a few pages in the middle. Otherwise 4 stars.

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in “The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod” series—but in graphic novel format. The story is still the same great story of Vlad, the only known teenager that also happens to be a vampire. His parents died in a mysterious fire and he is being raised by his mom’s best friend (who knows he is a vampire). But things are hard. He has a lot of secrets to keep…not to mention a lot of sunscreen he has to keep putting on. Thankfully Nelly works at a hospital and can get blood that is almost expired for Vlad to drink and infuse into his food. When Vlad’s teacher goes missing, a strange new one takes his place—one that wants Vlad to admit that he is a vampire. But how does he know? And will Vlad be safe if he shows Mr. Otis who he truly is? Since this is the beginning of the series, there is a lot of set up and quite a few unanswered questions left hanging at the end of the book. However, the illustrations are great—showcasing a gothic teenage vampire in an almost normal world. And the pacing is pretty good, with quite a bit of variation in the size of the panels. Although unlike many graphic novels the panels in this book never turn out to be one whole page for exceptionally important moments.

[Elliot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Brewer's Tod books, but this adaptation fell somewhat flat for me. The art was good, but the story didn't translate well to the graphic format. At least, it didn't flow well for me. Your milage may vary.


Book #6 for 2013

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great and very entertaining read! I have been wanting to read the novels for a while and after reading this graphic novel version I am even more anxious to read them!! Great story, excellent illustrations, engrossing and entertaining. I highly recommend!

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really care for this graphic novel. It felt like a quickie cashin to me.

[Tana Wakanda Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Artwork: 4/10
For the technical aspects of the art, it seemed like a rookie's work. Like the first graphic novel done by an artist or publishing house.

The artwork seemed rushed, and outsourced. I looked in to the artist who pencilled this and she's from Indonesia. I'm familiar enough with the comics industry to know that a lot of outsourcing occurs in indie publishing, and Indonesia is a hotbed for getting cheaper work.

Not that it isn't possible to get good work from Indonesia, but when publishing in English this often results in things being lost in translation. I imagine this language barrier contributed to how the speech bubbles often switched from being read left-to-right to right-to-left. Very confusing.

The anatomy was fine enough, I've definitely seen worse in YA graphic novel adaptations (looking at you Vampire Academy), but the backgrounds were pretty bad. Probably the worst aspect of the illustrations.

It looked like things were traced over Google Sketchup by someone who didn't have a firm grasp of perspective, or color.

Apparently the colors were done by 3 people, and maybe that led to inconsistencies, because my God, it looks like it was colored last minute. I was begging for some color overlays to be included because some of the color palettes were just not harmonizing. Light sources were inconsistent, so scenes were a character's face was being lit from the top would switch to being lit from the side.

It would have been better off in black and white with how amateurish the colors were. Maybe that would have saved the Google Sketchup backgrounds.

There were even certain background shots where I could see tilting going on as if a wide angle lens was being used. It was jarring, and sometimes this field of view shift would occur from panel to panel.

As for the feel the artwork gave me, I didn't feel like much love was put in to this. It felt like this project was more of a job for the company that did the artwork.

Story: 3/10
I'm not going to judge the quality of the source material so much as the adaptation job. The original story has its flaws (full of plotholes, cliches, and lack of worldbuilding), but despite that has a tone that is charming. Taking it as a fun kids' book, it's enjoyable. Especially in audiobook format.

However, this adaptation did the story no favors. The speech bubbles were all over the place and I had to double-read many panels to get the flow right. Not to mention the pacing was bad. The setup was decent, but by the time Otis's nature is revealed and the final "battle" occurs, things wrap up and the entire story ends in like 5 pages. It's very underwhelming.

I think graphic novels by their very nature don't work well when adapting novels. There's a reason that the original story worked, and it's because of the dialogue, the main lead's introspection, and the slower build to the climax and ending. This doesn't have that, and I'm not sure if any graphic novel adaptation would have been able to capture that initial appeal.

Part of the failure comes back again to the artwork and how the style didn't really capture the tone of the story. The characters had no real expressions to their faces, and I didn't feel like I was watching a real character feel real fear, for example. But adding poor pacing in addition to those artistic isuses and we have a bad adaptation that could have been better, despite the limitations of the graphic novel format.

[Mostly Sapphic Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

I fondly recall reading the original novel series when I was in school, so I picked up this graphic novel adaptation out of nostalgia.

I’m not sure how well the original novels would hold up if I reread them today, but this graphic novel was a bit disappointing. It’s very fast paced, the dialogue is hammy to pack in all the information we need, and there’s some signs that it was written in 2008 like casual slut-shaming that I could do without. The art’s also not the greatest. Sometimes important actions or objects were explained in dialogue rather than shown, which was an odd choice. I can see why the publisher didn’t continue with graphic adaptations of the whole series.

That being said, I did get roped back into the story the longer this went on. And for how short it is, it’s so action-packed that it feels much longer, which I didn’t hate. I had a fun, if not thrilling, trip down memory lane.

[Hunter H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was awesome and I really want to read the next ones.

[Chantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the first 2 novels of this series I had to get the graphic novels. I wished the rest of the series came in graphic novels aswell.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book. Super easy read, very laid back writing style. I will probably finish the series at home point. The only thing I didn't like was how predictable it was.

[Kiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

So great to visually see all the characters, especially Vlad. Such a cutie~

[Stephanie Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok adaptation, but to be honest, it should have been created in black and white manga style instead

[Antonio Bracamontes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts

It was good but fast paced skipped over details but it's nice if you want a refresher. But definitely recommend

[Morgan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this in a used bookstore and exploded with joy! I read this series as a young teen and was obsessed. Re-reading the beginning of this story many years later was like a fever dream!

