Leonide The Vampyr: A Christmas For Crows is the ideal stocking stuffer; jammed full of the expected (creepy, slow-roasted horror, incense, and suspense) and unexpected (twists, turns, and counter-intuitive puzzles).
Leonide, the young woman who has fallen off a hearse and ‘appeared’ in a small village, is of course a vampyr. But Mike Mignola dishes out the supernatural in the eggnog, tossing together lots of noggin’ shakin’ plot twists in the mix, and adding a good dash of Christmas goodwill. It’s master-level writing to be sure; the sprinklings of back story, the secret ingredients, a shake of garlic powder or two, and voila; a warmly-darkened Christmas tale!
Artist Rachele Aragno’s (colours by Dave Stewart, lettering by Clem Robins) clever use of dark shapes and poetic spacing of the figures keeps us entertained and mystified: we gaze and follow along, dazed but not confused. It’s charming, startling, and beautifully paced all at the same time.
In a bonus move, The Epilogue is written and illustrated by Mignola, with swaying shapes and epic composition!
Dark Horse, one shot Leonide The Vampyr: A Christmas For Crows, $3.99 for 22 pages of content.
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