VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE, by Zenescope Entertainment on 11/22/23, finds Liesel Van Helsing grappling with Julie Jekyll’s disappearance when she encounters a little girl who isn’t all human.
The Details
- Written by: Pat Shand
- Art by: Hakan Aydin
- Colors by: Grostieta
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Igor Vitorino (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover price: $5.99
- Release date: November 22, 2023
Is VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE Good?
Pat Shand continues Liesel Van Helsing’s Dark Night of the Soul with an introspective issue that finds Liesel battling the Westernra Industry’s ranks of vampires after she finds a little girl who doesn’t fit into either category of human or monster. Mixing equal parts self-analysis and monster-hunting action, Shand appears to be methodically working to grow and evolve the character beyond her station as Zenescope’s resident monster hunter.
When last we left Liesel Van Helsing, she moved Heaven and Earth (figuratively speaking) to help Julie Jekyll find a cure to the infection that was causing her Hyde and Jekyll personas to kill each other, one cell at a time. Ultimately, Jekyll decided her best chance for survival was to strike out and find a cure on her own. Now, Liesel wrestles with her unresolved feelings over Julie’s disappearance, so she searches for any location where Julie may have gone to find a cure. When Liesel stakes out a Westernra Industries facility with suspicious activity, Liesel finds a little girl, a lot of dead bodies, and hired vampires who want the girl back.
For new(er) readers, this one-shot isn’t really a one-shot. Zenescope periodically releases issues with select characters to continue their story as if the issue were part of an ongoing that doesn’t come out monthly. To learn more about what happened last between Liesel and Julie Jekyll, refer to our VAN HELSING: THE HORROR BENEATH review.
What’s great about VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE? As with the previous issues in this run. Pat Shand is pouring on the character depth and development for an emotionally mature issue. You still get plenty of vampire-slaying action and an intriguing mystery surrounding the unnamed little girl, but it’s in Shand’s character work where this issue shines.
What’s not so great about VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE? Admittedly, the deep character work comes at a cost, namely in the pacing department. The pacing isn’t terrible, but the amount of inner monologue Liesel goes through brings this issue down to 75% speed.
How’s the art? Solid. Hakan Aydin’s pencils/inks are clean, the panel compositions are well-done, and the overall look of the book is appealing. We’ve noted previously how Aydin’s facial acting barely rises above dead-eyed mannequins, but if you can ignore the faces, you’ll generally like the visuals.
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What’s VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Liesel Van Helsing approaching a cargo ship stationed at the nearby docks. Liesel believes Julie Jekyll may seek clues to her cure with tech from Westernra Industries, even if its executive leadership happens to be sunlight-averse. Liesel finds the ship is heavily guarded, which is cause for suspicion, so she gasses the guards and infiltrates the cargo area.
Inside, Liesel finds most of the crew dead, a broken cage, and a little girl who doesn’t know who or where she is. Liesel offers to help get the girl to safety, fully suspecting the girl killed all the technicians and crew. Later, Liesel runs a series of tests to understand the girl’s nature and thirst for blood, but the girl doesn’t register as anything Liesel’s seen before.
Suddenly, armed vampires attack Liesel in her lab. We conclude the issue with desperate battles, heavy casualties, and losing the battle.
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Final Thoughts
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VAN HELSING: THE SYNDICATE is an engaging mix of emotionally deep character work and vampire-slaying action. Pat Shand continues to do momentously heavy lifting to force Liesel to grow into something more than a monster hunter, albeit at the mild expense of pacing, and Hakan Aydin’s art is solid.
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