Review: Van Helsing Annual - Hour of the Witch One-Shot

Zenescope, the company who seems to promote thigh highs and fishnets more than any other comic book company, continues to ramp up the coverage of one of their biggest stars; Van Helsing. This time though it takes more than two to tango!

Liesel Van Helsing is at something of a restart in her life. Following very recent changes, she looks to fall back on old habits. But when a greater power than Liesel could fathom emerges, Liesel suffers an unwelcome question. For all her power, for all her victories is she the best vampire hunter she could be. The encroaching darkness may have a bigger impact on her thoughts and mindset than you’d think!

From a story by Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl and Pat Shand; it is Shand credited as writer gets to pull the various threads together. Under Shand;s watch Van Helsing is at a loss of sorts. With the team-up of the more gung-ho Gretel and her pal Calabar, Van Helsing gets something of a rude awakening. Shand balances the need to show Liesel as the heroine, whilst still allowing for the gnawing doubt that starts to eat at her. The dialogue of the book is more confrontational amongst the protagonists than possibly between the forces of good and evil. I am a tad annoyed at parts of this book; I like Liesel with a beau and feel that there is an opportunity missed for sone “not the damsel in distress” type of story. Hey it worked on both Vampi and Wonder Woman for quite some time.

The art is also a bit of round robin with Sergio Arino, Julius Abrera paring up to double the pae count for this one-shot. Going for a house style, I think Abrera slightly edges it. Bot try and give Liesel a certian sexiness with her poses though the downside is that when she is on the quiet side, the art can be come a touch wooden in places. Whilst the art may not seem a a polished as the Big Two, or even bigger indie books, but the pair manage to sustain the Zenescope quality level. Colors are another team affair with Grostieta, Vinicius Andrade and Maxflan Araujo all chipping in, keeping the high production values that we have come to associate with Zenescope. Letters are supplied by comics veteran Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios, ably assisted by Elizabeth Sharland; another tag team affair. There is quite a lot of words to this issue and Esposito and Sharland do well to ensure that the art is not diminished.

Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3.5 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Story by; Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl & Pat Shand
Written by; Pat Shand
Art by; Sergio Arino & Julius Abrera
Colors by; Grostieta, Vinicius Andrade & Maxflan Araujo
Letters by; Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios & Elizabeth Sharland
Published by; Zenescope Entertainment Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

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