Cult of Dracula #3

Cult of Dracula #3

Source Point Press 2021

Created & Written by Rich Davis

Illustrated by Puis Calzada

Coloured by Trevor Richardson

Lettered by Dave Lentz

Ask anyone from rural Appalachia, there are just some roads you don't go down if you know what's good for you. That old saw has both literal and figurative means.

I have really been enjoying this book. When I first started reading this I figured that it would be about a cult of people who worshipped Dracula. Ya know normal but misguided folks who thought that a fictional character was real and as such made sacrifices and drank blood as a symbol of their devotion. I wasn’t expecting the reality of the situation that’s for sure. So right away Rich made me sit up and take notice of what this was going to be. This issue is exciting for a myriad of reasons but I love that we go back in time and get to see few scenarios that kind of tell of the legends in the area that go from myth to reality and it’s extremely exciting. I never know what to expect and that alone makes this worth its weight in gold and that I’m thrilled beyond belief every time I turn the page. You don’t get that too terribly often and I cannot recommend this highly enough.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development we see is fantastic! This is thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they find themselves in. the pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story along with the twists & turns make this super interesting to read.

I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen not to mention new ones emerging. These layers hold some of those moments that seem odd and out of place but in reality are important to the larger picture that we’ll see down the road. How everything works together to create the ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved beautifully.

The interiors here are fantastic! The linework with its varying weights and techniques not only create a unique and distinct style but it creates some stellar detail work as well. I will say when he comes out of the house nekkid I was hoping we’d see him swinging around as he took care of business and if a bloke is going to naked we should see what he’s made of. We see backgrounds utilised judiciously and i wish we’d see more of them as when they are utilised they are utterly gorgeous. We do get some great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a marvellous eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination is spectacular as well. The colour work is fantastic and how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is expertly rendered.

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There is something huge on the horizon and it has the potential to change the world as we know it and it’ll be up to a select few to try and destroy these creatures before those plans are able to come to fruition. I also have to say that seeing him in jail and the cop with all the pictures and learning about a world he never knew existed is one of those amazing layers within the story that may be the catalyst needed to thwart the queen and her plans. This is one of those unexpected gems that engages the reader perfectly and helps their imagination along for this ride through these spectacular visuals.