Zenescope Entertainment 2017
Written by Pat Shand
Illustrated by Marc Rosete
Coloured by Walter Pereyra
Flashback Artwork by Roberta Ingranata
Flashback Colours by Fran Gamboa & J.C. Ruiz
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Her will to live and fight diminished by the death of her lover Hades, Liesel Van Helsing finds little respite in the aftermath of her conflict with the Mummy of Amun-Ra, an old foe from the immortal vampire hunter’s storied past. The vengeful God-Queen continues to spill blood on the streets of New York City, first to reinvigorate her own ageless body and then to consolidate her power by usurping the territory of New York’s most insidious crime families. Unfortunately, the God-Queen will let no one, including Liesel’s trusted friend Police Commissioner Julia Gengrich, halt her path to revenge!
The fact that we cannot help but feel Liesel’s pain and anguish at having lost Hades is amazing well done by Pat. I mean seriously that she really has kind of lost that spark that makes her unique and instead is just going through the motions of life just adds to drama that we’re getting here. While part of me wishes Hades hadn’t perished because they made a cute and interesting couple the other part of me thinks that the kind of character development that we’re getting is fair trade off. I really like the poignancy of what she thinks in the opening here.
Oh the more I see of the Commissioner the more I really like her! She’s got vigilante’s running rampant in her city and she uses them to her advantage. She’s gutsy, smart and after seeing what happens this issue well dang she still a darn fine cop. That she has a couple of these guys, with no records mind you, dressed in Egyptian Death Masks invade the precinct the way they did yeah this is why she can forgive Liesel her actions from last night. While Liesel and Robyn may drive her crazy the ever evolving relationship really does work.
The interiors here still continue to impress me. I really do like what we’re seeing in both the present and the flashback. The use of page layouts through angles, perspective and utilising backgrounds really help not only the flow of the story moving but keep the reader’s eyes glued to the page. Also the colouring is spectacular and the God-Queen’s dress is a prime example of why i think so.
The way that this story has been structured so that Liesel and the God-Queen finally come face to face as this issue closes and it’s been as exciting and thrilling as it is has been great to see. While it’s even better that Liesel doesn’t recognise the God-Queen though for some reason I want to say she’s still in the body of her friend her assistant is the one that really takes center stage as we close things out.
It’s books like this that are why we keep coming back to Zenescope for the high quality of writing and artwork.