Source: Eye On Comics
Reviewer: Don MacPherson
Rating: 7/10

While Vampirella has been a mainstay and an icon in the comics industry for decades, Sword of Dracula is a newer property, having been published by Image and IDW before landing at Digital Webbing. I’m not sure if I’ve read any SoD comics before, and I certain didn’t recognize much here. The good news is that this is an accessible introduction to the concept, which is sort of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Mission Impossible. The better news is that SoD creators Jason Henderson and Greg Scott handle Vampirella incredibly well. She’s not depicted as a blood-sucking sexpot heroine in this story; instead, she’s a rogue agent in a supernatural underworld of crime, commerce and curses.

While Dracula’s hard-blood powers seem out of place in this espionage-genre spin on vampires, I have to admit the story is engaging. We really don’t get to know the characters all that well. The only one with any real time in the spotlight (thanks to the narration in her voice) is the SoD heroine, Ronnie Van Helsing, and she’s all about her work. Just as the writing has a cinematic feel to it, so does Greg Scott’s dark, moody artwork. The dark atmosphere stems not so much from the gothic qualities of the vampire characters but from the black-ops riff at play in the premise. There’s an entertaining noir sensibility at play in this comic that draws one into the story. Overall, the plot is rather superficial, and this is really only the most cursory glimpse at the characters and concepts. But it’s an undeniably diverting and successful glimpse. 7/10

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