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Review: Van Helsing Vs Dracula’s Daughter #4 (of 5)

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

Liesel Van Helsing’s past, of which she has no control over, seems to raise it’s pointy toothed undead head as the penultimate chapter of this series from Zenescope hits the racks.  The Van Helsing series feels as if its gone through some changes, pretty much in line with other books like Robyn Hood.  Now however, with the onslaught of the daughter of the most famous vampire of all, we are getting back to basics.

This issue sees the continuation of the Van Helsing diary, this time detailing the birth of the titular villain, before the hints of possible considerations and plots are dropped in the present, or hidden in pockets at the very least.

The book has a story credit for Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini and Raven Gregory, with Gregory getting the writing credit.  With four writers, I have to ask how come they have managed to show Van Helsing Senior, perhaps the most famous vampire hunter of all time, failing miserably in cutting off Dracula’s head! How does this one key fact of how to kill a vampire get past all four of them?  Oh well, at least we have the fact that Liesel doesn’t recognise her friend being shady over the serum!  These two elements detract from the idea of Liesel’s emotional journey driven by the secrets of the diary.  It is actually the diary parts that are the best bits of this book, given as it adds to the overall development, nuance and motivations of Liesel.

The art is provided by Allan Otero who uses a less detailed look for his smooth lines.  The lack of detail is a great way to hint at what the eye doesn’t need to see.  It also means that there are less snags to get caught on, which can be a problem.  The lines are systematic of a Zenescope books, so you know what you are going to get.  Of course, the fishnets help!  Colors are provided by Robby Bevard, keeping up the high production qualities that we have come to expect from this brand of comics.  I cannot say enough about the great letters from Taylor Esposito, from Ghost Glyph Studios.   Here, he gets to try different fonts that help define the past and present elements of the story.  It’s a wonder why Esposito isn’t on more Big Two books!  With it being a Zenescope book, there are small election of variants to choose from;  cover C from Richard Ortiz and Ceci de la Cruz is my personal favourite.

Fans of Zenescope know what they are going to get; non fans of Zenescope know what they are going to get.  That said, you have got to love he consistency!  I like how Zenescope know what they are good at and what their business model, which they run unapologetically.   I just wish that all this effort would result in a break out book for them.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall  – 3.5 Stars

Story by; Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini and Raven Gregory
Written by;  Raven Gregory
Art by; Allan Otero
Colors by; Robby Bevard
Letters by; Tayler Esposito (from Ghost Glyph Studios)
Published by; Zenescope Entertainment

 

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
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