World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw #1

World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw #1

Vault Comics 2021

Werewolf The Apocalypse

Written by Jim Zub & Danny Lore

Vampire the Masquerade

Written by Tim Seeley, Tini Howard & Blake Howard

Illustrated by Julius Ohta

Coloured by Addison Duke

Lettered by Andworld Design

Cecily Bain has become everything she never wanted as The Prince of the Twin Cities. But her rule over a fractured, backbiting vampire court is interrupted by an intruder—something big, hairy and full of teeth. Good. She was missing a good scrape.

With the Vampire Masquerade having ended on the note that it did, it's time to pick up the next chapter in the saga here. Only now the world is expanding as with a fractured court and diminished forces thanks to that assault the Wolves have decided it’s time to come to the Twin Cities. I find it interesting that vampires and werewolves would find themselves natural enemies when logic would say they should work together being a special kind of cryptid and all. Then again with the introduction of the Lupine it makes me wonder what other species are out there that have yet to be introduced as well. This is part of the fun of a world that started out as a tabletop RPG and then moved into the realm of video games and finally into comics, not knowing what else is out there lurking, waiting for the opportunity to make itself known.

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 exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to shine a spotlight on their ever changing personalities while introducing us to new characters. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing the characters, the world and this story the more we want to see and know.

I very much enjoy seeing how this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The avenues that are being opened up and explored here do wonders in adding so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are consistently well rendered throughout. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp plus with the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see really helps bring this to life. When we see backgrounds they do a lot to enhance and expand the moments and I wish we’d see more of them throughout the book. Still how we see the composition within the panels brings out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is greatly achieved. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a great understanding of how colour works.

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I’m glad that Vault has decided to continue telling the story of the Vampires and are expanding their world this way. I’m also thrilled that it didn’t take too long before starting this new arc. This is a rich world with so many diverse characters and character classes that it is still being opened up to be explored this way is a real treat. The writing is superb and the characterisation is flawless that’s it’s wrapped up in these classic interiors just makes it all the more worthwhile.