Source: Express Times
Reviewer: Johnathan Hardick

Collaboration on comic makes for great read
Sunday, February 17, 2008

Most of the time when two comic book companies cross over their characters the result is a forgettable cliche. The two heroes fight each other over mistaken identities then realize the error and team up to take on the real bad guy.

“Sword of Dracula/ Vampirella” is a rare exception to that.

It shouldn’t work but is does.

Published by Digital Webbing, “Sword of Dracula/Vampirella” is a good-looking book that is a great read.

“Sword of Dracula” is a dark horror/spy book that grounds its vampires in the real world while “Vampirella,” published by Harris Comics, is unrealistic and cheesy.

The crossover finds Veronica Van Helsing and her team of vampire hunters from “Sword of Dracula” bringing in a vampire informant who has knowledge of Dracula’s terrorist organization.

Along the way, the team runs into Vampirella who is after the informant for her own reasons.

Writer Jason Henderson smartly keeps the story set in the dark world he has created.

Henderson recreates Vampirella to fit the series as a mysterious anti-hero with her own agenda. The new take fits nicely into the brutal world of “Sword of Dracula.”

The transition for the character is so good that I hope Henderson is able to bring her back for more appearances.

Matching Henderson’s new direction for Vampirella is the art of Greg Scott.

The artist keeps just enough of the classic Vampirella to keep her recognizable to her fans but updates her look to fit in the book’s modern world.

Scott’s work throughout the book is solid. He gives the book the look of a summer movie blockbuster.

And not to be overlooked is Nick Filardi’s colors.

Filardi uses one of the darkest color palettes of any book that I have seen. The dark look of the book helps give the sense of perpetual twilight and sets the eerie tone of the story.

From the Henderson script to Scott and Filardi’s art the entire creative team has created one of the finest independent books I have read in a long time.

One Response to “Sword of Dracula Review @ Express Times”

1. dracula book review Says:
   April 19th, 2008 at 7:23 am

   [...] vampires in the real world… one of the finest independent books I have read in a long time.&quothttp://blog.digitalwebbing.com/2008/02/17/sword-of-dracula-review-express-times/Summary Of The Book Dracula By Author Bram StokerBrief synopsis and analysis of the classic book – [...]

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