REVIEW: FLESH AND BLOOD by Robert Tinnell and Neil Vokes

In Tim Lucas’s introduction to FLESH AND BLOOD, Lucas states,“This is what VAN HELSING (2004) might have been.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Robert Tinnell and Neil Vokes give readers a veritable battle royale of classic monsters, from Dracula to Frankenstein to a terrorizing werewolf, with nary a wink at the proverbial camera.  Everything is played quite serious, with a heaping portion of gore, sex, and violence to keep the reader on his or her (but let’s face it, probably his) toes.

The story opens as the best stories always do:  with a gratuitous lesbian sex scene.  And it’s only the first such scene of several.  Harkening back to the Hammer films of yore, FLESH AND BLOOD is filled with sex, but it’s never schlocky.  Sex between two women, sex between a man and a woman, vampire feedings supercharged with innuendo.  Okay, maybe it’s a little schlocky, but the sex is used in service of the tale, and never feels out of place in the plot.

FLESH AND BLOOD begins with he vampire seductress Camilla sneaking into a beautiful young woman’s bedroom and proceeding to sink her teeth into the busty, virginal dame.  But their love affair is not to be.  The young woman’s father tears into the room to destroy the vampire, touching off a series of events that will bring together a variety of classic monsters.

The aforementioned father of the girl, who lost his beloved to vampires, needs Dr. Frankenstein’s help to develop some sort of ultimate weapon to be used against Dracula’s army of vampires.  Thrust into this situation somewhat against his will is a young Van Helsing, who is visiting Frankenstein’s cell when the good doctor is stolen away from the prison he resides in.

From here, the carnage escalates, with a werewolf thrust into the fold and Dracula bearing down on Van Helsing, Frankenstein, and the rest of the intrepid heroes of the story.  It all culminates in an epic showdown at a monastery amidst a backdrop of betrayal, heartbreak, and hints of a greater war brewing on the horizon.

This may all sound pretty epic, and it is.  Robert Tinnell has a lot of fun thinking up creative ways to pit the various classic monsters of film lore against each other, and the reader is invited to share in this monster mania.  That it’s done in a way that isn’t at all derogatory toward established properties makes the story all the more entertaining.  It’s been far too long since a franchise has taken monsters seriously, and in that way, FLESH AND BLOOD was a welcome arrival at the Famous Monsters office.

In addition to the main plot, readers are also treated to a second story entitled OPERATION SATAN, also by Tinnell, which starts out as a sort of supernatural military mission, but by the end offers up a twist that should make for a very different kind of story.  While it doesn’t have the narrative excess or bombast of FLESH AND BLOOD proper, SATAN is suspenseful and acts as a good companion piece to the main arc.

A review of this work wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the artwork of Neil Vokes.  The various monsters are brought to stunning life by this very talented artist.  The artwork is a fantastic combination of the old comic serials of the 1950s mixed with the ultra-violent, highly stylistic action we’ve come to expect from modern comics.

The monsters in the story, especially, are a feast for the eyes.  These aren’t the cuddly vampires and werewolves of TWILIGHT; these monsters can rip your face off.  They’re burly sharp-edged bundles of blood, spit, fur, and viscera.  Give credit to the creators for making these classic monsters fearsome again.

For fans of classic horror who feel that certain modern franchises have softened the edges of our favorite monsters, FLESH AND BLOOD has arrived to make us scared again.  With a heaping portion of sex and violence used to further the story, almost every panel has something that will keep a reader’s eye glued to the page.  This is horror entertainment as it should be, and with a conclusion that promises more gory fun to come, this is hopefully only the beginning of this incredibly entertaining comic series.