Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: David Marquez, Erik Arciniega, and VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 20, 2019

I have been fired up about this whole Vampire Civil War thing and while I was hoping to get more of the Agents of Wakanda in it, I am fine with seeing Dracula fight it out with a team of unliving baddies. Plus, we get the bonus of Blade? I am so in! So, going into this issue you could say I was fully stoked and anticipating something big and awesome. Did I get it? Let’s find out…

The issue opens with the continuing battle of the Colonel versus the Avengers and while it does a good job of reminding the reader that he is a badass, I was more excited about the supercharged Robbie Reyes! Ghost Rider has gone nuclear and the thought of him being bad is cool even if it upsets me a bit because I can only see it as an exit plan to get him out of the book.

We head off to Russia next for the best part of the issue…Dracula talking with Tony Stark. I said that right…they are just talking and it’s pretty great. Jason Aaron shows how bad Dracula can be and it’s only through what he says to Tony. No “I want to suck your blood” here, but plenty of daddy issues out of nowhere. While Tony wants to pretend it means nothing, we all know better!

So, what wasn’t the best part of the issue? Pretty much the rest in my opinion. Jason Aaron spends a lot of time showing that Dracula CAN do some messed up stuff while the point is he doesn’t really want to. That’s all well and good, but I really want to see more of the Civil War being talked about. We get a little bit more of it before the end, but it’s mainly just setup to show that Robbie may be under the Colonel’s control, but there are still lines he won’t cross. It’s okay setup and ends with a cool cliffhanger, but it still is just setup.

This issue looks fantastic and it’s the whole team…Marquez’s pencils are great, but Erik Arciniega’s colors may have stolen the show here. Everything just pops, especially when Robbie shows up.

Overall, this issue is just a setup issue to get the pieces into place a bit and the little action we get is just a continuation of the last issue and didn’t mean much. The Colonel has Robbie Reyes, but I want to know more about the Colonel, his crazy hound and the rest of the Unliving Team. Plus, mentioning the Agents of Wakanda in a way to make it seem like they are way out of the picture is a shame…I need more Fat Cobra and I need it now!!!

Final Thoughts:

While I am all in on this Vampire Civil War, I need more…well, Vampire Civil War! This issue sets up some big things, but a lot of the characters have nothing to do and besides a great bit with Tony Stark and Dracula, I was actually a little bit bored by the end. The art is great throughout, but I am hoping the next issue gives me more of what I want.

6.0/10