05-12-23 | Despite Halloween being long gone and Christmas approaching fast, Zenescope Comics treats us to another spooky horror adventure. Their latest one-shot, Van Helsing: Bonded by Blood, continues the exploits of Liesel Van Helsing as she attempts to rid the world of gothic monstrosities. Bonded by Blood is out next week and highly recommended to readers who like their horror seasoned with Victorian tropes.
‘Liesel Van Helsing’s past has been marred in blood and betrayal, but none so life-changing than the revelation of the existence of her half-sister Charlotte le Fanu, better known as Dracula’s Daughter. Although siblings by blood, there is no love lost between these two sisters set on either side of the stake. But, now forced into a situation where they must rely upon one another, can Liesel survive the family reunion?!’
The Van Helsing series started in 2013, when the character of Liesel was introduced within the pages of Grimm Fairy Tales. Zenescope Comics specializes in mixing public domain characters with scantily clad supermodels. And yet somehow the results are not as crass as one would think. Liesel was featured in several series of her own fighting Dracula, Frankenstein and all the others. Since 2020 quite a few of these stories have been one-shots rather than series, which fits perfectly with the character’s pulp-ish heritage.