Van Helsing Finds the Sword of Heaven, Guarded by a New Breed of Monster

Liesel Van Helsing and Lilitha Dara have both infiltrated the castle of Prince Sawar, a creature known as a baital that can animate -- and astrally inhabit -- the bodies of the dead. Sawar is the keeper of the Sword of Heaven, an artifact that can eliminate all vampires from the face of the Earth.

However, things have taken a turn for the worse, as Liesel's partner is fell during the battle, allowing Sawar to turn his full attention on Liesel, attacking her psychically by sending her mentally on a never-ending downward fall through a hellish landscape. Sawar's ultimate plan is to kill Liesel and inhabit her body as his own. But first he would have her experiences. He, too, sees the vampire population as a plague. But where Liesel wants to exterminate them, Sawar simply wants to control them and keep them in check. And the vampires, well, they're aware of this as well.

Fortunately, our heroine has a few tricks up her own sleeve, and finds a way to escape the clutches of this monster -- if not in any physical manner.

Chuck Dixon (RAVAGE: KILL ALL MEN) joins forces with Julius Abrera (ROBYN HOOD: THE CURSE) to deliver this penultimate chapter of treasure hunting and monster killing from the Zenescope interconnected universe of GRIMM FAIRY TALES. The storytelling in this issue is quite good, and I didn't not feel like I needed to have read the prior issues to know exactly what was going on, as Dixon caught everyone up without the need for a first-page wall of exposition. Abrera's artwork is an absolute pleasure to look at, with some interesting musculature and perfect facial expression detail. Nothing ever appeared cartoony or exaggerated or otherwise disproportionate. A professional turnout by both of the gentlemen involved.