Advance Review: Hellena #1

Created, Written and Illustrated by Ian Chase Nichols
Color Assistants: Jay Kennedy, Robert Carmona
Published by Fat Cat Funnies

From the mind of Ian Chase Nichols, comes the fantastic and daring tale of Hellena, a sharp-witted and fierce female warrior armed with a haunted axe who is on a quest fueled by vengeance, searching for those who were involved with the implacable atrocities that were carried out against her parents during a ruthless and barbaric time filled with an abundance of greed, corruption and wickedness.

Hellena was just a babe when her parents were savagely murdered at the hands of a ruthless warlord named Mauvias and his band of blood-thirsty soldiers. Ultimately, Mauvias decided to let Hellena live. However, as an insult to the infant and her family, he decreed that the child be sold into slavery. The gods had different plans in store for Hellena. She avoided a life of servitude and instead was brought to a royal family where she was cared for and kept safe. Hellena learned the ways of the warrior and became a formidable opponent for anyone who dared to stand in her way.

Right off the axe, I mean bat, Hellena is a character that shows a tremendous amount of promise. Her personality alone ranges from sweet, caring and loving, to cold, calculated and unforgiving. She’s virtually unpredictable, and her wide array of behavioral traits, coupled with her lethal combat skills, will appeal to mature readers who thirst for a high octane adventure set in a mythological environment.

As I have mentioned before when it comes to independent titles, I have a tendency to skim through the pages first to see if the overall artwork is appealing. With Hellena #1, it is. The artwork by Ian Nichols in this issue was impressive and there were plenty of panels where Hellena’s piercing eyes willÂ leave you mesmerized. His vision for what Hellena was intended to be was executed to perfection in my opinion. His plot for this issue was thorough as well, setting up what was to be an exceptional origin story for Hellena. This book also features an interesting short story written and drawn by Nate Lovett along with Hellena pinups by Rich Buckler (creator of Marvel’s Deathlok), Darryl Banks (co-creator of DC’s Kyle Rayner Green Lantern) and former Marvel, DC and Valiant penciller, Joe St. Pierre, founder of Astronaut Ink.

Hellena #1 will debut at this weekend’s Boston Comic Con and will be distributed throughout the New England area with a print-on-demand for anyone outside of the region. It will also be available on Comixology in the near future. Visit http://www.fatcatfunnies.com/ for more info.

Until next time Crusaders!

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

13th Crusader

Real Name: Mike / Occupation: (As Mike) Classified; (as The 13th Crusader) Host of The Definitive Crusade, DC Podcast, for Undercover Capes / Known Aliases: 13, The Iron Mike, Ironhide, The Walking Human Encyclopedia, Professor M / Affiliations: Comic Crusaders / Base of Operations: The 13th Lair (location classified), often mobile / Abilities: Photographic memory (to the extent where he is capable of memorizing the comic book inventories of several stores simultaneously for lengthy periods of time), voice impersonation, acute senses (The 13th Crusader possesses an uncanny ability to track down vintage comic books, and on several occasions, with his eyes closed, he has been able to determine the exact year a comic book was published just by smelling the ink inside of it), capable of drawing sketches; however, he prefers to write. He has a substantial amount of resistance to alcohol, surpassing the levels displayed by Marvelâ€™s Volstagg and Valiantâ€™s Aram Anni-Padda â€“ combined. Multilingual (Proficient with English and Spanish, adequate with Portuguese and Italian). Above average marksman (he is capable of throwing objects accurately at high velocities), limited sword fighting skills and kickboxing techniques. / Known Weaknesses: Anything that involves the original Gwen Stacy, 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, 50 cent comic book bins, the scent of 1983 comic book ink / Hobbies: Vintage comic book collecting, baseball, listening to excessive amounts of 80â€™s music / History: Little is known of The 13th Crusader. He is a man of many talents who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has extensive knowledge of the comic book world and heâ€™s been collecting comic books since before he was able to read. Heâ€™s a BIG time fan of Silver and Bronze Age comics, and as such, his personal collection is truly impressive. He owns books that range from the 1950â€™s and onward. First Appearance: Comic Crusaders Column â€“ What Defines A Characters First Appearance (Feb 2014)