Bizenghast is an ongoing manga-influenced comic series written and illustrated by M. Alice LeGrow. It is currently being published in English by Tokyopop, which has released seven volumes as of June 2010. The eighth book will be coming out April 2012. The series has also been adapted into a novel by Shawn Thorgersen, with illustrations by LeGrow.Set in the haunted town of Bizenghast, the story follows an orphaned teenage girl named Dinah. After trespassing in an ancient mausoleum, she is tasked with returning each night to free the ghosts within the building. Dinah is assisted by her best friend, Vincent, and two of the four tower guardians of the Mausoleum, Edaniel and Edrear. Later on, the team realise there may be more to Bizenghast than meets the eye, and something is unfolding around one Addie Clark and a strange incident many years ago.
This comic provides examples of:
Aerith and Bob: The human characters all have normal names, such as Vincent Monroe, except Dinah, whose last name is Wherever.
She also created Nareesha specifically because she wanted a full-figured woman to be considered beautiful.
The Beautiful Elite: Dinah and, to a lesser extent, Vincent. The huge wardrobes? Check. The perfect hair and makeup? Check. The huge beautiful houses? Check. The riches? Check. Dinah is also rather talented at drawing and has been described as good-looking. Some of the ghosts may somewhat count such as in Ixi's dream. Played with in that regardless of how rich and beautiful they are, Dinah's considered a freak and a lunatic by the other students at school, and Vincent is secretly miserable and has immense feelings of resentment towards his parents for always being away.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The Ark of the Covenant contained a piece of the afterlife, which was uncovered to kill people.
The Mausoleum: You have come far in your time at the mausoleum. The Dinah who first came to me would not have kept her head upon being separated from her friends. She would not have sought them out in this strange place without fear.
"I almost choked to death on a Dick Tracy watch once. In retrospect, I should not have eaten it box and all. But the bottom line is that communism is bad for your eyes. [beat] I mean television. I get those confused."
Cool Big Sis: Elala was this to Edaniel. She's the only person he won't hit on and is extremely protective of her.
Evil Clown: Bali Lali is subversion, as she is not evil, but freakish-looking. At the start she seems cruel, but in later books she is shown to be deeply loyal towards the Mausoleum and its safety. She maintains some crazy tendancies, but at heart will seriously injure no one... unless you are trespassing.
Fan Nickname: Her Little Ladyship is a variation. Initially, she was listed in the script simply as "ghost", but fans started referring to her as "Her Little Ladyship", and the nickname stuck.
Fish out of Water: Edrear is implied never to have left the Mausoleum for personal reasons before volume 6.
Funny Animal: Edaniel's preferred form is that of a cartoony green cat.
Info Dump: Played with in volume 1: Edaniel grabs a pillow, sits on it and then says "I like to be comfy in the midst of long convenient blocks of exposition" then proceeds to give the much needed exposition to both the heroes and the audience.
Interspecies Romance: Suggested between Dinah and Edrear, and to the max with Edaniel, who will make out with anyone (he also has a girlfriend, Nareesha).
Meaningful Name: In-story example. Learning the meaning of Erzebet's name helps Vincent solve a riddle.
Never Learned To Read: Edrear, according to Edaniel. Further proof of this is that he signs his name with an X.
Newspaper Thin Disguise: When he goes to the human world, Edaniel prevents Dinah from noticing him by hiding his face behind an issue of "Not Edaniel" Magazine.
"So anyway, there's pancakes everywhere. And I tell Fran to get a spatula, and he's like "Dude, I'm a Night Elf, I don't cook." And I'm like "They're cooked already, just pick them up." And he says no! Says he's gonna go start a band or something, I dunno. It was at that moment the shoe came flying from the living room, right at my head, and all I hear is a bunch of ranting in German. And that is the last time I agree to a tabletop game with people I met over the internet."
Only Six Faces: Comes into play. Even Dinah and Vincent share one, though the old people of the town are mainly spared.
Our Angels Are Different: They have the obvious white robes and wings, but have a halo of fire instead of light.
Parental Abandonment: Vincent's parents are always traveling, and he suspects they don't intend to ever come back.
Poke the Poodle: "Get off her, you creep! I'll scratch your eyes out! I'll give you a terribly unfashionable haircut!"
Previous Player Character Cameo: Inverted — in the last chapter of volume 6, the main character (Muffin) of M. Alice's next manga series appears on the very right of a panel walking next to the resurrected.
Pungeon Master: Good lord Edaniel. They're usually quite terrible, too.
Spoiled Brat: Again, Her Little Ladyship. Dinah had shades of this when the series began, but has since moved away from it thanks to Character Development.
Unlimited Wardrobe: Dinah is never shown in the same clothes twice. Not even her nightgown. Justified considering she made all those outfits by her self and had lots and lots of free time before the series, and she seems to come from a rich family if her room is any indication. Vincent also has a huge wardrobe, but his parents are rich.
The first volume mentions that there are numerous other ghosts haunting Dinah's home besides Addie Clark and that she's tormented by them frequently. The rest of the series none of them beyond Addie Clark are mentioned, and their abuse on Dinah has apparently stopped.
Dinah's horrifying dream virus that she contracted to save Vincent from death after he caught it in Plauges' dream that granted her a dress made of bones and left her acting strangely (i.e. calling her aunt "Mom") just kind of... vanished somewhere in the plot.
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