“Leonide the Vampire” returns for a hauntingly beautiful Christmas tale by Mike Mignola, Rachele Aragno, Dave Stewart, and Clem Robins. This is a classic example of a story that didn’t give me what I expected—it gave me something so much better.
Written by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Rachele Aragno
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsWhen good and honest mountain folk come upon a small coffin among a carriage wreck, they find themselves among darker company than they bargained for. In this haunting Christmas carol, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and artist extraordinaire Rachele Aragno weave a chilling holiday tale as the vampyr Leonide once again casts her spell over unsuspecting audiences.
My expectations for this issue were very high after “Leonide the Vampyr: Miracle at The Crow’s Head,” which had immediately established itself as one of my favorite issues of 2022—that’s a very high bar. How could ‘A Christmas for Crows’ possibly measure up? Well, by being the best single issue I read in 2022. When it comes to Christmas stories, Mike Mignola has a reputation for writing gems, but even among those, ‘A Christmas for Crows’ stands out. If you haven’t read it yet, go do that right now, because I want to dig in deep with this one and spoilers abound in this review.
At the end of ‘Miracle at The Crow’s Head,’ I was all set for many more stories with Leonide and Sandroni. The two were such perfect mirrors to each other—one being young and beautiful and full of life yet she will about your doom, the other being old and ugly and dead yet he’ll fight for you salvation—I expected them to be locked in conflict for years to come, much like Lord Baltimore and Haigus. And that would’ve been fantastic… but Mignola and Aragno had other, much more compelling plans.
The issue begins very much as you’d expect, with some villagers finding Leonide’s coffin and finding themselves already falling into her thrall. Of course, Sandroni is having none of that, and he shows up and there’s fire and a fight and it’s all very loud and exciting—and all of this is perfectly constructed in contrast to the other half of the issue, which is quiet and contemplative.
Throughout the issue, Leonide keeps expecting everyone to want revenge, which is understandable. But it’s the way she awaits their revenge that I find compelling—it’s very matter of fact, no malice, almost playful. She’s done this before and it holds no threat to her. That reaction more than anything reveals how fruitless revenge would be. Instead, for an hour her victims forgive her and have Christmas dinner together. They cannot undo what was done to them and they cannot harm Leonide, so for an evening they simply live as they would have if they still had their souls. It’s a very simple thing and so much more interesting than revenge.Revenge would be such a poor way to spend the hour they have and it shows Leonide what she’s really taken from them.
Afterward, Sandroni comes to her. Again, she expects revenge, but he too sets that aside and brings her a gift. The thing is, Leonide does what she does because it is her nature—she is a vampire and this is what vampires do. And again I can’t help but see how fruitless revenge is in the face of this. Revenge cannot undo a creature’s nature. But when Sandroni offers her a gift, he shows Leonide another nature. He shows her there is another way to be. And then Leonide reciprocates by giving him back the souls of Sandroni’s fellow villagers. This gesture achieves more than revenge ever could.
Dark Horse specifically asked me not to discuss the final three pages of the issue, but you’ve read the story already and you know what happens there and how beautifully it builds on these ideas, culminating in something beautiful and sad and oddly comforting.
I hope we’ll being seeing Mike Migola and Rachele Aragno work together for years to come. Comics of this caliber don’t come along very often. Mignola’s writing has both whimsy and darkness to it and the best of his artistic collaborators are able to capture both in their art—the finest of them all also capture the poetry created by the friction between these two elements, and Aragno is certainly among that small and exceptional group of artists.
Continued belowAragno’s art creates a world that I enjoyed being enveloped in. The crow people, for example, have such appealing designs with a fairy tale quality to them, but it is coupled with such sadness. (They reminded me a little of Hans My Hedgehog.)
One of the most powerful pieces of the issue is when Sandroni is “shut away forever with all the other forgotten things.” What is forgotten is, rather appropriately, not said, but it is felt as Sandroni discovers the dollhouse and the family within and their missing child. The ghosts do not explain themselves, but the way the comic is constructed we sense what happened and its significance.
Colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins do a fantastic job of clarifying the shape of this issue. At the beginning it’s bold and loud, then moves to colder colors and more atmospheric sounds as we reach the house. In the center of the issue, during the precious hour the crows are crow people, everything is bathed in warm colors—an island of comfort in the middle of otherwise cold pages—and tragically accompanied by the ticking of a clock. And then there’s those last four pages, so austere, except for specifically chosen elements, like the souls, the flowers, the cross. . . Note that earlier in the issue, Stewart colored the stars white, but in those final pages, they are the same yellow as the stars, giving them such a wonderful ethereal quality.
Looking back at where this issue began and where it ends, the two are so strikingly different, and the journey between those two points is so well crafted. If this is all we ever get of “Leonide the Vampyr” I will be perfectly satisfied. And if there is more, I have total trust in Mike Mignola and Rachele Aragno to work glorious magic together on the comics page once more.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – “Leonide the Vampyr: A Christmas for Crows” isn’t just an excellent Christmas read; it is the finest one-shot 2022 has to offer.
