THE SCHOOL OF THE DAMNED #3
The end of the last issue saw the appearance of a frightened vampire girl by the name of Clarissa Van Helsing, and much of this issue is spent relating her tragic backstory. She has spent years on the run from her stepfather’s puritanical crusade against vampirekind that was sparked by his young son’s undead transformation and subsequent death at his hands, followed soon after by his wife’s suicide. Eventually turned into one of the undead, her life descends into in a personal hell from which there is no escape. Lost and alone, her attempts to make connections end in death and suffering, while guilt eventually overcomes her until even an attempt to attain absolution through death is thwarted, until she eventfully learns of the school and her last chance at some kind of acceptance for what she has become.
The mournful tragedy of her existence contrasts with the lives of the characters seen so far, who are largely at peace with what they are and the things they have done in order to survive. Clarissa, however, remains haunted by the deaths she is responsible for, both directly and indirectly, and it will be some time before she can even think about what she will do next.
While the comic certainly hasn’t been skimping on the brutality of its violence so far, it’s here the point is hammered home (quite literally) that when it comes to those targeted by the wrath of supernatural violence, absolutely no one is exempt, however undeserving or innocent they might be.
INFO: AUTHOR: JOHN FARMAN / ARTIST: JASON MATHIS / PUBLISHER: VITAL PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
