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Bite Me! A Vampire Farce
Nobody expects the French Revolution, especially not the hapless vampires of Paris. Can genteel Lucien, murderous Ginevra, flaky sire Audric, crabby werewolf Luther, and the new vamp/ex-tavern wench Claire rescue their coven from a crazed revolutionary and avoid a date with Madame Guillotine?
This special 13th Anniversary edition of Bite Me! includes a new 11-page story.
This special 13th Anniversary edition of Bite Me! includes a new 11-page story.
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
4 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
Dylan Meconis
38 books137 followersDylan Meconis is a cartoonist and writer. She was raised in Seattle, Washington, but now lives in Portland, Oregon.
She is a member of Helioscope, the largest studio of freelance comics creators in North America.
She is married to her wife Katie, and they have a dog named President Teddy Roosevelt.
She is a member of Helioscope, the largest studio of freelance comics creators in North America.
She is married to her wife Katie, and they have a dog named President Teddy Roosevelt.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 28, 2013
I finally got my 13th anniversary, along with all the swag from the Kickstarter campaign. It was waiting on my doorstop and I almost exploded with glee. I read this a long time ago and was sad that it was out of print. When she announced the campaign, I was on it immediately. I don't regret it, either. The book is beautiful. I got the hardcover version and the spot-gloss is really nice. It also includes two bonus stories that are cute. Even the copyright notice is funny.
This is a supernatural parody of Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities. There are vampires, a werewolf, and crazy revolutionaries running through Revolutionary Paris and having a zany good time. It is one of the best parodies I've ever read. Meconis' work is diligently researched but she doesn't let this get in the way of the story. Her love of history shows through more in Family Man, in which the werewolf, Luther, has a starring role.
Anyway, you should read this if you like history, vampires, and slapstick comedy. This isn't a melodramatic, paranormal romance story. It's so much more! Get on it. It's also available here.
This is a supernatural parody of Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities. There are vampires, a werewolf, and crazy revolutionaries running through Revolutionary Paris and having a zany good time. It is one of the best parodies I've ever read. Meconis' work is diligently researched but she doesn't let this get in the way of the story. Her love of history shows through more in Family Man, in which the werewolf, Luther, has a starring role.
Anyway, you should read this if you like history, vampires, and slapstick comedy. This isn't a melodramatic, paranormal romance story. It's so much more! Get on it. It's also available here.
August 25, 2024
The most gorgeous, ridiculous graphic novel in existence. Lucien is a hottie, the art style is great and I laughed aloud a few times. Meconis is excellent at the standard slapstick goofs but it was the increasingly ridiculous literary references that really got me. The whole thing is cleverly - if never tastefully - done, and I loved it.
April 18, 2025
Very fun, very silly. I could keep track of the characters visually, which is a massive plus for me, and the art style was cute.
October 19, 2013
The great thing about early works is that they contain so many possibilities. There's always another idea, another conversational riff, another fruitful aside dropped in until the piece can be fit to bursting. They make up in pizzazz what they may want for in focus and discipline.
And so it is with Bite Me! - a graphic novel begun while still in school by Eisner nominee Dylan Maconis, available to read online as well as buy.
It's so good, you'll have trouble crediting she produced it so young were it not for the energy.
A piece of screwball comedy with vampires set during the French revolution, Bite Me! is a pile up of le snark, sight gags and physical comedy, poking fun at Anne Rice and A Tale Of Two Cities alike. The gag-per-panel (never mind per page) ratio is ultra, ultra-high and while the story threatens to overturn at the corners it always keeps going on a crest of relentless momentum.
It also manages not one but two strong women protagonists, with Clare, the (anti-) heroine coming along like an undead Katherine Hepburn in a tricolour cockade.
The comic's got great art, kinetic, characterful and at the service of the story. And, if you want to check out how good Maconis has got since check out Family Man (a prequel of sorts to Bite Me with added gravitas) or her short Outfoxed.
Bite Me! is a joyful potlatch of excessive inspiration. Long may young art prevail.
And so it is with Bite Me! - a graphic novel begun while still in school by Eisner nominee Dylan Maconis, available to read online as well as buy.
It's so good, you'll have trouble crediting she produced it so young were it not for the energy.
