4 out of 5

The Black Caravan imprint has, with me, an uneven track record. And given the passionate but repetitive, unfocused, and poorly edited text scrawl intro that led in to Vanity – a historical horror in (I believe) three acts, concerning Elizabeth Bathory – a genre and subject I don’t have much interest in, and the Lost Girls-esque gothic storybook artwork from Natalia Tsarevnikova, I… wasn’t expecting to get my traction with this series, thinking it would be an overwrought, highfalutin exercise in tired “she bathes in blood” sex and gore.

It’s worth noting that intro is not by writer Jurii Kirnev, and that it’s general gist, while not cleanly presented, is interesting: saying there’s value in both the fact and myth of Bathory. This does seem to be Kirnev’s approach, structuring their story into a biography with – during this Act – little suggestive flairs of the cogs turning in Elizabeth’s head as she’s raised from a girl to a young Queen: moments of fascination with (or not turning away from) the macabre; growing frustrated with the patriarchy and the hypocritical nature of the elite; visual touches of the surreal. Also: that wasn’t a dig at Tsarevnikova’s art, rather that the From Hell / Lost Girls style is something really only Alan Moore (and maybe Bryan Talbot – it’s a short list) have been able to pull off; most other attempts are, as I was fearing, overwritten and reaching beyond their grasp.

But sometimes I’m very, very wrong with my expectations: Vanity is written with a distinct voice and visual style, and is one of Black Caravan’s best titles, hands down, alongside being a premiere entry in that historical horror genre I disdained. There are some small beats that display the struggle of many fact-strewn fictions, where Kirnev includes a few too many characters and details for reference than are needed for story clarity, and Natalia’s art isn’t quite descriptive enough to make these details distinct, but by keeping the focus on Bathory’s point of view – that is, we’re not taking long sidesteps to fill in background; it’s attempted through conversations with our lead – and by allowing Tsarevnikova to pick up their share of that storytelling, Vanity proves to be an incredibly engrossing read, with a discomfiting undercurrent. Not necessarily because of where things (might) lead, but mroeso because of Kirnev’s dedication in, at this point, keeping Elizabeth very human; exposing us to the corruptions around her, and the already broken nature of the world of wars and indulgences into which she was born. Now, yes, that’s a bias point of view, but the tone of the story maintains a balance so as to not tip the tonal hand too far – we want to know how this person will turn out. What might she do with the power she begins to accrue?

Joseph Schmalke provides some fittingly gothic, and quite gorgeous colors and book design; letterer Joel Rodriguez goes with delicate but strong fonts that are fittingly flourished for a period piece without sacrificing legibility. Some bubbles feel a little misplaced, but those instances are rare.

My only worry, really, is that Black Caravan – which has a slow publishing schedule – may not get around to the concluding Acts. And this is really a book I very much want to see continue.