By Lisa Gullickson — If, under duress, you asked me to name 5 VILFs (vampires I’d like to...y’know), I would have to say Louis as played by Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire; Jerry from Fright Night 2011, apologies to Chris Sarandon; Adam from Only Lovers Left Alive, which I haven’t seen, but it’s Tom Hiddleston; Batman from Red Rain because who am I to kick Batman out of bed?; and Blade from Blade II. Where’s Edward Cullen, you may ask? Not in my top 5, but we can negotiate if he brings his new cowl. Do you know who is nowhere near my top 5 VILFs? Dracula. I’m getting down with all the vamps from What We Do In The Shadows and Jubilee before Dracula. Because Dracula is an Old Head. He's been on the scene way too long, he’s dressed like a sophomore going to senior prom, and it’s time he gets in his coffin and stays there. No one wants to waste a spot on their top 5 for Dracula. 

I had never heard the term ‘Old Head’ before the title of Kyle Starks’ latest action-adventure, comedy-horror graphic novel, and, considering that it’s Kyle Starks (Sex Castle, Assassination Nation, Mars Attacks, Rick and Morty), I thought the definition on Urban Dictionary would be way filthier. It means someone who has stuck around so long that their oldness seems conspicuous and maybe a little sad. You may wonder what they’re still doing hanging around. Kyle Starks’ Old Head isn’t really about vampires. Don’t worry, there are totally vampires in it. Loads. But Old Head is about a father who sees himself as a failure wondering what kind of legacy he has to pass down to his daughter, who is still naive enough to believe in him.

What is the worth of a basketball player who can’t shoot? Nash Gliven, Jr., was raised by his single mom to be tough. Really tough. His ability to intimidate the pants off any opponent made him an unexpected asset to any team, and he sustained a 16-year career in the NBA, but, in the way he puts it, “Ain’t nobody buying my jersey.” Being a basketball player who led the league in personal fouls and ejections and also couldn’t score worth a damn meant that he spent a career adjacent to the spotlight but never in it. When Nash returns home with his twelve-year-old daughter Willie for his mother’s funeral, he finds that the front room has been redecorated. His mom replaced her collection of old crucifixes with lovingly displayed press clippings and memorabilia from his basketball days. Nash is forced to take a hard look at his relationships with his emotionally distant mother, the career that never loved him back, and his daughter, who admires him despite his failure as a pro baller. 

And then there are vampires. The lifeblood of both horror and comedy is the element of surprise, so in the interest of not sucking the fun out of Old Head, I’m going to keep the spoilers to a minimum. But I promise you, none of Starks’ vampires are going to be on anyone’s list of VILFs. In fact, they may turn you off vampires altogether. It takes only six pages of non-stop hilarity in the first third of this book for Starks to completely obliterate vampires' literary reputation for charm, mystique, and sex appeal, and you get to see them for what they actually are. Gut-churningly scary. Kyle Starks is known for his slightly bent, raunchy humor and love for the sloppy gore of eighties action movies, but I submit that it’s merely a distraction. Kyle Starks’ true strength is that he can make us guffaw in one panel so he can sucker punch us in the next with something that is so true it hurts.

Equally as disarming as Starks’ irreverent wit is his straightforward, inarguably cute cartooning style. Never has demon decapitation been more adorable. Starks accomplishes so much with his slightly wavy, thick lines - his characters are simple and expressive. In collaboration with Chris Schweizer’s colors, Old Head delivers on mood and atmosphere with a nearly imperceptible subtlety. You hardly noticed you’re being moved until it’s too late. Starks has your heart by the throat, and he’s not letting go. The action sequences are also thrilling and effective. It doesn’t matter if it is a basketball scene, a horror scene, or a basketball/horror scene - Kyle Starks has fluency when it comes to capturing violence in motion. It clearly comes from a keen eye and decades of enthusiastic study.

Kyle Starks referring to Old Head as “Space Jam meets Fright Night” is just another one of Starks’ cheeky, artful misdirections. Old Head is a hilarious, gripping, gorefest of a horror-comedy about a father trying to learn to see himself through his twelve-year-old daughter's eyes. Despite his best efforts to convince her otherwise, Willie sees her dad, Nash “The Knife” Gliven, Jr., as her hero. Old Head is an honest examination of regret, grief, fatherhood, and legacy. Kyle Starks is an extremely thoughtful, sensitive, and nuanced writer. Of course, the best defense of a touching and vulnerable message is to offend you with an obscene, slapstick comedy-horror premise. As scary-hot as vampires may be, they can’t hold a candle to our personal demons. Turns out Kyle Starks is a true vampire slayer. VILFs are on the outs with me, friends. Strictly fish-men from here on out.

Graphic Novel Review: Old Head By Kyle Starks

Old Head
Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Kyle Starks
Colorist: Chris Schweizer
Letterer: Kyle Starks
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $16.99
Space Jam meets Fright Night in this hilarious action-horror as a former basketball star returns home to bury his mother only to learn of her mysterious past, his destiny, and to find himself embroiled in a decades-long blood feud with actual Dracula. 
Publication Date: August 25th, 2021
More Information: Old Head

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Lisa Gullickson is one half of the couple on the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast, and, yes, the a capella version of the 90s X-men theme is all her. Her Love Language is Words of Affirmation which she accepts @sidewalksiren on twitter.