A piece of screwball comedy with vampires set during the French revolution, Bite Me! is a pile up of le snark, sight gags and physical comedy, poking fun at Anne Rice and A Tale Of Two Cities alike. The gag-per-panel (never mind per page) ratio is ultra, ultra-high and while the story threatens to overturn at the corners it always keeps going on a crest of relentless momentum.
It also manages not one but two strong women protagonists, with Clare, the (anti-) heroine coming along like an undead Katherine Hepburn in a tricolour cockade.
The comic's got great art, kinetic, characterful and at the service of the story. And, if you want to check out how good Maconis has got since check out Family Man (a prequel of sorts to Bite Me with added gravitas) or her short Outfoxed.
Bite Me! is a joyful potlatch of excessive inspiration. Long may young art prevail.
September 1, 2012
This was given to me as my 'secret santa' webcomic for Webcomic Wonderland on Goodreads, and I am extremely grateful to whoever suggested it.
Bite Me! is a short and very enjoyable read, it kept me both impressed and laughing the whole time. I like a story that is funny, but still takes itself seriously, and don't fall completely into ridiculousness. The story had cute protagonists and a good mix of deadpan humour and puns.There are so many wonderfully quotable lines!
The 'dramatic facial expressions' as someone referred to them as in the online comments, were priceless, and the use of different fonts when people made speeches was impressive. The whole thing also appears to have been hand written, which is impressive. All the characters had their own crazy personalities, and I loved them all.
There is probably nothing else I can say about this graphic novel without gushing embarrassingly, so I will stop now, and simply urge you to read it. It is free to read online, so that should make it easy. Go, read it now!
Bite Me! is a short and very enjoyable read, it kept me both impressed and laughing the whole time. I like a story that is funny, but still takes itself seriously, and don't fall completely into ridiculousness. The story had cute protagonists and a good mix of deadpan humour and puns.There are so many wonderfully quotable lines!
The 'dramatic facial expressions' as someone referred to them as in the online comments, were priceless, and the use of different fonts when people made speeches was impressive. The whole thing also appears to have been hand written, which is impressive. All the characters had their own crazy personalities, and I loved them all.
There is probably nothing else I can say about this graphic novel without gushing embarrassingly, so I will stop now, and simply urge you to read it. It is free to read online, so that should make it easy. Go, read it now!
September 2, 2021
If the western world is divisible into vampire people and werewolf people (and it is), I am firmly in the werewolf camp. So a graphic novel about vampires was never going to be entirely up my alley.
Meconis started Bite Me! in her senior year of high school, and it shows, especially in the humor. A trans "joke" that probably seemed hilarious at the time falls uncomfortably flat now, and the humor often felt forced, less "organically emerging from the situation" and more "must insert punchline here."
Still, Claire is the most delightfully unpretentious vampire character I've ever encountered, and the solid-if-farcical grounding in the French Revolution elevates this above the bulk of vampire fiction I've encountered. For sure read the 13th anniversary edition if you can; Meconis' footnotes on her art and thought processes while creating the comic are often the most entertaining things on the page.
Meconis started Bite Me! in her senior year of high school, and it shows, especially in the humor. A trans "joke" that probably seemed hilarious at the time falls uncomfortably flat now, and the humor often felt forced, less "organically emerging from the situation" and more "must insert punchline here."
Still, Claire is the most delightfully unpretentious vampire character I've ever encountered, and the solid-if-farcical grounding in the French Revolution elevates this above the bulk of vampire fiction I've encountered. For sure read the 13th anniversary edition if you can; Meconis' footnotes on her art and thought processes while creating the comic are often the most entertaining things on the page.
October 3, 2020
I first read this in my marketing class when I was supposed to be doing much less enjoyable things like trying to figure out how to use Access. It is one of the funniest things i've ever read. Dylan Meconis is an excellent storyteller and fabulous artist. I am so glad i stumbled across this. I've been trying to find a hard copy ever since i finished the first chapter. I highly recomend this to anyone who has a fancy for our finely fanged friends. And history. The French revelution specifically.
January 26, 2018 - I just got the book for Christmas and it is beautiful and I still love it sooooo much.
