VAN HELSING: BLOODBORNE, from Zenescope Entertainment on May 25th, 2022, takes Liesel Van Helsing to Paris to meet a friend when a science experiment goes horribly wrong and spawns a mutated ghoul.
The Details
- Written By: Pat Shand
- Art By: Allan Otero
- Colors By: Walter Pereyra
- Letters By: Taylor Esposito, Torrie Wilkinson, Aaron Mentzer
- Cover Art By: Al Barrionuevo, Robby Bevard (cover A)
- Cover Price: $5.99
- Release Date: May 25, 2022
Was It Good?
Okay, this is fine. No, scratch that. This issue is better than fine. VAN HELSING: BLOODBORNE is a solid, entertaining, creature-feature starring Zenescope’s one and only monster hunter. Is it an Earth-shattering extravaganza that will change the Zenescope universe as we know it? No, and it doesn’t need to be. This comic does exactly what it’s supposed to – deliver a fun, entertaining monster story.
The big positive in this issue is Shand’s writing. He’s proven to be top-tier in Zenceope’s stable of writers because he gets all the basics down and builds on the basics with narrative flow, eloquent narration, natural dialog, and perfect pacing. Not a single panel or page is waste.
That’s not to say the writing is necessarily formulaic or boring. It’s not. Liesel travels across the channel to visit a friend in France while reminiscing about how her friends find themselves in deadly situations. You get the sense Shand is injecting a nebulous statement about Liesel’s connection to danger and how the Universe may be putting her where she needs to be to stop threats. Liesel’s musings don’t fall into heavy character-building territory, but you can see how this story reminds her to keep close friends at arm’s length.
The plot, in fairness, is a vanilla “science experiment run amok” scenario. There’s nothing wrong with those types of stories. In fact, this issue has a slightly nostalgic charm as if you’re watching one of those cheesy B-movies on a Saturday afternoon. Still, this is a high-quality B-movie with a terrifying monster, good pacing, good character acting, and a riveting-yet-thoughtful finale.
The art from Otero, Pereyra, and the lettering team is dead-on perfect for this type of story. The monster design is imaginative and horrific, the action is energetic, the coloring pops, and the lettering (especially the narration) is clean and clear.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Liesel Van Helsing arriving in Paris to meet her friend, Alex Igor, for technical help enhancing one of her gadgets. While Liesel’s in town, Alex is eager to show her a discovery involving a strange Fungus he found in cold storage. The fungus has unusual growth properties with historic potential in medicine.
Unfortunately, the fungus grows at lightning speed, attacks one of Alex’s lab colleagues, and takes control of his body. The new creature Is a horrifying mass of teeth, claws, and worm-like tentacles that drain all fluid from its victims. Worse yet, the dead rise again as lethal worm zombies under the control of the master monster.
We conclude the issue with trial and error, a chase in the Parisian catacombs, and the stuff of nightmares.
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Final Thoughts
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VAN HELSING: BLOODBORNE is a standard yet fun creature adventure with a scary monster, plenty of action, and excellent dialog and narration. This story doesn’t shake up the universe or connect to anything outside itself, but if you’re in the mood for an excellent standalone one-shot, this is it.
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