some spoilers

I'm a fan of Jon Ostrander and Tom Mandrake, and I pitched in to the Kickstarter that funded this book - but, I think I can give an fair and mostly objective review.

On the downside - creators of material like this today often have to think of how well it will be regarded for potential translation to another medium, namely film. Comics and graphic novels are hot in cinema now, and they work like a self-evident storyboard. Perfect for consideration for "bigger and better things". At times, this keeps projects from being straight up good comics. Some of my favorite creators have made junk this way (Grant Morrison's "Happy" comes directly to mind).

This book has a lot of cliches and predictability built in. But thankfully in a comfortable, rather than disappointing, way. The story dynamic certainly has some original elements - which is saying something with a vampire story (tied with zombies for overexposed subgenre)! The character interrelation is cozy and flows well - with some twists that don't necessarily wow the reader, but none of it is boring.

Mandrake's artwork is wonderful, and he thankfully does not skimp out on the backgrounds and atmosphere (something I think he's a little prone to a times in other work). There are some pages in Kros that rate among the best pages of his work that I've seen. There are times when I'm seeing The Spectre and Martian Manhunter - but again, instead of disappointing it feels like a comfortable familiarity. The only downside to his work in Kros is strange and surprising - namely that the narrative art is somehow less clear during the climax of the work than it was building up to it.

Ostrander's coolest contrivance in the book is the concept of the "vampire grotesque" - a sort of rat king concept, where the gory battlefield spare parts of Gettysburg meet with something with shades of Human Centipede and a story Clive Barker wrote involving giants constructed of hundreds of bodies bound together. It's a frankenvampire - a shambling tied-together monstrosity like something you might see in Dead Space or Resident Evil. Mandrake's initial portrayal of its construction was great - but in the final showdown, where it should shine the brightest, it is lost in noisy indistinct paneling. However, we know what it is, and it's great fun.

I would LIKE to see this as a movie, but if that doesn't happen - it stands alone as a really entertaining self-contained comic. It was worth the wait and all the hard work. I hope its creators are well rewarded for their talent. ( )