Zenescope Entertainment 2017
Written by Chuck Dixon
Illustrated by Allan Otero
Coloured by Robby Bevard
Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studio
Liesel Van Helsing is the daughter of the famed vampire slayer Abraham Van Helsing. As both a genius inventor and a skilled hunter, she has taken on Dracula, Frankenstein, even the Mummy of Amun-Ra and survived. Now, her next battle begins against one of the deadliest of supernatural hunters to exist, The Werewolf.
I do have one question hasn’t Liesel met Britney? We all know werewolves exist in this world and for them to dismiss them as not existing is weird. While this is just the next installment of her meeting the legendary monsters of the movies and this werewolf is much different than we’ve seen still they all should know they exist after all Liesel knows Yeti’s exist.
Alright so aside from that I love that Chuck can absolutely anything known to mankind. His take on this is fun, interesting and makes Liesel into something so much than just a monster hunter. We’re seeing her given new skills and attitude that puts her on par with some of the greatest action/adventure stars around. She’s had all these gadgets and gizmos when she was introduced and that we see her using them, her fighting skills and her knowledge in the way we see it her makes me thankful that she’s still growing, evolving and finding new ways to entertain us.
Allan does some really nice work on the interiors here. From the snow covered mountains to the Monks and the monsters there’s a cinematic quality to this that is utterly delightful. The way he’s laid out the pages has a great feel to it and the angles, perspective and utilisation of backgrounds here take what we see close to breathtaking.
Liesel has always been a fascinating character and seeing what Chuck is doing with her here makes me extremely excited for what’s to come. This is what I’ve been wanting and Pat was going in that direction and now Chuck is fulfilling it. This is some sharp writing and characterisation that puts Liesel on course to be a fighter, detective and all around one of the most varied and potentially dangerous women on the planet.
So the introduction of her guide and seeing Agent Wu again is fantastic. I like the Chuck is kind of not necessarily expanding Liesel’s world but those she is finding she can rely on. Yes Agent Wu and she will have this kind of adversarial frenemy thing going on but they seem to meet in the midst of something dire and will have to team up just to get out of it. The dynamic here can change on a dime and that feeling of expect the unexpected is delicious. That guessing game we as readers play is the kind of stuff we live for, it’s a love hate thing but we nonetheless want it.
This is what we want to see from these characters. Growth, evolution and the kind of shattering excitement in the adventures that push them to their limits and we see more of what they are made of!