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In the mid 90's, following the success of their Vertigo line in the horror/fantasy area, DC decided to try and create yet another new imprint with a focus towards Sci-Fi. The line ran into a snag before the first issues even shipped as it was forced to change it's name from Matrix to Helix. Still, it launched with several creator owned series to slightly disappointing sales. It continued on for several years before being shut down. The most notable book to come out of it was Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, which survived the line wide cancellation and was shunted over to Vertigo.

One of the original books in the Helix line up was a bit of an oddity. While most books focused on sci-fi set ups, this one instead had obvious horror overtones, and probably would've faired better as a Vertigo book. It's one of the many comics that got lost in the shuffle of the 90's boom, and since it deals with vampires and monsters, it fits perfectly in with my theme for the month.

More about Black Lamb/possible spoilers





Black Lamb was written and illustrated by Timothy Truman and was published as a a six issue miniseries. It took place in the distant future, huge cities, high technology, minor robotics, and a whole lot of monsters.

The focus of the series was Diamaid Na Duibee, aka The Black Lamb, who served as an enforcer for the ruling council of The Races of the Night. For years the various monster races, vampires, mummies, werewolves, etc, have lived in secret, hiding from the eyes of humanity. Occassionally when inner conflict threatened to expose their existance to the humans, or when some of the few humans aware of their existance became a problem, they'd call upon The Black Lamb to sort things out.

The six issues introduce us this world, the basic set up and structure of the Races of the Night, several supporting characters, and of course the Black Lamb himself. During it we discover his history, why he's an outcast from even other vampires, and watch him deal with various problems that monster have to deal with.

It had some interesting ideas and concepts, but the problem is in the execution. It's a six issue mini-series without an over arching story or plot. There's some very minor build up to the last two issues in the form of graphitti, but still, it's essentially four seperate stories set in the same city and featuring some reoccuring characters. There's no build up or lead in and it makes it feel.. well, odd for a mini-series. The art is pretty nice, Truman's style is pretty organic, but I can see where it might've not been appealing to the 90's customer's who were used to Jim Lee clones. The coveres are quite lovely though.

In the first issue we're introduced the world and to the main character, discovering what his purpose is, and getting a hint as to just how old he really is. They also reveal a fairly major piece of his past towards the end, but the full revelence of that is left for later in the series. The issue basically consists of him stalking and bringing a group of vampire hunters before the Court of Monsters.

Issues 2 and 3 feature The Black Lamb getting involved with a feud between two werewolf clans that threatens to spill over into the world of humans. An ancient werewolf named Lyaos was once a greek king, he sought immortality by eating babies and was instead cursed with lycanthropy. Over the centuries he's built himself a technological empire while looking for a way to rid himself of the curse, yet retain it's immortality. Unfortunately this involves eating werewolf babies, which he steal from another clan. The two parter also instroduces us to one of the Black Lamb's few friends, another ancient werewolf by the name of Doane. It depicts their first meeting, along with revealing the secrets of The Black Lamb's past and why he's unique, even among vampires.

Issue 4 is probably the most interesting of the bunch, at least for me. It's a stand alone issue entitled "They Saved Walt Whitman's Brain!" The Black Lamb kills two birds with one stone, taking out a very skilled group of vampire hunters, while eliminating a Filipino vampire who's actions threaten the veil of secrecy that the Races of the Night cherish. It's basically an extended chase and fight scene through the sewers of the city. The action makes up most of the issue, though it opens with an account of a mad scientist and a not so mad scientist, both flushing bodily parts into the sewers. That's where Walt Whitman's brain comes into the story. The result of these actions turns up at the end of the issue.

The final two issues, 5 and 6, feature some prominent figures from vampiric lore, Countess Bathory and Dracula. It brings together the various supporting characters we've seen throughout the series as The Black Lamb attempts to stop Dracula from taking control of the council and starting a war with the humans. Unfortunately it's very rushed and there's almost not time or build up to it at all. It comes out of nowhere and the battle between the two titans ends in a matter of panels. On top of all this Dracula suffers from a nasty case of Plot Inspired Stupidity too boot. A rather disappointing end to the series.

There was talk about a follow up series, but it never materialized. In addition to this, the series was never collected so it's probably a bit hard to come by.

It's an odd creature. The futuristic setting seemed a bit pointless, and the fact that it ended up in the Sci-Fi line really confuses me. The stories are ok, nothing really amazing, but there's still something vaguely charming about it that I can't quite put my finger on. It might be the quirkiness of the art or of the idea, the vaguely campy feel of some of the monsters.. I'm not quite sure.

Still, it's not great, but it's not horrible. It's destined to languish somewhere in the dreaded average range.