January 26, 2018 - I just got the book for Christmas and it is beautiful and I still love it sooooo much.
November 29, 2018
I don't know if it was the painfully long load times that took off an additional star for me, but I'm glad I didn't go through the trouble of hunting down a print copy of this. I didn't care for the art, and the jokes weren't particularly funny. I had to bail most of the way through the second chapter. I intended to finish it, but realized I would be wasting valuable reading time for no good reason. It wasn't awful, just not worth the time or effort for me.
February 24, 2025
I love vampires. I love strong female leads. Those are the only two criteria I had in wanting to read 'Bite Me! A Vampire Farce'. Naturally.
It is a webcomic by Dylan Meconis, dating back as early as 2000, until 2004. I read the full paperback edition from 2012, including short story extras, celebrating its 13th anniversary (though shouldn't it be the 12th anniversary? I'm not great at maths, but even I know something is off here).
And wow, am I glad to have finally discovered its existence.
'Bite Me! A Vampire Farce' is one of the funniest comics I have ever read. Every page, every panel, contains an overt or subtle joke. In fact, it is structured so that every page can be considered a self-contained gag from a newspaper, despite it all being a linear story. There is even cunning, shrewd foreshadowing.
It is so zany, goofy, OTT, irreverent, surprising, endearing, and brilliant. Brilliantly funny and brilliantly drawn. It delightfully, gleefully, affectionately parodies and satirises both vampires and French history. As well as Dickens's 'The Tale of Two Cities'. And the works of Anne Rice.
There are bars, chickens, horses, beheadings, riots, idiotic aristocrats and revolutionaries, and a werewolf.
Claire the barmaid - the tavern wench accidently turned into a vampire - is one of the best, most hilarious lead heroines I have ever seen. Loud, proud, wild, uninhibited, unselfconscious, imaginative, inventive, reckless, impulsive, smart and quick-thinking, I think it's safe to say, without revealing spoilers, that Claire is ripe and right for slapstick comedy. She is no conventional female. She would make Lucille Ball, Elvira, Miranda Richardson, and Sally Hawkins proud.
Claire's opposite, the haughty, bloodthirsty, snobby and elitist vampire Ginevra, is also great. That she is also not a conventionally attractive, patriarchy-dictated female - she's even on the chunky side, which is never commented on - is a huge plus. She's a lot like Katherine Hepburn and Lauren Becall.
There are outstandingly clever and funny twists and turns to the story, which I won't dare spoil. They make me love, understand and appreciate the characters even more, rather than be irritated and frustrated with them.
'Bite Me! A Vampire Farce' - even the title is clever and full of innuendos and hidden meanings. Most of its jokes land - with a bang. If your sense of humour aligns with the likes of 'The Simpsons', 'Shrek', and classic British sitcoms, then check it out. Enjoy yourselves.
Its ending is rather abrupt and unsatisfactory, however, if subversive and ironic. Twisty and turny to the end.
I wish to see more of Claire, Ginevra, the handsome and hapless vampire Lucien, the vampire Lestat parody Audric, and Luther. Someday. Maybe in new comics set in the modern day.
'Bite Me!' could be a vampire, supernatural comics version of 'Blackadder'!
Hopefully, any possible continuation will have better, more overt queer rep that isn't regulated to one-off jokes and punchlines. (Audric is definitely bi or pan... actually, this could apply to everyone in the comic. After all, why would they care? Not about anything conventional, nor will they follow human society's expectations).
Nobody expects the French Revolution!
Or a screwball vampire parody of 'A Tale of Two Cities'!
Final Score: 4/5
P.S. I couldn't think of a good place to put this comment in this review, so here it is, at the very end:
'Bite Me!' predates 'Twilight', which is something Dylan Meconis laments in one of her footnotes in the paperback version, as she could not make references to it at the time. She mentions 'True Blood' in the same sentiment. In hindsight, and upon further thought, I'd say this is a good thing, actually. It's for the best. No comedy that relies on, and oversaturates itself in, modern pop culture references ever ages well. Any reference to 'Twilight' and 'True Blood' - or any 2000s vampire and paranormal media and fad - would have dated the comic, for sure.
