Sacred Six #1
Writer: Christopher Priest
Artists: Gabriel Ibarra, Jae Lee
Cover: Jae Lee
FC | 32 pages | Horror | $3.99 | Teen+

Sacred Six spins out of Dynamite Entertainment‘s popular Vampirella series.

In fact, Vampirella‘s resident genius Christopher Priest is also the writer, so you know this will be an excellent series. And that you should prepare to have your mind blown. Spoilers ahead.

Welcome to Ashthorne

This first issue features the all-new Draculina, Pantha, Nyx, and Chastity being lured to rural Georgia to the town of Ashthorne. Can they avert an all-out war against nearby Sacred, Georgia? Should they?

The town of Ashthorne is home to an enclave of peaceful vampires. Vampires who don’t prey on humans.

Their vampire mayor is Drago, the son of Lilith of Drakulon, who is also the mother of Vampirella.

Next to Ashthorne is the City of Sacred. Sacred was built for the express purpose of wiping out the vampires of Ashthorne.

Now Lilith has lured Draculina, Pantha, Nyx, and Chastity to Ashthorne. What will happen when they are drawn to this conflict between Ashthorne and Sacred?

True vampires

The first issue does a great job of introducing us to the different characters. Priest being Priest, nothing is straightforward. Artist Gabriel Ibarra makes his mainstream debut here, and his style wonderfully complements Priest’s cryptic prose.

We can definitely empathize with Drago, whose supernatural constituents are fed up with the provocations by the bigots of Sacred. He knows they are trying to provoke Ashthorne into an all-out war.

Unfortunately for Drago, Cadiratra wants Ashthorne to wipe out Sacred. She is the leader of THE SIX, the ruling council of a powerful secret society of vampires.

Uninvited, Cadiratra has attended the Ashthorne town meeting. She calls her kind the true vampires and mocks Drago for being “half-Vampiri, half-space monkey”. She tells the Ashthorne vampires that the living will never accept them.

Cadiratra: “The self-righteous ‘Sacred’ bigots won’t stop until they destroy you. Follow us. Return to the Old Way… while you still can.”

Is war inevitable? We shall see.

(Editor’s note: This review is based on an advanced review copy provided by Diamond Entertainment. Sacred Six #1 shipped on July 15.)