SWORD OF DRACULA

Veronica Van Helsing, descendent of Dracula's famous foe, leads the Polidorum, a quasi-governmental military force charged with hunting down vampires. In a routine raid on a vampire's hideout in Colorado, the Polidorum discovers evidence that Dracula is alive and well in France, so they stage an attack on his invisible castle. But as evil as Dracula is, there is a greater evil under the earth: fallen angels Samyaza and Azazel created vampires in the biblical past and have now been accidentally freed from their God-made prison. Azazel has the blood power of vampires, while Samyaza has the power to control bone. To fight these two, who've taken over a Dallas hotel complex, the Polidorum must ally itself with Dracula. This book features three interior artists who make little effort at continuity. The characters change appearance whenever the artists change. The first artist, Scott, draws in dark-shadowed, moody style that works very well for the material. Belk has a more modern, slightly manga-influenced style, and Pallot's work is the weakest of the three, with poor anatomy and composition. One character, Badi Nascimento, is Brazilian, but the Portuguese words that sprinkle her speech are often wrong. This genuinely creepy adventure premise is marred by bad artwork and sloppy writing. (Mar. )