Van Helsing: Sword of Heaven #4
Written by: Chuck Dixon
Artwork by: Julius Abrera
Colors by: Maxflan Araujo
Letters by: Saida Temofonte
Editor: Christina Barbieri
Art Direction/Design by: Christopher Cote
Available: Out now
Synopsis: Be careful what you wish for! Liesel finds the reclusive Punjabi Prince she was looking for, but he’s not himself these days. The unlucky Rajah is possessed by an evil presence more powerful than anything the vampire huntress has ever encountered. The quest for the mythic Sword of Heaven could end in a grave for the heir to the Van Helsing legacy!
Note: This PDF review issue of Van Helsing: Sword of Heaven #4 was provided to geekXpop by Zenescope Entertainment, with no obligation to give it a positive review.
Choices, choices, choices. Life is full of them and Liesel now finds herself with a major choice to make that may cost someone close to her their life. As she continues her search for the Sword of Heaven, a sword powerful enough to end the vampire threat once and for all, one of her allies is at the mercy of the man who holds the sword – for reasons very much to his personal benefit. But I love it when the story to a comic book has the hero face a decision like this as it makes them question their very motives and what is most important to them. But this is exactly the kind of story that I would expect from a writer the caliber of Chuck Dixon. Dixon is a legend in the industry, having carved out a name for himself for many years at DC and Marvel. He brings a pedigree to the storytelling at Zenescope and the Grimm Universe that legitimizes a company that already featured strong writers such as Raven Gregory and Pat Shand. Dixon brings a lot to the story here and continue wonderfully from the previous issue, ending on a great cliffhanger, teasing what to expect from the story and character in issue #5.
Coupled with Dixon’s writing in this issue is the art stylings of Julius Abrera, who I have been following for a while and have loved seeing his art style develop more and more with each issue and series he works on. From when I first started following him when he was the artist on the new Grimm Fairy Tales series in 2016 to this issue, his art style has really improved. And I thought he was a very capable artist with that series – but seeing his line work in this issue, you can see how he has steadily improved his stylings over the last couple of years. He’s a young artist and I still see him improving more and more as he continues his work, but seeing what he does in this issue is really exciting. I really like seeing how expressive his character work has gotten since then, bringing the dynamic and eccentric Liesel Van Helsing. He really brings her character to life in this series.
With some strong storytelling and amazing and expressive art, Van Helsing: Sword of Heaven #4 is another good read from Zenescope. It’s a good continuation of a strong limited series in terms of story and art and I can’t wait for the next issue to release so that we can finish this story. It adds new depths and dynamics to one of my favorite Zenescope heroines and I’m anxious to see how this will change the lore of Liesel Van Helsing in the Grimm Universe in the future.
