Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Pat Shand
Illustrated by Vincenzo Riccardi
Coloured by Eleonora Bruni
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Liesel Van Helsing and Marian journey to the lower levels of a magical nightclub to stop a group of dark sorcerers from resurrecting the wicked Morgana. But Marian takes over the spell and instead resurrects Hades’ daughter Angelica. However, when she appears before them, it seems that something has gone wrong… Angelica is a vampire! She quickly escapes onto the streets on New York City, where Olaf and his gang of vampire junkies prepare to capture her.
Well there’s a reason Liesel is so gosh darn popular, well with me anyway, and that’s because of what Pat’s been doing with her. I mean her love of Hades knows no bounds and what do they say about “the road to hell is paved with good intentions?” However even better for me at least is that is seeing Olaf’s origin and the possibilities that has for the future of New York and those that inhabit it. I mean c’mon his sire is introduced here as well and what we learn here well it really does tie this to Robyn Hood’s series and set the stage for something extraordinary down the road.
I’d like to thank Vincenzo for a moment as he aptly illustrated this issue and brought more to the page than I could have dreamed. Olaf, the Hand of Death, being born anew by his sire had all the hallmarks of a poignant moment in time along with a decidedly almost romantic and sexually charged encounter. Let’s face it vampire’s evoke that and what Vincenzo does with that here is utterly mesmerizing!
Oh Olaf now I need to know more about him and should he survive this limited series hopefully Pat will take a walk on the bad side of town and feature him. His treatment of Angelica well that speaks volumes. I’m seriously impressed with the characterization we are getting here and not just from that but from Hades, Marian and Liesel as well. All around these characters are being fleshed out continually and emotionally in ways that keep the reader connected to them.
There’s a lot going on here that I hadn’t expected to see and that it’s kind of thrilling and dark and yet full of vengeance and self-fulfillment it keeps swirling around so that you may feel sorry for someone one moment but appalled by them the next. This is what a roller coaster should do to you constantly change your viewpoint and wonder what’s around the next curve.
I mentioned Vincenzo earlier and the way he’s able to consistently use the pages, panels and perspective to bring this to life is wonderful. The characters stay looking the same throughout and while some have this unbridled sense of passion mixed with darkness and others shine with light it makes for contrast and helps with how the story is perceived by the reader.
This is why Zenescope keeps readers happy. Complex,interesting stories with solid interiors keeping us on the edge wondering what’s going to happen next and which outcome is preordained!