The dark choice made.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Mirko Colak
Colors: Maria Santaolalla
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
What horror turned Vlad and Radu—the two most feared vampire hunters in the known world—against one another? Will the brothers forgive one another or will deeper and more sinister familial mysteries drive them further apart?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Brothers Dracul series comes to a close, for now at least, with Cullen Bunn bringing us to that dark place that was largely expected. The opening pages of the series made it clear (as does the general history of Vlad, obviously), but Cullen Bunn gave us a lot of interesting time in showing the brothers and their journey. Here, Bunn takes us to more of the darkness with where it’s going and how it do, all of which is brought together with some really strong scenes thanks to Mirko Colak and Maria Santaolalla. The pair really delivered a striking book throughout the run with great design and intensity but also a lot of humanity in places where you least expected it.
With Ermine taken, the intensity of what Vlad is feeling is obvious and the bulk of the book follows that path. Ermine is no longer Ermine as she’s basically sounding the same as the other turned people, speaking from a hive mind of sorts about what they want. And they want Vlad, having groomed him for years but also his enjoyment of killing being something that was always in him. The journey that it goes on here is disheartening because Radu keeps doing his best to get Vlad to see he’s going down the wrong path in trying to save Ermine when she simply needs to be ended. But Vlad is taken by her and can’t do it, leading to him creating a new web of lies amid the chaos. There are a lot of bodies falling in the fight sequences that get underway here but in the end it all serves Vlad’s larger purpose.
This issue presents its bookended pages with where we started the series, with Radu coming to try and talk sense into Vlad in 1462. Vlad’s killed thousands since then with what he sees as vampir everywhere and Radu knows that this will all turn badly on him eventually as others will seek to stop him. Radu’s love of his brother drives this and it’s really engaging watching the two in their older form after seeing the final breaking point for Vlad when they were under Mehmed’s “service” all those years ago. But the reality of this weary and worn Vlad, who still has Ermine alive after all these years and is either being manipulated by her or she’s slowly drawing him into what needs doing, makes those ending pages all the harder and has me hopeful that the team will be able to come back for more someday.
In Summary:
The Brothers Dracul is a very fun series overall and those that will read it in trade form will have a very good experience. It’s easy to visualize theatrically in a way as Colak gives us these big sequences and some really strong up close and personal moments. The scale of events are well-presented but it was always human and accessible with what the brothers were going through. While Dracula and this period may not be on every writer’s list of things they want to tweak, explore, and expand upon, Bunn is someone who added some welcome new wrinkles to it all and has me wanting to see more of where it could all go in a bigger and grander – and more violent way.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: August 29th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
