This is one child you don’t want mad … unless you don’t like living.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: Renzo Rodriguez
Colors: Walter Baiamonte
Letters: Ryan Ferrier
What They Say:
In a when a family of Highborns ruled over Ancient Greece, Hades Blackstone – the God of the Underworld – fathered a child with a mortal woman. In an effort to keep his daughter, Angelica, safe from his enemies, Hades stayed out of her life … until she fell in love with a prince from a neighboring kingdom. A kingdom at war.
Hoping to save the immortal Angelica from a romance that would surely end in a tragedy, Hades sent the prince on a fool’s errand into the Underworld to slay a beast whose very blood offered those who drank it eternal life. Hades thought the monster would make quick work of the prince, but the prince triumphed and was infected by the beast’s blood. The prince became immortal, but he’d lost his soul in the process. He found Angelica … and he killed her.
Millennia later, Hades lived his life regretting these actions. In an attempt to set his heart at ease, his lover Liesel Van Helsing, teamed up with a witch named Marian Quin to resurrect Angelica Blackstone. The spell seemed to work, but Angelica was not brought back as the quiet daughter that Hades loved. Instead, she came back as a vampire.
This is the story of Angelica Blackstone, the Hellchild, as she tries to find new life in the city that never sleeps.
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
A new feral beast stalks the streets of New York for its prey, but it is not a certain Hellchild whose hunger drives her this night. She is preoccupied with other more pressing matters which require her attention and this time, she gets paid for releasing her inner demon. The underground fight club allows her to engage pent up anger and the crowd seems to enjoy the gratuitous show of violence … or do they? Angelica has been the champion of this miserable pit of refuse for the better part of two months, but she never toys with her opponents, like the raucous audience wants. It is always over too quick: her overwhelming strength puts an end to the challenger with a single blow instead of the prolonged suffering that the low life mobs desires. But she doesn’t care – as long as she gets paid.
Nevertheless, it appears that the ease with which Hades’ daughter won her matches has ruffled more than a few feathers, and these onlookers are not those which will forgive her monetary transgressions. The longer the matches were drawn out, the higher the bets would grow and therefore, the greater the rewards. But this vampiric battler does not care as long as she is compensated for her time. However tonight is the last time she shall interfere with that tradition, for due to audience participation, her reign may soon come to an end. As the horde of disgruntled gamblers descends upon the undefeated champion and all seems bleak, a devilish ally comes to her aid. This red headed spectator helps to clear air in more ways than one, but at the same time, ends the sanguine demigod’s nocturnal fiscal freedom. In response to this distressing situation, she offers a business card, emblazoned with the name Jezebel Felina, and departs with a cryptic offer. Can the Hellchild truly trust such a maligned title … or does she have any other choice?
In Summary:
Ever since Pat Shand introduced this fate ravaged child within the pages of Van Helsing vs Dracula #4, she has been smothered by the hands of those wanting to help her, but all of those good intentions have been twisted into a monstrosity of bad decisions. Everyone tried to change her path for whatever selfish reasons, delusional into thinking it was the best for Angelica, but in the end it always ended poorly, her destiny forever changed and contorted into a morass of what her is life now. But now that she has taken charge of those consequences, this Hellchild can see a bit more clearly, even if her vision is somewhat obscured by blood stained lenses. She is responsible for trying to forge forward on a path blazed by others, but the destination and how she gets there is her own. I have always loved how Shand presented her as a troubled child, almost a twisted reflection of his other popular heroine – Robyn; if Locksley didn’t have the calming influence of Marian to guide and temper her into the impressive woman that she is now, then perhaps anger would have consumed her like Angelica. In the previous series, it was all about redemption for others who guided the Hellchild by steering her destiny, but now the road is now supposedly clear for her to determine her own future. And what better way to start a new journey than to show Angelica in an underground fight club? It is a brilliant way to release that rage in a semi-constructive way and her headstrong attitude just fuels the fury – her own method of stress reduction therapy. The reader can almost feel a silent chuckle when they see that part since it is so suitable for her character and yet symbolizes the torment of competing against herself, all for control of her own sanity.
And now that Angelica has ventured upon an unfamiliar direction for this act of her life, what better way to start than to introduce a new artist to the Zenescope family – Renzo Rodriguez? Both have something to prove to this fledgling readership with this Launch title, and neither is ashamed to show us what they have … in the most blatant display of ferocity ever shown in this company’s lineup. While we have seen intense savagery in other series like Wonderland, Tales of Terror and most recently Satan’s Hollow, most of that grisly carnage is either done off page or is so subdued that it feels like it came from a kids’ rated horror movie like Goosebumps. However, Rodriguez does not hold anything back in this premiere issue and opens with what sets up the demeanor of hopefully will be the prized sentiment for the rest of the series: show us what we want to get the point across without holding anything back; to literally give us a splash page with copious amounts of blood and primal brutality that would make most cringe and then follow up with that pronounced drip, drip on a following panel is elegant in its simplicity, but so effective in that same restraint. Then to even dare to extenuate his illustrations with Walter Baiamonte’s masterful usage of darkness, shadows and that required color for Hellchild – crimson, heightens the bone chilling factors all the more. It is so appropriate that this series is being released only a few days after Halloween, since the haunting beauty of Baiamonte’s palette of colors wonderfully expands upon the macabre sensibilities of the holiday. Hellish beasts and demonic creatures compete for your visual attention, with the entirety of the issue cloaked within an overcast obscurity. However, nothing reflects his talent more with the digital paintbrush than the page of Jezebel leading her hellhound pack into battle; ghoulish neon lit manes crackle along their bodies as they salivate for the meal that is to come and the only signal of life are the luring will-o’-the-wisp eyes, leading us further into horror and drowning in intensity like some twisted jack-o’-lanterns. But Angelica is the star of this show and Rodriguez does not let us forget that with his crisp depictions of: half hawk hairstyle, barred wire wrapped talons, a wickedly sinister smile barely hiding her fangs and sanguine irises with slit pupils, all combine for an expression of sheer pleasure as she rips into her opponents for survival and ecstatic release. Ever more liberating than an afternoon at the gym … even if it might be illegal in most states.
Hellchild: The Unholy has us enraptured within a comforting, blood soaked blanket of gore that makes us want for more as Angelica discovers herself from beneath her shroud of insecurities. Nothing or no one can hold her back now, but we have to wonder if that is wise to release her onto a city which never sleeps. And beware the toothy yet friendly grin, for you never know what Angelica is pondering behind her cold eyes. Clean up … everywhere! Get the industrial size mops and several dozen gallons of enzymatic detergent – this is going to be a messy funhouse!
Grade: A+
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: November 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
