By Cat Wyatt

In the last issue of Dark Fang, things had gotten pretty busy and chaotic for our little vampire. Valla had successfully continued her campaign against the politicians allowing the worth to be poisoned for the sake of greed. Unfortunately, she seems to have caught the attention of certain people. Specifically, people who are capable of dealing with a vampire such as herself.

Samael was sent to stop Valla from her path of destruction (which ironically would have also been salvation for many, but clearly he doesn’t see it that way). He’s pretty much the epitome of a religious fanatic, only he has a reason to feel that way.

None of Valla’s powers seem to work against Samael, or rather, he’s able to block them all with the giant bible he’s holding (seriously, the thing is huge, it’s as broad as his chest, which is saying something because Samael is a big man). By the way, that giant bible of his? It’s handwritten (by himself, naturally), and is supposedly an exact copy of the ‘one true text.’ According to him, most mortals can’t handle seeing the original, so the fact that he was not only able to withstand looking at it but look at it long enough to make a copy of it? I’m impressed. I still think he’s a jerk that didn’t take the time to understand the situation, but he’s an impressive jerk.

I’ll admit I winced more than once during Valla’s fight with Samael. I know her options were limited (narrowed down to fight or flight, really), but I can’t help but feel like she shouldn’t have kept trying to fight him; especially after it became clear her powers wouldn’t work on him. She more freaked out and desperate she got, the worse the fight got (because he still wasn’t trying, and he certainly wasn’t straining).

The following situation that Valla is in may be pretty uncomfortable for some; I know I was slightly disturbed by the whole thing. Valla is next seen hanging from a golden chain (seriously, the chain is a bright gold color), and is obviously at the mercy of this Samael guy. Considering he claims he’d named for his father – the Angel of Death - I certainly wouldn’t want to be in her position.

I understand that he thinks he’s doing the lords work and all but does he honestly think that torturing a woman (no matter what he wants to call it, burning a vampire with holy light is absolutely torture) before killing her is a moral thing to do? I honestly can barely understand his warped reasoning. He won’t even listen to her concerns about the earth, which shows he’s so far gone he can’t even fathom the possibility that he’s wrong.

While Samael and Valla are fighting it out, another scene is unfolding somewhere else (no specific location is given). Two men, Mr. Maddox and Commander Kozar, are chatting about having sent Samael out after Valla. Commander Kozar does not look human, he may be a vampire (a very old one), but he kind of looks like an alien. It could be he’s an angel from one of these seven heavens Samael mentioned…but I don’t know. I’m not convinced of anything at this point.

This was a very stressful, albeit well-written issue. I hated seeing Valla get put into that position, and I hated seeing her get hurt even more. I hadn’t anticipated this for the series; though I’ll admit throwing a twist in like this is better than just having her dominate the human race as she had been. This gives her more challenges to defeat. Though obviously, I’m worried about the damage she’ll take in the meantime (Samael claimed her eye will never heal, and I imagine the burns on her leg won’t heal either, assuming he is correct).

I don’t really know how the other scenes will connect to Valla’s or when that will happen. I’d like to think at some point she’ll be able to get back to protecting the earth, but I have a bad feeling she’s going to have to deal with this organization before she can move forward on her personal campaign.

The artwork for this series has been simply stunning, and this issue is no exception. As usual, the cover is my favorite - the bright gold chain and the deep purple background are a very striking combination. Though I’ll confess when I first saw a thumbnail for this issue, I thought she was holding a spear or light or something in her hands. Samael is well designed too; he’s large and intimidating, but I’m happy they chose to have him be calm and poised rather than feral. It actually makes him scarier, in my opinion.

Score: 4/5

Dark Fang #4
Image Comics