WOLVENHEART #13, from Mad Cave Studios on June 1st, 2022, enters the penultimate struggle between Van Helsing and his army of werewolves against Sterling Cross and the defenders of Wolvenheart.
The Details
- Written By: Mark London
- Art By: Alejandro Giraldo
- Colors By: Warnia Sahadewa
- Letters By: Miguel A. Zapata
- Cover Art By: Alejandro Giraldo
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: June 1, 2022
Was It Good?
WOLVENHEART #13 sets up all the players for the final conflict to come in the next issue by giving readers insight into Sterling Cross’s heart, Van Helsing’s heart, and how each deals with heartache in different ways. This comic has the type of character development plenty of writers talk about but fail to execute. WOLVENHEART #13 isn’t a perfect comic because the art is lacking in a few spots, but the success of the story makes up for its shortcomings for a positive end result.
The positive points work well and carry the story. A large chunk of the issue surrounds a flashback to Sterling as a young boy under Van Helsing’s and starting with the event that led him to first meet Sabina. The life of a time-traveling monster hunter is hard on relationships, and we see how Sterling adapts and grieves with the passage of time, while not growing bitter because of it. Van Helsing has a similar situation in his relationship with Kesia, but the pain of loss has a nearly opposite effect. This sameness creates a split where we can see Sterling and Van Helsing are the same yet different in their choices.
Once the “origins” of their grief are established, it makes the building fight between Sterling’s and Van Helsing’s respective forces more urgent and laden with emotion.
The minor down point in this issue is the action. More specifically, the art creating the action. The action choreography feels flat and awkward in several spots, and the facial expressions of the characters lack range. In fairness, we’ve seen much worse art in much better books, but the art here is what’s stopping this comic from moving from good to great.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
If you don’t recall how the Wolvenheart and Van Helsing forces stepped onto the battlefield, first read our WOLVENHEART #12 review.
We begin with a flashback to Sterling Cross as a boy under the care of Van Helsing. He accompanies his mentor to an early time period where Van Helsing meets his true love, Kesia. Sterling here’s noises of distress coming from a nearby cabin and runs off to investigate. He finds a werewolf attacking the family inside while the cabin burns from a fire. He saves the only survivor and kills the werewolf. The survivor will turn out to be the love of Sterling’s life, Sabina.
Now, Sterling holds a dead Sabina in his arms while his allies face off against Van Helsing, Rasputing, and their werewolf army. The two sides clash but fight to a stalemate long enough for Van Helsing to escape to find Dorian Gray’s portrait.
The Wolvenheart gang is worn down by sheer werewolf numbers when suddenly, help arrives. We conclude the issue with genius against genius and a summoning.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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WOLVENHEART #13 is a solid, penultimate issue in the current volume, laden with character depth and emotion. There’s plenty of action and plot movement to set up the big finale in the next issue. The down point is the lack of movement in the fight choreography and the characters’ faces, resulting in flat visuals.
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