Hi! I’m Syne Mitchell (she/her) and I’m the creator of “My Ex, Vlad”. You can email me at syne@myexvlad.com.

“My Ex, Vlad” is a monster romance comic that is funny, feminist, and affirms that sometimes the most loving thing you can do, is let go.

I’ve been passionate about comics since I was a kid. My influences are Elfquest, X-Men, and a staggering amount of romance manga (shojo, josei, yaoi, and yuri.)

In 2019, I started learning the art and craft of comics. “My Ex, Vlad” is my first series.

(You  pronounce my  name with a long ‘i’ sound, as in “Auld Lang Syne.”)

Let me introduce you to the characters in my story.

All the characters in a group setting. Mr. Whiskers has turned his paws into wings and is flying the sky, Vlad is skulking behind a telephone pole, Gladiola and Cameron are sharing a moment while Roxy looks on with affection, and Jules and Black are discussing the whole situation.

Gladiola Wilkens

A werewolf. Twenty-two. She’s a graduate student in Computer Science at a large university in the Pacific Northwest.

The Wilkens’s extended family is one of two major packs in the area.

Playlist for Gladiola
Gladdy has long flowing light brown hair. Her eyebrows are at once hairy and feminine (I worked hard on figuring that out) She has pointy ears (all my non-human characters have pointy ears to give readers a visual cue to their monster nature.) The celebrity inspiration for Gladiola was Sofia Vergara. I love Sofia's look, and was able to find a lot of expressions and video for her online. Gladiola's teeth are a teeny bit pointed. That's my marker for werewolf, verses vampire, where the teeth are a lot more pointy and longer.
Vlad is pale with blonde hair and pink lips. He is, excuse my expression, a fuck boy. He's got his head tilted and is kinda giving Gladiola's picture the eye. One fang is showing. Vlad's celebrity inspiration is a model named Wouter Peelen.

Vlad

A vampire. Mumble-mumble years old. Couch surfs to survive. Keeps his coffin in a 24-hour storage unit.

Playlist for Vlad

Cameron Facett

A human. Twenty-four. He’s a PhD candidate in large-mammal biology at a large university in the Pacific Northwest. He often conducts research in the mountains north of the city.

He’s been unlucky in love and has become a bit jaded with the online dating scene, but how else are you going to meet people these days?

Playlist for Cameron
Cameron is a square-jawed man with a dimple in his chin. His hair is shaved at the back and sides and he has a mass of auburn curls on the top of his head. He looks warm and friendly, like someone who would help you change a tire. He has a propensity to wear flannel shirts with tartan designs.
Jules is a black woman with medium-dark skin. Her hair is braided, and the braids are piled on top of her head in a bun, from which free strands of braids hang down. She looks determined, as she should do. My celebrity inspiration for her look is Danai Gurira, who I have a girl crush on, because how could I not?

Jules Louve

A werewolf. Twenty. Majoring in Fashion Design at a large university in the Pacific Northwest.

Her extended family is the other major pack in the area. The Wilkens’ and the Louve’s socialize often and share campgrounds on full-moon nights.

Playlist for Jules

Blake (Zhu Zhu) Lee

A professional witch. Twenty-six. Non-binary, with pronouns (they/them).

They do a bit of construction work (laying wards and hexes) and a bit of extermination (exorcizing demons and ghosts.)

Playlist for Blake
Blake is Asian, with markers of both male and female appearance: soft lips, a strong jaw, etc. This character design is based on their gender neutral identity, drawing from both aspects. Half their head is shaved, and (although you can't see it from this angle) has mystic runes carved into the close-cropped hair. The other half of their head is long and flowing. The color of their hair is a dark dull purple. Because if you have magic, why not? They're wearing a orange shirt with a purple-and-green flower motif. Oh, the celebrity inspiration for Blake is Jimin of BTS. At first I just used him as a photo reference. Many YouTube videos later... he's my bias.
A square-jawed dog that is a mix of Rottweiler and Labrador Retriever. Her face is boxy, her fur is tan with a white blotch on her chest. Her expression is hopeful and loving. The catch lights in her eyes are stylized as hearts.

Roxy

A Rottweiler mix Cameron adopted. Goofy, enthusiastic, thinks Cameron hung the moon. Not sure how to feel about werewolves.

Playlist for Roxy

Mr. Whiskers

A cat that Vlad inadvertently turned into a vampire. Barely noticed the change

Playlist for Mr. Whiskers
Mr. Whiskers is an orange tabby cat with a white chest, chin, and inner ear tufts. He has dark orange stripes all over his body. He looks both sweet and like he might be ready to get up to some shit. The idea of a vampire cat is something that me and my husband came up with, and riffed story ideas about on a drive.