REVIEW: Grimm Fairy Tales: Van Helsing vs Dracula #1
Written by Pat Shand and art by Michele Bandini with covers by Richard Ortiz, Jarreau Wimberly, Billy Tucci and Paolo Pantalena.
Right. Here go with another Grimm-verse story, this time we are back with Lady Van Helsing as she take on the ultimate vampire Dracula.
Now, bearing in mind I live less then 30 miles from Whitby, the place where Dracula landed in Britain, I do have a soft spot for the King of the undead. As such, I was curious as to who he would survive being “Grimm’ed”.
As written by Grimm veteran Pat Shand, Dracula holds up pretty well. Indeed he seems to have a play in motion to rid himself of Van Hesling, who looks a lot better in this book, than in the film of the same name, although am sure Hugh Jackman fans will disagree. Anyways, think Buffy in fishnets and you wouldn’t be to far of the mark. The book flows as
you would expect, with enough sub plots to engage the readers long term attention, whilst the minor recap pages in the book helps a new reader like me understand what has gone before.
The art is by Michele Bandini whose art fits with the Grimm elements of beautiful people. The panels are well structured to the pace of the story, with only one particular panel causing the modicum of confusion to the eye. The action elements share the same sort of dynamism as Norm Breyfogle, with a similar use of body arrangement.
Grimm books certainly have a place on the comic rack. For the most part they are nice to look at and the stories do not need a lot of effort to read.  If a quick fix of semi-supernatural storytelling is your bag, then give them a chance.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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