P.P.S. Oh, and I can't believe 'Bite Me!' is rated Ages 8+! With its sexual innuendos, and quick moments of violence, blood and gore - not to mention a, well, mention of a horse being turned into glue at the end - I'd say it is most definitely not for young children.
It is a webcomic by Dylan Meconis, dating back as early as 2000, until 2004. I read the full paperback edition from 2012, including short story extras, celebrating its 13th anniversary (though shouldn't it be the 12th anniversary? I'm not great at maths, but even I know something is off here).
And wow, am I glad to have finally discovered its existence.
'Bite Me! A Vampire Farce' is one of the funniest comics I have ever read. Every page, every panel, contains an overt or subtle joke. In fact, it is structured so that every page can be considered a self-contained gag from a newspaper, despite it all being a linear story. There is even cunning, shrewd foreshadowing.
It is so zany, goofy, OTT, irreverent, surprising, endearing, and brilliant. Brilliantly funny and brilliantly drawn. It delightfully, gleefully, affectionately parodies and satirises both vampires and French history. As well as Dickens's 'The Tale of Two Cities'. And the works of Anne Rice.
There are bars, chickens, horses, beheadings, riots, idiotic aristocrats and revolutionaries, and a werewolf.
Claire the barmaid - the tavern wench accidently turned into a vampire - is one of the best, most hilarious lead heroines I have ever seen. Loud, proud, wild, uninhibited, unselfconscious, imaginative, inventive, reckless, impulsive, smart and quick-thinking, I think it's safe to say, without revealing spoilers, that Claire is ripe and right for slapstick comedy. She is no conventional female. She would make Lucille Ball, Elvira, Miranda Richardson, and Sally Hawkins proud.
Claire's opposite, the haughty, bloodthirsty, snobby and elitist vampire Ginevra, is also great. That she is also not a conventionally attractive, patriarchy-dictated female - she's even on the chunky side, which is never commented on - is a huge plus. She's a lot like Katherine Hepburn and Lauren Becall.
There are outstandingly clever and funny twists and turns to the story, which I won't dare spoil. They make me love, understand and appreciate the characters even more, rather than be irritated and frustrated with them.
'Bite Me! A Vampire Farce' - even the title is clever and full of innuendos and hidden meanings. Most of its jokes land - with a bang. If your sense of humour aligns with the likes of 'The Simpsons', 'Shrek', and classic British sitcoms, then check it out. Enjoy yourselves.
Its ending is rather abrupt and unsatisfactory, however, if subversive and ironic. Twisty and turny to the end.
I wish to see more of Claire, Ginevra, the handsome and hapless vampire Lucien, the vampire Lestat parody Audric, and Luther. Someday. Maybe in new comics set in the modern day.
'Bite Me!' could be a vampire, supernatural comics version of 'Blackadder'!
Hopefully, any possible continuation will have better, more overt queer rep that isn't regulated to one-off jokes and punchlines. (Audric is definitely bi or pan... actually, this could apply to everyone in the comic. After all, why would they care? Not about anything conventional, nor will they follow human society's expectations).
Nobody expects the French Revolution!
Or a screwball vampire parody of 'A Tale of Two Cities'!
Final Score: 4/5
P.S. I couldn't think of a good place to put this comment in this review, so here it is, at the very end:
'Bite Me!' predates 'Twilight', which is something Dylan Meconis laments in one of her footnotes in the paperback version, as she could not make references to it at the time. She mentions 'True Blood' in the same sentiment. In hindsight, and upon further thought, I'd say this is a good thing, actually. It's for the best. No comedy that relies on, and oversaturates itself in, modern pop culture references ever ages well. Any reference to 'Twilight' and 'True Blood' - or any 2000s vampire and paranormal media and fad - would have dated the comic, for sure.
P.P.S. Oh, and I can't believe 'Bite Me!' is rated Ages 8+! With its sexual innuendos, and quick moments of violence, blood and gore - not to mention a, well, mention of a horse being turned into glue at the end - I'd say it is most definitely not for young children.
