Brothers Dracul #4, written by Cullen Bunn, opens up with Vlad slaying more vampires as he frantically questions them about the whereabouts of Ermine. The vampires have taken her from the castle and Vlad is determined to get her back, even when Mehmed tells him that the vampires never take prisoners and she is likely dead. In anger, Vlad chops off the heads of the vampires that he killed and places them on spikes around the outer rim of the castle. Vlad hopes that the vampires will be outraged by this act and want revenge, causing them to return to the castle so that he can kill them. Will Vlad’s plan succeed? And if so, is he prepared to take on the group of vampires and discover what became of Ermine?
In this issue, it’s fun to see the different personalities between the brothers. Vlad is very outspoken and says exactly what he is thinking without worrying about how other people may feel, while Radu is an introvert who would rather tell a lie than hurt someone’s feelings. We see this side of Radu when he writes a note to his father telling him they are all right so as not to worry him, even though he was scared of the vampires. We also see a little of Esel’s personality in this issue as well, when he had a conversation with Vlad regarding children and innocence. Esel tells Vlad that they send the children to fight the vampires because of their innocence and he believes that innocence is a powerful weapon against the vampires. However, Vlad calls him out on this and says they only send out children because they are the ones who are small enough to fit in the vampire holes and they learn quickly and easily so are easy to replace, in case of death. Given the fact that Esel becomes so irate at Vlad’s comments, it seems as though Vlad may be correct.
The illustrations by Mirko Colak are absolutely wonderful. I enjoy how realistic and vivid the facial expressions on the characters are, and I love the battle scenes as well. The rendering of the vampire heads impaled on the spikes were my favorite. In addition, Maria Santaolalla adds bright vibrant colors that really bring the drawings to life. I especially like her use of color in the death scenes. If you are a fan of horror, I recommend getting this comic. Brothers Dracul #4 is available for purchase July 25, 2018.
-Amy Walker-LaFollette