Operation: Iron Coffin #3
Writer: Kenny Porter
Artist and Colorist: Tyrell Cannon
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Operation: Iron Coffin #3 is the concluding issue of an awesome miniseries about Count Dracula fighting Nazis and other monsters on a speeding train. If you aren't already reading this book, why the heck not?
No Ticket
Dracula must defeat the armored, Iron Monger-esque Nazi soldier known as the Bell before he can proceed to the front of the train and face his wayward children. The Bell, despite being a man at his core, is a monster in his own right—but even he is no match for the Count.
Finally, it is time to face his children, who have perfected their Vampire virus and tested it on their own soldiers! Father must face child, with not only the fate of the world at stake, but also his very soul...
Last Stop
From page one of issue #1, this book has been a blast. Starting with the opening scene of Dracula's coffin getting dropped out of a British bomber plane onto the Nazi train, it's been just one set piece after another as the Count fought from one end of the train to another.
In video game style, each "boss" that he faced was tougher than the last and had a more elaborate gimmick. In the end, though, all they did was slow Dracula down. It was always going to come down to him and his children; his road to redemption could end no other way.
I admit, this ain't Shakespeare.
But it's fun as hell.
Dracula is a surprisingly sympathetic character, having been given a second lease on (un)life in order to remove all vestiges of the evils he created in his first life. And everyone knows the best way to make amends for your old life as a vampire lord is to turn a bunch of Nazis into bloody little piles of flesh and entrails. Which Dracula happens to be very good at.
I'm trying not to spoil most of what happens here—again, this isn't a deep story or anything, but it is one with a ton of cool setpieces and moments that are best experienced cold (not unlike revenge, if Khan Noonien Singh is to be believed).
Let me just say this: it's October 1st as I'm writing this, which means it's officially Spooky Season (also Pumpkin Spice Season, if you're into that. Yuck). This is the kind of comic that is absolutely perfect for this time of year: you get a little bit of horror, a little bit of pathos, and a ton of blood, violence, and gore. It's the most fun I've had with a non-humor comic in recent memory. And it's only three issues, so it's not like there's a huge commitment or a ton of back issues to hunt down. So really, what do you have to lose?
Off the Rails
Kenny Porter gives us a story that wouldn't be out of place in a Grindhouse movie marathon, with the presumed-dead vampire out for revenge in order to wipe clean his soul. The story is breakneck-paced, with flashbacks to the years between Dracula's resurrection and his joining the war effort against the Nazis—things never slow down enough for you to even think about getting bored. The characters are not incredibly deep, but everyone gets enough development that their goals and desires are made clear enough.
Tyrell Cannon's art in this book is just nuts. He's got a very kinetic style, with a great sense of motion. He's also really good at creative uses of gore, and so he makes sure that these pages are splattered with plenty of blood. His design for Dracula is regal in bearing, but still inhuman-looking between his skin pallor and the huge talons for fingers. The mustache looks a little silly to me, though. He handles the coloring as well, where he gives everything a tone that looks like something you might see on a heavy metal album cover. And there's no shortage of red ink (and pinkish fleshy bits) all over these pages.
Back at the Station
Operation: Iron Coffin #3 is another fast-paced and bloody issue that brings Dracula's quest for redemption to a close. Watching someone take out Nazis never gets old, and I can guarantee you haven't read too many books where they get killed in such a bloody fashion. This has been a short but sweet miniseries that proves that, just like Dracula's mission to undo the evils he caused, it's okay to just get in, tell the story you want to tell, and get out again.