Sometimes you need to enter the darkness to fight it … just hope you don’t regret it.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: Michele Bandini
What They Say:
Last year, Liesel Van Helsing was attacked by an evil from her father’s past … but she survived, and moved on with her life. Besides becoming the name that vampires fear, she’s also found love … in the strangest place. However, when old friends come calling on her for help, Van Helsing finds herself pulled into a final conflict with the deadliest vampire of all time!
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
Mina has been taken and Jonathan will do anything to get her back, but even with Liesel’s help, will they be able to rescue her from the monster called Dracula? And now Hades seems to have turned from his girlfriend’s side, allowing the possessed damsel to return to the one who has corrupted her. Will the two masters of darkness seek a boon or will their mutual understanding erupt into a futile struggle upon an eternal battlefield? They are determined to use her for their own means, but the outcome will be determined by the path they have chosen – as will her fate.
Van Helsing will not allow them to use Mina for whatever ignoble reason. It is clear that the vampire wants her for his personal use, but could Hades have been trying to save her? Whichever is the lesser of the two evils, she will not allow either to claim this innocent. However, the Count has other plans and he will not allow his favourite toy to take his prize, no matter how much he may love to play with her. His overwhelming power shows that they are no match for this master of the night. They have no choice but to retreat and re-plan their attack; but how can they if her closest ally can no longer be trusted. How will they face Dracula if he appears to be invulnerable to any weapon, unless there is someone who has learned of his secrets?
My favourite Pat Shand’s works have always managed to interweave some sense of humour into the story to lighten the mood, but now Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Van Helsing vs. Dracula is showing me his darker side. True, he has shown it in previous Zenescope works like his current runs in Grimm Fairy Tales series and Charmed, but nothing so, pardon the pun, GRIM. True, we have had previous adaptations of Dracula in comic form, this but this one is far above the rest in capturing the subtle nuances that we think of when we allude to that famous vampire.
We have none of that classic portrayal by Béla Lugosi in which he shows himself as a nobleman, a gentleman in which he can charm his victims as we saw in Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Helsing; if you remember that version, wipe it from your mind. Although we do see a glimpse of that version briefly, he has been quickly devoured by a vicious hunter, a cunning beguiler, someone who will use any means to get what he wants. Shand has managed to modernise an old character into who someone who fits into the Zenescope universe on par with the Dark One or the Dark Queen. While the first issue of this mini-series set up the situation, this one gives us a concussion … with a sledge hammer! And I mean that in a GOOD way!
In Summary:
This whole issue was action, action, action and I hope that Michele Bandini got a break between pages. The way he portrays the story that Shand has carved reminds me of an old horror movie, but in a good way. None of the gaudy and cheap special effects in the current generation of films where they use gallons of fake blood to try to make the fans scream in delight. Here we have gorgeously depicted gruesome scenes of carnage accented by necessary streams of blood, a chilling rotting corpse and the Brides of Dracula; but it is all overshadowed by the shrieks of Mina and the presence of her master. If this issue was used as a storyboard for a movie, it would surely be a blockbuster or better yet – a cult classic! Nothing is too gory or out of place and yet Bandini gets his point across within a few scenes of how powerless the hunters are against this apex predator. What more could you ask for?
If they can get this type of result from just the second issue, how will Shand and Bandini be able to keep up the spontaneity until the end? I need to take breather until the next adventure. Let’s just hope that October will bring another great one … but how can they top this?
Grade: A+
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: September 16th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
