In Review: Captain Kronos #2

Synopsis: In the depths of Eastern Europe, the legendary vampire hunter, Captain Kronos and his two assistants, Grost and Carla, are called upon to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

Review: This second issue sees Kronos and his friends getting to grips with the town and learning more about the plague. Grost does all the study and book work and makes use of the library while Carla gathers the various herbs and materials on Grost’s list. Meanwhile, Kronos goes off on his own while he still has six hours of daylight and comes up against a new type of vampire.

This second issue does a great job of fleshing out the characters. We learn of the bond between Kronos and Grost and we also discover that Grost has much respect for Carla despite his initial misgivings.

Given this stories setting. We get to see a strong woman via circumstances and Carla is absolutely the full package in that regard. She has a brilliant moment in this issue where she gets to show off her guile and wit. I was laughing so hard at how it played out and I know other readers will too.

Modern-day genre fans will have seen plenty of strong young women thanks to shows like Buffy. But Carla in the film Captain Kronos could well have been among the first had Hammer been able to do a sequel to flesh her out more. Thankfully we have some great writing from Dan Abnett, which shows readers and Hammer fans alike how Carla could have evolved had the Captain Kronos film got a sequel or even had been made into a series.

Grost is great fun too and the stereotypical smartest man in the room, but in a rather humble and none threatening way.

Meanwhile, Kronos is your cold-hearted warrior who has nothing left to lose and that is very much how he is written.  I love the moment in this issue where Kronos realizes that he has most definitely met his match.

Much like with the last issue artist Tom Mandrake brings a great sense of scale and eeriness to the various panels. Especially those concerning the vampires. He also has a bit of fun with Carla and her brief but funny action beat.

Overall. A great second issue with a cliffhanger that will leave you drooling for more.