As much as many Boing Boing readers no doubt like science fiction, I suspect quite a few of you prefer the term "speculative fiction." That considerably less restrictive label reflects a taste for not just stories of possible technologies and possible futures, but whole other possible realities. It allows a work composed under its banner to answer almost any question in a richly creative way. And so I give you my favorite work of speculative fiction, thus defined, which answers the kind of question that stokes humanity's curiosity most: what if a vampire had saber teeth?
Portland-based comic artist, cinephile, and all-around cool dude Mike Russell created The Sabertooth Vampire out of this very curiosity. As you can see, the little guy doesn't have it easy: those teeth sure do get in the way of his day-to-day business, not least that of biting people.
Still, as certain strips reveal, the Sabertooth Vampire can still have a good time if he puts his mind (and teeth) to it. A few years back, I went to Portland, where I always have a good time, to interview Mike Russell on my podcast Notebook on Cities and Culture about not just the Sabertooth Vampire but about his many other ventures, comics and otherwise, as well as the city itself.
"I've been quietly working on a few comics projects for the past several months," Russell recently announced. "One project is Sabertooth Vampire Season 3." That makes now a fine time to head over to his online store, where you can find the first and second seasons of the comic collected in print. Continuity, after all, is clearly of the essence — as in all speculative fiction.