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been waiting SO long for this to be released and now I finally got my hands on it. It doesn't matter that I read this in one sitting. This series has become one of my favourites and I shamelessly allow myself to delve into it. I mean, it's not like it's a golden calf or anything...
Reading this in graphic novel format was very fascinating. Having read the original version of this book several times already, I knew how it was going to end, but still wanted to read all the thought bubbles and everything the characters say. It was so worth buying this brand new. Gotta say, it's awesome that Brewer managed to release their first Vlad Tod book technically twice. Now, I'm just hoping there definitely will be graphic novels for the rest of the 5. And, if it's not pushing it too much because I realize they already has a LOT of work to do; but speaking just from the aspect of the Vlad Tod series, it would awesome if there were 5 graphic novels for the Chrons of Vlad Tod and eventually 3 for the slayer society books.
But I know that's asking a bit much.
4 out of 5 stars.

Edit 6-14-24: Reducing to 1 star, because reasons.

[Emily Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Eighth Grade Bites: The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd, we are introduced to Vlad, a shy eighth grader who is bullied, has a crush on a girl who does not know that he’s alive, and lives with his non-blood relative aunt. Yes, Vlad is an orphaned half-vampire, son of a human woman and a vampire father.

Vlad, unlike all the other vampires, was born vampire, and fed on blood from birth. Nowadays, his aunt snags expired blood from the hospital where she works, and kindly freezes it until ready for use, at which time, she zaps it in the microwave.

The book is much more cute than gritty, and sets Vlad as the typical teen who can’t seem to fit in. It is refreshing to see a good male friendship that does not revolve around saying nasty things about girls, but instead focuses on solving the mystery of Vlad’s ancestral past and what exactly happened to his parents.

The book is foremost a mystery, and does unravel in an interesting manner, though it unravels a bit too fast at the end. Worth the read.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Eighth Grade Bites: The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd, we are introduced to Vlad, a shy eighth grader who is bullied, has a crush on a girl who does not know that he’s alive, and lives with his non-blood relative aunt. Yes, Vlad is an orphaned half-vampire, son of a human woman and a vampire father.

Vlad, unlike all the other vampires, was born vampire, and fed on blood from birth. Nowadays, his aunt snags expired blood from the hospital where she works, and kindly freezes it until ready for use, at which time, she zaps it in the microwave.

The book is much more cute than gritty, and sets Vlad as the typical teen who can’t seem to fit in. It is refreshing to see a good male friendship that does not revolve around saying nasty things about girls, but instead focuses on solving the mystery of Vlad’s ancestral past and what exactly happened to his parents.

The book is foremost a mystery, and does unravel in an interesting manner, though it unravels a bit too fast at the end. Worth the read.

[Arnela · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw how thin the comic was I was already worried.

The art isn't bad, the anatomy is mostly good, there's an angle here or there that's slightly awkward, the coloring is well done. This part I'm ok with.

It follows the plot of the first Vladimir Tod novel so there's not much change there.

My biggest issue with this, which brought the star rating so far down, is it feels like we rushed through the whole book. It just seems like they're not pacing it at all, there's no buildup to the conflict it just sort of happens, like we're going along and figuring things out and then boom bad guy, boom resolution, flip to the end cover. It's disappointing to see that done to a story that could have been a great comic. Like this is the type of story that was born to be told through comic format, it might have even been better than the novel IF WE PACED THE SCENES OUT RIGHT.

I'm just so disappointed in how this was handled.

[Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adaptation could have been made better. Less sudden cuts between scenes and add more detailed parts so that the story doesn't feel as rushed as it did. The animation and facial expressions of the characters could also have been drawn with more variations and details. The dialogues/writing also needs to be reworded because it made the story felt rushed and a bit dull, in my opinion, like the artwork did. Overall I quite enjoy reading a graphic novel version of my favorite vampire series and even though the adaptation was a bit disappointing, the minor mistakes are something that could be fixed and made better with a bit more of hardworking and determination.

[priya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this book it's a very fun read, and doesn't take very long to finish.

Though I can't get over the sexism (read progress) and the abrupt convo and scene changes.

The book doesn't have a good flow either the pacing is very random in a terrible way, especially near the end it felt like things were being rushed, and I don't feel like I was getting the full enjoyment that I could've gotten

Solid 3 stars

I recommend this to anyone who is not looking for anything serious, and just a fun light read

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was awkward. The middle was good. But, the ending was rushed. Plus. There is a really weird panel toward the end that I can't figure out what is happening. It could have been left out and I would have been happy. All in all, this graphic novel adaptation of EIGHTH GRADE BITES was just okay.

[Ruby Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic illustrations, art, and the storyline create an easier understandable storyline and helps create more interesting characters than the actual novel. The story in this graphic novel is a little condensed and easier to read than Brewer's novel. The artistry of the illustrations is pleasing to the eyes. A fun read.

[Mileena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admittedly have never read any of the Vladimir Todd books before, but found the graphic novel for 5 bucks at Books a Million and thought, why not. The illustrations were very well done and I loved the fun but well put together plot of the story. I fully intend now to pick up the actual books of the series.

[Kendra Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. Vladimir Tod is just an eighth grader and he is already having to deal with being hunted by other vampires called the Elysia. they think that Vladimir is the pruvas and his uncle helps him to protect himself and the ones he cares about.

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a really good series. If you liked the series I suggest that you should buy the book. the animations are really good. I felt that I was able to see what was going on. Hope that they will make the other books I want to read into a graphic novel.

[Yue Tsubaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the story and the fact that it came with a graphic novel i great.hope to see more.

[Virna · Rating 2 out of 5]

good art and story

[Mackenzie Replogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW DO I READ IT???

[Lindsey Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and light read. Definitely nothing deep but a fun story to get through in an hour or so.