LORDS OF LA #1, from Destiny Horizons on Kickstarter, begins a decades-long tale of rival mobster gangs who are ruled by centuries-old vampires. What happens when a rogue killer arrives to upset the balance?
The Details
- Written by: Frank J. Zanca
- Art by: Alex Femenias, Maria Keane
- Colors by: Luis Antonio Delgado, James Brown
- Letters by: Anaid Melendez
- Cover art by: Hedwin Zaldivar
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover price: $7.00
- Release date: December 2022 (estimated)
Is It Good?
Vampire organized crime stories are nothing new. There are countless books, comics, and tabletop games focused on vampire clans vying for control over turfs. But Lords of LA #1 brings a fresh twist to the sub-genre by introducing a protagonist with a score to settle against all the clans, and she uses their rivalry to exact bloody revenge.
Following the crime families between 1952 and 2016, Frank J. Zanca’s script strikes a delicate balance between the past and the (recent) present as you witness how the actions and reactions of a character in the past ripple through to the future. This is a case where having an oversized issue works in the story’s favor, as each time period is given time to develop into a world unto itself. In that way, Zanca’s script is impressively balanced across multiple timelines.
Second to the balancing of multiple threads over multiple times, Zanca earns kudos for developing a collection of vampire characters who are vicious and dangerous without going over the top. Abelina, Dragna, and Cainella act, talk and think like modern-day gangsters who are smart enough to keep their thirsty habits out of the public eye. All gangsters in this comic are nasty pieces of work, and Zanca sets the story up for readers to enjoy their conflict as much as possible because, frankly, they all deserve to die, so you can enjoy the bloodshed for the gore aspects and the schadenfreude.
What’s not so great? Lena Morgan, the protagonist, has a confusing origin, so the confusion makes her mission of revenge (the main point of the story) unclear. She’s bitten by Cainella, but her narration states he wasn’t the one to “turn” her. Lena doesn’t die after being bitten, so how does she become a vampire? A final shot names her husband and the father of her child, but the name on the tombstone matches the name of a character she doesn’t meet until after she’s bitten by Cainella. Either Zanca got lost in Morgan’s timeline, or the way her story is presented contradicts the order of events more than once. The confusion probably doesn’t make much of a difference in the present and going forward, but the confusion sticks out like a sore thumb.
How’s the art? Above average for an indie project of this size and scope. Alex Femenias and Maria Keane’s pencils/inks are strong, bloody action scenes are very bloody, and the dramatic acting from every character is expressive. In addition, Delgado and Brown’s coloring is excellent.
The one weak spot is the lack of distinctiveness among several characters across the timeframes. But for small variations in hairstyle/color, Dante looks like Abellino looks like Ricky (minus a very slight scar). Conversely, Lena changes her hair and outfits so many times, you easily lose track of whether or not she’s the same person or another random character. It’s an easily corrected problem, but an obvious one.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a mobster lackey running through the nighttime alleys of LA in 2016. He’s soon caught by Dominick, a vampire lieutenant of the Cainella crime family. Dante gets the information he needs about a recent attack by another crime family from the lackey.
Later, Vincent Abellino hears about the attack and learns the culprit is a third family who left town decades ago – the Dragna family. Soon, LA edges closer to a three-way gang war between rival vampire clans. What nobody realizes is the catalyst behind it all is a one-time nightclub singer with a burning heart for revenge.
We conclude the issue with misdirection, family visits, and a cunning plan.
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Final Thoughts
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LORDS OF LA #1 weaves an intricate tale, spread over decades, about a cold war between organized crime gangs of vampires. The setup is richly detailed, and the trajectory of the story is interesting. Except for confusion surrounding the protagonist’s origin and some of the character designs, this is a solid vampire/mobster mashup.
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