Van Helsing vs. Dracula’s Daughter #1-5: You’ll Never Kill Me

Now this is an action horror comic.

Van Helsing vs. Dracula’s Daughter kicks off with a dark mystery involving the ominous disappearance of Dracula’s skeleton in issue #1 and quickly spirals into a vampire infested revenge-fueled clash on a surprisingly epic scale. While it isn’t perfect, it is undoubtedly worth your money.

As a five issue miniseries, the story was pushed into a high gear from the start and it never wavered from this pace even as we conclude with the fifth issue. This works for multiple reasons, but as we reach the finale one stands out as uniquely effective. There are a LOT of twists and turns in this series. While this is typically just part of the ride, the shocking reveals of one-upsmanship on behalf of the characters could become a bit tedious. The rapid pacing helps to keep your attention even when things seem to be getting too far out of hand and move on to the next big development.

This is a story that feels meticulously plotted for all the right reasons, bringing in Zenescope’s connected universe by weaving narrative threads from other miniseries without being too cumbersome on the story. Van Helsing vs. Dracula’s Daughter is not only an enjoyable series, it highlights the depth that this universe has in both it’s character work and worldbuilding. The result is five brisk, action-packed and intriguing issues that feel like they actually have a story to tell, despite a few shortcomings.

While the story team with Raven Gregory writing certainly nailed the script, the artwork from Allan Otero and Robby Bevard holds up on most occasions. There are a handful of panels featuring some disjointed anatomy, but it’s not enough to distract. There are more than a few awesome splash pages that will give you plenty of great visuals to pour over. With dynamic yet still intuitive letters from Taylor Esposito, the series is definitely a treat to look at.

While the mystery of Dracula’s missing skeleton was an exciting introduction, this series is founded on the clash between Van Helsing vs. Dracula’s Daughter. In her undying quest to bring back her father Dracula, Charlotte goes to some pretty extreme lengths to use Liesel for her agenda. This chess game between the two turns deadly quickly but it seems the danger was for everyone except the two titular characters. Liesel loses her friends including Julie Hyde in the process of killing Charlotte, but little does she know, Charlotte isn’t actually dead. This inconsequential approach to the ending somewhat dampens the impact of the clash itself. Which is acceptable only because it’s setting up something even more grand with Dracula’s arrival. Still, I would have loved to see something more lasting result from this series as it relates to Liesel and Charlotte.

Despite its ups and downs, Van Helsing vs. Dracula #1-5 is a series that you won’t be disappointing in. It’s a solid addition to anyone’s library, especially those who are deep into the interconnected Zenescope universe or even simply fans of great action horror comics! Liesel Van Helsing is a lead character you just want to see more of and the end of this series promises great things on the horizon, including more exciting horror elements like the introduction of Frankenstein.

Catch up on the entire series today before the dangers of Dracula’s return inevitably come to fruition!