X-Men: Apocalypse/Dracula #1 & 2 (Apr & May 2006)

Moving on, I'm going to tackle a four issue mini-series in two posts tonight. The first and second issue will be reviewed here, while issues three and four will be in the next post, which I should have up in about a half an hour or so. With that taken care of, let's get on with the show!

X-Men: Apocalypse/Dracula #1 & #2:

Summary: Back in the 1400's, Dracula was a menace to battlefields everywhere, impaling his way to victory... At least until he ran into the Apocalypse's Riders of the Dark. You see, Apocalypse had heard of Dracula's exploits and wanted to test his forces against the soon-to-be Lord of the Vampires. Apocalypse's army ends up decimating Dracula's forces, and while Dracula puts up a fight, he also ends up vanquished by Apocalypse. Fast forward to 1890's London, where several members of Apocalypse's secret clan, Clan Akkaba, are being attacked and drained of their blood. The leader of Clan Akkaba, Hamilton Slade, decides to track down whoever was killing the members of the clan. And ends up vanishing himself. Not knowing what else to do, Clan Akkaba awakens Apocalypse and tell him what's been going down. One of the clan members, Jack Starsmore, invites noted vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing to see Apocalypse, much to the rage of the other clan members. Van Helsing tells Apocalypse that his clan had been targeted by vampires, and not just any vampires, but Dracula himself. The name Dracula means nothing to Apocalypse, and Apocalypse isn't exactly keen on believing there even WERE vampires, but agrees to go with Van Helsing and Starsmore to the morgue to check out the corpses of the dead clan members. Upon arriving, they find the bodies were gone, or so they think. The clan members have indeed become vampires, and leap down from the roof attacking Apocalypse, Van Helsing and Starsmore. Apocalypse figures he could tell the vampires what to do, and is shocked when they attack his person. Van Helsing manages to down the vampires with some holy water, and Apocalypse, recovering from his momentary surprise, finishes the job by staking the vampires himself. From there we head back to Clan Akkaba headquarters, where Hamilton Slade returns with his new lord and master, Dracula.

Thoughts: These two comics were way better than you'd expect. We learn early on why the two villains have heat with each other(the battle in the 1400's), and the pace of the story was quick. I never became bored while reading either of these two issues. The cliffhanger at the end of the second issue was really well done and has me looking forward to digging into the third issue. So it all sounds good and dandy, right? Not quite... You see, I just don't see vampires as a match for Apocalypse(even a prematurely awakened Apocalypse). I mean even Dracula himself shouldn't be able to defeat Apocalypse, who has him beat in every major statistical category I can think of. I guess a small army of vampires led by Dracula may have a shot at downing Apocalypse, but even then I find it hard to believe that Apocalypse wouldn't be able to simply shrug off the vampire horde and decapitate the lot of them. Sure, Dracula is turning Apocalypse's mutant clan members, thus giving himself an army of mutant vampires, but I STILL don't see how Apocalypse doesn't walk through anything thrown in his path... I guess we'll find out with the next two issues.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I get the feeling that's gonna come back to bite Apocalypse in the ass.