no_name_'s Tomb of Dracula Presents Throne of Blood #1 review

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    Who Doesn't Like "Thrones of Blood"?

    Tomb of Dracula: Throne of Blood has very little to do with Dracula. This one shot by Victor Gischler may be one comic you might want to pick up this week...


    The Good 

    The story opens in 16th Century Japan with two brothers (Princes) disguised as rice farmers, journeying into an adversary's military camp in broad daylight.  Knowing that Jakkaru (the adversary) plans to raid and take over their village, the two brothers plan their attack on Jakkaru, sneaking into his tent, attacking the General together. While they both enter the tent together, one of them does not leave in the same condition in which he entered. The audience will gather quickly that Jakkaru is a vampire (spoiler!) and that this encounter will change everything for Raizo Kodo and his brother, Ryuhei. 

    The pacing, for the most part is pretty good for a one-shot. Gischler relays an intriguing story and delves deeply enough into the characters that the reader might care about what happens to them- not an easy thing to do in a 'one-shot.' There is some interesting tension that exists between the two  brothers that evolves after the encounter with Jakkaru.

    The Bad 

    The story opens with Dracula and the reader is led to believe he will be narrating the story. In fact, that is what's implied on the second page. It's at this point that the story makes a really erratic jump. Rather than using Dracula as the story's narrator to tie the introduction and the rest of the comic, the narrator changes entirely and the story is told through the eyes of Raizo Kodo, one of the two brothers. This inconsistency is misleading to the reader and makes Dracula's role in the comic seem unnecessary and dispensable. 

    The Verdict 

    If given the opportunity, this "one-shot" would have made an interesting mini series. In fact, I think it's a shame that the story wasn't flushed out further considering the amount of time Gischler spent on Raizo's character development. As a result, the end of the issue lacked the kind of pacing that is seen in the beginning of the story. Some of it, particularly towards the end, even feels a bit sloppy. Aside from that, and the erratic change in narrator (from Dracula's perspective to Raizo's) the story is very good. 

    1 Comments

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    PeterCSM730

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    Edited By PeterCSM730

    Very helpful review, thanks! I saw a cool ad for this in one of my comics and had completely forgotten/overlooked it when it was first released.

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