“The Elders, part 1 of 6: Dusk”
Writer: Jason Henderson
Artist: Greg Scott
Publisher: Image
In this re-imagining of a contemporary Dracula, we follow the exploits of Ronnie Van Helsing, special agent for an organization called the Polidorium, as she and her military troops hunt the vampire across Europe. Dracula is not just an old guy in a tux this time around, and has the ability to actually create things like swords, horses and carriages, and spiky dogs with his blood and animate them with his will. This, along with his faithful army of vampire stooges (and some not-so-stooges) makes for a very powerful threat that necessitates the use of major firepower on the part of the Polidorium.
This is one of the most original takes on the Dracula legend that I’ve personally read, although I’d be the first to admit that I’m not exactly up to speed on my vampire lore. I was glad to see that aside from the blood trick, most of the traditional vampire guidelines seem to be followed, unlike just about every other modern take on the bloodsuckers. If they don’t have the weaknesses and strengths of vampires, then why call them that just because they drink blood? Maybe it’s just me, but that is incredibly tired. Why not have some good old fashioned vamp staking? Surely Buffy can’t be the only forum for that. Well, we get that and more here, for sure. Overall, the story is interesting and definitely exciting. The characters are only barely defined, but there’s a fair sized cast to accommodate and this is planned for a six-parter, so there’s plenty of time for that as the story develops. A couple of interesting comments are made by Dracula that implies some mysteries and back story that hopefully will be followed through on later.
Artistically, Scott is good. Very good. However, a word of warning to all you fans of color out there, this comic is in glorious black and white. With a 2.95 (in the US) cover price, it might seem pricey to lack a flash of color here and there, but remember: there are no ads breaking up the story. That alone is a major contribution to raising the enjoyment factor of this title. Image is spot on there in knowing how to keep the reader involved. It almost seems like they’re more interesting in telling stories than in making money on adverts. Hmmmmmm. Strange. Anyway, the art is gorgeous; intricately detailed and bursting with energy and style. The only problem is that Scott seems to be relying too heavily on his shadowing. The inking is truly overpowering and sometimes hampers the visual effect of the page. A touch of color, maybe even in the form of a wash instead of actual detail coloring, would probably help the reader keep track of what’s going on at times. This is a problem I also had with Paradigm, and I don’t buy that anymore. It was just too hard trying to make out what was happening from panel to panel. There’s a little bit of that going on here as well, but the story is a good one and will probably keep me interested for a while.
This is a nice piece of work and Image seems genuinely interested in telling some good stories of late. If you can get past any prejudice you might have about black and white comics, this is something to check out.
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