World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw #3

World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw #3

Vault Comics 2021

Werewolf the Apocalypse

Written by Tim Seeley & Danny Lore

Vampire the Masquerade

Written by Blake Howard & Tini Howard

Illustrated by Julius Ohta & Nathan Gooden

Coloured by Addison Duke

Lettered by Andworld Design

The chilling conclusion of World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw! The immortal enmity between the Kindred and the Garou comes to a head on the streets of the Twin Cities! With a place sacred to both sides hanging in the balance, the distinction between "ally" and "enemy" has become unclear, and the machinations of unseen evil lurk everywhere within the World of Darkness.

Not going to lie, a part of me is mad about this being over already, yes I know that the series isn’t over and there will be another arc but I found myself digging this one a lot with the Werewolves so that it ends so soon is a real bummer. I get it though with what we see here it really is a complete arc and while there are threads that could be explored they most likely will reappear elsewhere in the series run. The opening here is phenomenal and how we see this play out not only showcases how powerful blood magic can be but it also piques the readers’ curiosity.

I am very much enjoying 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 are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in continuing to flesh out their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more it leaves us with the desire to see and know more.

I am a big fan of how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking how we see the layers within the story open up new avenues to be explored. What these avenues do is add so much great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. Between Carfax and Tyrell there is so much going on that I’d love to see backstories delving deeper into what we learned here. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how we see it move the story forward is impeccably handled.

The interiors here are positively bloody mindbogglingly gorgeous! That pinup page with Carfax where he’s using blood magic that just made me stop in my tracks. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of the detail we see within the work is truly extraordinary. Tyrell’s hair is eye-catching for this reason. The way that backgrounds enhance and expand the moments as well as how they bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is utterly marvellous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work really shows a brilliant eye for how colour works.

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With each issue that comes out from this franchise we are drawn deeper and deeper into the cavernous chasm that this world erupted from. From a tabletop RPG game to comic book franchise this excites the imagination and creativity in the reader. With some excellent writing and strong characterisation alongside these magnificent interiors the world living in the shadows never looked so good.