June 24, 2023
2.5 stars rounded up. I'm not really into vampire books, so I'm sure my rating is skewed by that, but I also thought it would have a bit more French Revolution than it did. This is the first web comic I've read and did so for a reading challenge. Because I read the web version, I read the comic's comments and the comments posted by readers, both often had me re-examining panels or the entire page. I thought there was an incredibly slow build up, but the plot picked up around chapter three. Meconis' drawings seemed to evolve over the years it took to complete the comic. The comic is particularly impressive when you know Meconis was a senior in high school when the comic began.
January 2, 2020
I picked this out of a clearance bin on a total whim, thinking it looked kind of interesting. Now that I've read it, I'm so glad I stumbled across it! It was clever, hilarious, and thoroughly entertaining. I enjoyed every page!
February 23, 2021
Re-read this beloved gem from my high school days, and man does it hold up. I still remembered a lot of the text (that’s what the chickens WANT YOU TO THINK) and was equally as delighted as I remembered in terms of the characters and the art and the sheer nonsense. Yes yes, would recommend.
April 17, 2019
very much a first work, but a pretty decent one for that
Read
September 9, 2022Absolutely Hilarious and Absolutely Delightful! I loved reading and re-reading this!
May 1, 2023
This was so fun! Available in its entirety on bitemecomic.com where it originated as a webcomic. Recommend to fans of Nimona and Fangs.
November 25, 2023
The Webcomic I never knew I needed.
October 16, 2024
Could have been more of a historical comedy. So much potential material. Would love more in this universe.
January 11, 2010
This is adorable, and one of the first webcomics I ever read. It's great to have a print copy of it - signed and doodled on by Dylan Meconis herself, no less!
This little comic is madcap fun. It's interesting to watch Meconis grow in her artistic talent and storytelling abilities. She's an even better artist and storyteller now - check out her new comic, "Family Man." Four stars because this freshman effort - while awesome - is not as finely developed as her later work.
This little comic is madcap fun. It's interesting to watch Meconis grow in her artistic talent and storytelling abilities. She's an even better artist and storyteller now - check out her new comic, "Family Man." Four stars because this freshman effort - while awesome - is not as finely developed as her later work.
June 29, 2011
It's vampires in the French Revolution! What's not to love?
I really love Dylan Meconis's work. She clearly loves history (which obviously puts her in my good books) but is also willing to make fun of it (which I also love). This was her first webcomic and it's really interesting to see how it differs from her current work on Family Man.
I really love Dylan Meconis's work. She clearly loves history (which obviously puts her in my good books) but is also willing to make fun of it (which I also love). This was her first webcomic and it's really interesting to see how it differs from her current work on Family Man.
January 16, 2017
Bite Me! is silly and straightforward in its humor. It's a quick read good for a laugh. The art is well done, the jokes spaced fairly well, and the plot engaging if not subtle. It won't be my favorite comic ever--there simply isn't enough here that's real and enduring--but it's well done as a short, complete story.
February 20, 2016
It's about vampires in the French Revolution, so naturally I love it. It's hilarious and excellently drawn and intelligent and I just love it to pieces. It's much more about characters and jokes than plot, but that's fine with me.
December 21, 2016
THAT is some funny stuff!!!! 1) LOVE her artwork. 2) Dickens' parody? Sign me up! (A Tale of Two Cities is just fine, but it's not THAT good, guys), 3) PUNS 4) I understand *some* French and jokes.
Oh, 5) vampire jokes
This was an anniversary addition. I'm clearly late to the party.
Oh, 5) vampire jokes
This was an anniversary addition. I'm clearly late to the party.
December 16, 2010
Much easier to read this in print form than online. This was a fun quick read.
December 13, 2015
Farce! Puns! Revolution! Vampires! Very fun and a nice lead in the the (far more serious) Family Man.
May 19, 2013
Too fun! Went really nicely with watching Les Miserables last night :)
May 25, 2013
The Spoon!
Read
July 20, 2016Delicious! Funny as hell. Don't be put off by the vampires -- these couldn't bear less of a resemblance to Twilight.
May 12, 2014
Witty, charming, and full of everything you would totally do if you suddenly got turned into a vampire. It's completely ridiculous and that's why it's the best vampire story of all time.
August 31, 2014
All I can say is, this comic book was freaking awesome! It has a very different, epic and a unique look to the vampire world.
July 29, 2015
I bloody love a good vampire pun.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews