Writer – Lowell Cunningham
Artist – M.C. Wyman
Inker – Terry Pallot
Colours – Katy Llewellyn
Letters – Patrick Williams

At Castle Kronescu, the king tells his son Stefan a tale of the past, more specifically of how his older brother Radu came to be and in turn, of his own origin. It happened one night, not unlike any other while the Queen was feeding, when a demoness entered her chambers, killing her and assuming her form. The demon would then go to the King’s chambers and seduce him, looking to procreate so as to create an heir that would lay claim to the kingdom. That reality would soon take the shape of a monster named Radu and the King, perhaps looking to stop it at some future point, would father Stefan. Now Radu and his men are on the move and not far from Castle Kronescu and Stefan can feel Radu’s presence and so rides out to stop his demonic brother before he can ever step foot within the castle. Writing this tale of how Radu came to be is Lowell Cunningham who does a fair job of it. Everything that one needs to know is here and the man also manages to inject a solid dose of horror within it as well. If there is one small complaint, it is that there is not all that much excitement to be had and while that is fair considering this is not an action title, it would have been nice to see something give it a shot of adrenaline at least for a few moments. The artwork by M.C. Wyman is solid as well, the man able to give the book a constant tone of unease, like something is about to happen at any moment, a perfect feeling to have when reading a horror comic. Radu is definitely a villain in this book, the man having a complete disregard for human life as he takes it in a variety of ways in the story. It would have been nice to see more of the demon that gave birth to him, his mother that is, to find out her reasoning and what her ultimate plans are, though one has to assume that what Radu is currently doing is just that – what she wants. While there was not so much of a cliffhanger in this issue, it does leave readers wondering just when it is that Stefan and Radu will meet and what will happen during that confrontation. All in all, the book is off to a decent start and there is enough here to warrant reading whatever it is that comes next.

3 out of 5