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Apr 30, 2011 By Jeremy Nisen

If you'd told me a couple months ago that my first stop on the Internet every Monday and Friday would be a specific Web comic, I would not have been surprised at all.

But a Web comic concerning girls at a private school? Color me surprised, as well as a little red in the face. Not that I'll let that stop me from enjoying Eerie Cuties, or from proclaiming its wonderfulness here in an open forum.

The art in the twice-weekly strip is done by the very talented Gisèle Lagacé. This is hardly her first Web comic venture, and I wouldn't be shocked to find myself spotlighting one of her other strips (Ménage à 3, et. al.) in a future entry. She co-writes it as well, with "David Zero 1," and inks & finishes are done by Shouri.

The name Eerie Cuties describes it to a tee: adorable horror-monster-inspired schoolgirl (& boy) characters dealing with messy things like sleepovers, kissing, social climbing, and bending genders. It's firmly in the sweet spot between manga and Archie comics, with a healthy dose of "Addam's Family" and "Three's Company" sensibilities thrown in (in a good way).

The primary protagonists are a pair of vampires, the Delacroix sisters. Nina, the younger one, only feeds on chocolate, no blood, due presumably to being born on Easter (see? ADORABLE!). Her sister Layla is kind of a queen bee/queen bitch of the school, but is mostly benign if a little stuck up. And she has a little skull hairpin that makes expressive faces (see? SUPER ADORABLE). Also on board are a succubus with low self-esteem; a tomboy from a race of snake-like beings; a possessed, perverted, and fully-animated doll that constantly steals their underwear  . . . you name it. Basically, more horror tropes than you can shake a stick at (evil hand, anyone?), but perhaps by way of "Freaks & Geeks" or "90210."

It's a sugary, even saccharine, surface, hiding a pervy, voyeuristic underside . . . and, if you want to think about it, there are some issues explored and lessons learned (and we all love "very special episodes" and after-school specials, right? Even when the school is Charybdis Heights).  But if thinking's not your thing, go ahead and treat it like candy: it's definitely cute, usually a little naughty, and, despite feeling like I am way too old and wrong gendered for it, I keep coming back.

Eerie Cuties has new episodes every Monday and Wednesday; there's also an offshoot comic called Magic Chicks every Tuesday and Friday. Eerie Cuties started out in color, but is now B&W (which, frankly, I prefer). But to start from the beginning, go here. You're only about 200 strips behind . . .

(Next time I promise to shine the spotlight on something SUPER MANLY. Or at least something not school-girls-in-uniform centric.)

 

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