After my harsh review of Dracula:
The Company of Monsters #7 I expected nothing from the next issue – but the
ending of the last issue did intrigue me enough to try this follow-up and I am
pleased (and greatly surprised) to report this issue was great! The characters are still slightly bland,
but the artwork shows its strengths and the story hits a high point followers of the series have
been waiting for!Dracula: The Company of Monsters is a modern spin on the
tales of Dracula and other vampires. Evan comes home to discover his mother has been turned and is
out for revenge when he finds himself stuck in the middle of the battle between
Conrad and Dracula.Last time in Kurt Busiek’s Dracula: The Company of Monsters
Evan and every other character in Busiek’s vampire-inhabited universe came off
as bland and underdeveloped. In
this issue we are treated not only to a fully developed Evan that has finally
decided to take control of his life which has been spiraling out of control,
but also introduces two deadly enemies: Evan’s mother and Corrina, an old ally
of Evan’s that was recently vampified. Evan’s mother’s transformation at the end of #7 failed to
show much of the emotional effect her transformation had on Evan. This issue takes advantage of this
event by showing how Evan quickly grows in character after his mother’s
untimely death, but does not dedicate the entire story to Evan whining about his
mom – Busiek and Daryl Gregory use his emotional distress to help move the story rather than
make it the story with greater results.
Corrina is also a nice addition to the mix, but is barely touched upon which is a shame. But this leaves her character open to being more thoroughly
explored in future issues.The artwork by Scott Godlewski (Codebreakers) is not so much “Godly” (you’re
supposed to laugh at my wit now) but has an inspiringly horrific quality that
manages to stand out among the droves of gory horror – for the most part. The gory scenes at the beginning of the
issue have a cartoonish quality that keeps them from being truly
terrifying. The scenes drawn
towards the end of the comic are wonderful though – fading away from the
cartoonish quality of Godlewski’s art since it does not focus on his
cartoonesque faces, despite these faces nicely portraying the characters’
emotions. The cartoony faces still
do not seem to match with the rest of the violence going on. There is also a
lack of backgrounds. Stephen
Downer deserves credit for the quality of the art: his colors make the images
in this issue vibrant and full of life when Evan goes to a cabin in broad
daylight and the subtle use of red throughout the comic is great. Despite the last issue of Dracula: The Company of Monsters
being a terrible mess that was mostly confusing and showcased only some of
Godlewski’s good artwork this issue has a more coherent story, more character
development and some great artwork when it doesn’t have that cartoonish
quality. Having read this issue of
Dracula: The Company of Monsters and the last issue – this one being pretty
great and the last terrible – this series is on a roller coaster for me, but I
would suggest picking this up if you’re already familiar with the series and
are looking to get back into it.
If you’re already a fan… what are you waiting for? This is the high point of the series
that you won’t want to miss!Overall Score – 7.5/10
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.
Last time in Kurt Busiek’s Dracula: The Company of Monsters
Evan and every other character in Busiek’s vampire-inhabited universe came off
as bland and underdeveloped. In
this issue we are treated not only to a fully developed Evan that has finally
decided to take control of his life which has been spiraling out of control,
but also introduces two deadly enemies: Evan’s mother and Corrina, an old ally
of Evan’s that was recently vampified.
Evan’s mother’s transformation at the end of #7 failed to
show much of the emotional effect her transformation had on Evan. This issue takes advantage of this
event by showing how Evan quickly grows in character after his mother’s
untimely death, but does not dedicate the entire story to Evan whining about his
mom – Busiek and Daryl Gregory use his emotional distress to help move the story rather than
make it the story with greater results.
Corrina is also a nice addition to the mix, but is barely touched upon which is a shame. But this leaves her character open to being more thoroughly
explored in future issues.
The artwork by Scott Godlewski (Codebreakers) is not so much “Godly” (you’re
supposed to laugh at my wit now) but has an inspiringly horrific quality that
manages to stand out among the droves of gory horror – for the most part. The gory scenes at the beginning of the
issue have a cartoonish quality that keeps them from being truly
terrifying. The scenes drawn
towards the end of the comic are wonderful though – fading away from the
cartoonish quality of Godlewski’s art since it does not focus on his
cartoonesque faces, despite these faces nicely portraying the characters’
emotions. The cartoony faces still
do not seem to match with the rest of the violence going on. There is also a
lack of backgrounds. Stephen
Downer deserves credit for the quality of the art: his colors make the images
in this issue vibrant and full of life when Evan goes to a cabin in broad
daylight and the subtle use of red throughout the comic is great.
Despite the last issue of Dracula: The Company of Monsters
being a terrible mess that was mostly confusing and showcased only some of
Godlewski’s good artwork this issue has a more coherent story, more character
development and some great artwork when it doesn’t have that cartoonish
quality. Having read this issue of
Dracula: The Company of Monsters and the last issue – this one being pretty
great and the last terrible – this series is on a roller coaster for me, but I
would suggest picking this up if you’re already familiar with the series and
are looking to get back into it.
If you’re already a fan… what are you waiting for? This is the high point of the series
that you won’t want to miss!
Overall Score – 7.5/10
